Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - April 2009

Chairman : Grace Hunter
Secretary : Susan Mills
Garden Hut Manager : Tony Gelder
Assistant Hut Manager : Keith Gould
Treasurer : Robert Bastin

Many Members attended the AGM on 18th March 2009. Grace Hunter was re- elected Chairman and the Officers and Committee elected. As the Speaker did not arrive, Members of the Committee took Gardening questions from the floor which was very informative for all.

Spring Show Schedule for 15 April 2009

Will be held in the Church Hall at 8.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 15th April. 
Show Schedule will be as follows :

The Classes in the Flowers and Vegetables Sections will be :-
Class 1. Polyanthus, bowl of 6 cut stems, own foliage.
Class 2. Daffodils, vase of 3 blooms, own foliage.
Class 3. Tulips, vase of 3 blooms, own foliage.
Class 4. Pot Plant in Flower, pot not to exceed 6” dia.
Class 5. Pot Plant Foliage, pot not to exceed 6” Dia.
Class 6. 5 Stems different Foliage, in a vase.
Class 7. A Floral Arrangement, not to exceed 9” dia.
Class 8. Any other Flower, one kind only, 3 or more blooms.
Class 9. 3 Sticks of Rhubarb, may be forced.
Class 10. Any other Vegetable.
The Classes in the Photographic Section will be.
Class 1. Frost in the Garden. (note appropriate amendment from January’s Newsletter
Class 2. A Tree, or Trees, bearing Fruit or Blossom
Class 3. Birds in the Garden
Class 4. Local Architecture.
Photographs should be presented mounted on an A4 sheet or card.


To enter the events is FREE and to view this excellent Show is £1.00. Do come along as you will enjoy yourselves.
KEN HALL

Stoke Poges Memorial Garden Now Open . 
National Garden Scheme Openings on Sunday,19th April & Wed. 13th May 2-5 p.m. when entry at £3.50 includes a guided tour of these recently restored Grade II Listed Gardens of Outstanding Beauty of Unique Design. Refreshments available.
Ring Head Gardener on 01753 523744 for further information.

KEITH’S COACH OUTINGS

The May (Thurs.21st) outing is to ‘LEONARDSLEE’ in West Sussex. Something not to be missed: 7 lakes, rhododendrons and azaleas galore, a temperate greenhouse and alpine house, ’behind the dolls house’ exhibit, rock garden, Victorian car display and wallabies, to mention but a few things. So, if you all turn up at 9am (Church hall), we will try to leave as early as possible. Price will, as usual, include tea/coffee on arrival. Cost is £20 for club members & £22 for non club members.
Please note - JUNE 10TH outing is to ‘COTSWOLD WILDLIFE PARK & GARDENS ’ in Burford/Oxfordshire …Late bookings for ‘Emmett’s ring ….KEITH / 01753 884012 first.
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Please book me ( ) seats for ‘Leonardslee’ @ £20 for club members & ( ) seats @ £22 for all others….total ……………………………

Name/address……………………………………………………………

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send to. ..Mr.K.Gould, 10 Leachcroft, Chalfont.St.Peter, Bucks. SL9 9LG or take to the hut when open. All postal bookings will be acknowledged by phone.

You are all used to seeing Mr D. Stallwood and his wife Carol selling plants on their stall each Summer outside the Hut, at bargain prices. Well, they will be back in early May, as usual. Please give them your support as they will be keeping their prices as last year and Donald always gives a percentage to the hut. ‘Bergonia Semp’s, grow to 6/8” high, at 24 for £6.00, for example, and Petunia’s, would be twice the price in garden centres. If you wish to order, ring 01494/873757.

The Garden Hut

The Garden Hut will be open every Sunday from 10.00 am to12 noon. Very important, you must show your Membership card

Good quality named Arthur Bowers GROW BAGS are now in stock at £1.65 each or 3 for £4.75 (a local garden centre £1.99ea) You may also be interested in tomato (or strawberry) RING CULTURES (rings to fit your grow bags and said to improve the quality of produce)

New items in stock this year include SLUG Stoppa copper tape for pots to deter slugs from climbing up the pot at £2.35 for 4m length; SLUG clear liquid concentrate 250ml £4.50 ea Miracle-Gro sachets of ALL PURPOSE PLANT FEED for water cans sold as singles at 25p (local garden centres only sell these in boxes)

LAWN CARE products are now in stock, Scott’s Evergreen Complete Lawn Feed, Weed and Moss 400 sq m; Scott’s Evergreen Lawn Feed and Weed 360 sq m. Also Sinclair’s Arthur Bowers Lawn Food 400sq m, Lawn Sand 185 sq m and Lawn Dressing 25 lt, - all these items are at Special Offer Prices.

We have a good supply of top quality Decorative Pine Bark and Composted bark for digging-in.

In addition we have 800g packs of various types of CHEMPAC which we are selling off at £3. Fuchsia one spotted recently in a local garden centre at a normal price of £4.54

Hardware items currently reduced include greenhouse watering cans, 10" and 14" hanging baskets, small stainless steel forks and trowels, a variety of gardening gloves.

Offers on TRAYS and INSERTS for potting on your plants
- 30p each or 4 for £1 (local garden centres are 5 for £2.99)
Tray holder and 15 off 66mm square pots - special price £0.75 per set (normally £1.)

Jane’s April Garden Tips

Borders at this time of year will benefit from a light forking, removing weeds before they take hold. Moving or removing any self-sown seedlings that have appeared, trimming any plants that have grown together and putting in plant supports, you can use largish twigs off trees especially birch to support herbaceous plants and peas Lastly apply a general fertilizer and mulch to replace lost nutrients that have washed away, and to conserve moisture for later on. If bind weed is a problem in your shrub or herbaceous border, insert canes for it to grow up, it can then be treated with weed killer or removed more easily without damage to your plants. Forsythias and chaenomeles (japonica) that have finished flowering will flower on wood made the previous summer, so prune now for new blooms next year. Deadhead daffodils, and then sprinkle with a granular or liquid fertiliser to give them a boost. This is a busy time for sowing a large variety of vegetables under glass, to get them off to a flying start for when they are planted outside later on. In modules sow sweetcorn, marrows, courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, french beans and tomatoes. Also sow in prepared seedbeds leeks, fennel, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and winter brassicas (brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts, for transplanting later.) Main crop potatoes can also go in now. If space is a problem for growing potatoes try using old compost bags, roll down sides and make small slits in base and sides, add compost, if bags are large put in 2 potato tubers cover and water, as leafy tops appear unroll sides and continue filling with compost, watering and liquid feeding, when top growth dies back, harvest. Continue to plant a succession of salad crops.

Buyer Beware.

Through the medium of this Newsletter the club is bringing to your attention, opportunities that may interest you, however, you must satisfy yourself that they meet your requirements as Chalfont St. Peter Garden Club will accept no legal, moral or financial responsibility