Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - March 2009
Chairman : Grace Hunter
Secretary : Susan Mills
Garden Hut Manager : Tony Gelder
Assistant Hut Manager : Keith Gould
Treasurer : Robert Bastin
February meeting report
An unexpected change of Speaker for February when Dr
Eastwood talked about our Hedgerows both historically and
practically finishing with a demonstration on layering. A
brilliant and entertaining presentation thoroughly enjoyed.
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Spring Show
The Spring Show will be in the Parish Church Hall at 8.00
p.m. on Wednesday, l5th April, 2009.
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 l. Frost in the Garden. (note appropriate amendment
from last month'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.
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The Next Meeting will be Our Annual General Meeting on
Wednesday, 18th March at 8 p.m. in the Chalfont St Peter
Church Hall. Followed by Bernard Stopps Lecturing on Growing
Vegetables for the Kitchen and Annual Show..
Members Free but visitors £1.00. Please show your Membership
Card
KEITH'S COACH OUTINGS
Our first outing this year is to `EMMETT'S GARDEN' -
N/Trust (Seven Oaks, Kent) plus `QUEBEC HOUSE' on WED. 22nd
APRIL. This is an opportunity to see two N/Trust venues in
one. (Don't forget valid NIT membership cards, please).
Emmetts is a hilltop location with dramatic views of the
Kent countryside and contains rare trees, shrubs and gardens
within its 18 acres. (House not open to public). `Quebec
House' is the childhood home of General James Woolfe and
contains military memorabilia and also has an exhibition
reflecting the Battle of Quebec. Coffee/tea on arrival at `Emmetts'
is included. There is a tea room in the stable block for
lunches etc. Note that `Quebec' has no tea room (toilets
yes) so please make full use of `Emmetts' for all your
refreshment needs. The coach pick¬up is at `Church Lane' at
9.30 am as per usual and we will exit `Quebec House' at
4.OOpm.
............................................................................................
Name & Address
...
........................Tell
no
.
Please book me ( ) seats
for.............................................. (venue)
on........................... (date)
and..............................................................
Total Cost £..........................
Late bookings please ring first: 01753 884012.
Post to - Mr. K. Gould, 10 Leachcroft, Chalfont St. Peter,
Bucks. SL9 9LG or take to hut when open.
Please note - The second outing, for Thursday 21 St May,
will now be to `Leonardslee Park' in West Sussex.
Other Societies
On Friday, May 8th, the Higher Denham Garden Club has a
coach trip going to the Royal Horticultural Society Spring
Show at Malvern, Worcestershire. The coach leaves the Higher
Denham Community Association Hall at 8.30 a.m. returning at
approx. 6.30 p.m. The cost is £16 for the coach and £ 15.50
admission to the Show, making a total of £31.50 per seat.
Telephone Christine Kearley on 01895 832145 if you would
like a seat.
THE GARDEN HUT
The Garden Hut will be open on Sundays from 10am to noon.
Please remember to show your membership card to the person
on the desk. A 10% discount will be offered on purchases of
£20 and over until End of March (except on a small selection
of items already on special offer). Many items for sale are
lower in price than local garden centres.
If any member has any empty 1 pint plastic containers
please could they bring them to the hut.
For Interest
Having talked to us some time ago John Tyler wondered
whether any of our members might be interested in joining
one of his Wildlife Walks or Glow-worm Walks this year. The
walks are intended to be a gentle introduction to a wide
variety of wildlife: details are below and there is more
information on his website at
http://www.johntyler.co.uk/walks.htm .
Sunday 24th May Wildlife walk, Dancersend (Tring)
Wed. 27th May Wildlife walk, Dancersend (Tring)
Sunday 14th June Wildlife Walk, Bernwood Forest (Oakley)
Wed 17th June Wildlife Walk, Grangelands (Princes Risborough)
Saturday 4th July Glow-worm Walk, Brush Hill (Princes
Risborough)
Wed. 8th July Glow-worm Walk, Brush Hill (Princes Risborough)
Wed 15th July Wildlife Walk, Bernwood Forest (Oakley)
Saturday 18th July Glow-worm Walk, Brush Hill (Princes
Risborough)
Sunday 26th July Glow-worm Walk, Brush Hill (Princes
Risborough)
Wed. 29th July Wildlife Walk, Grangelands (Princes
Risborough)
Wed. 5th August Wildlife Walk, Dancersend (Tring)
Wed 19th August Wildlife Walk, Rushbeds Wood (Brill)
Sunday 30th August Wildlife Walk, Dancersend (Tring)
Jane's Garden Tips
Plug plants are one of the best ways to achieve quick
results in the garden, if you don't have facilities to raise
plants from seed. The variety is enormous and you should be
able to find just the right plug selection for hanging
baskets, containers and bedding displays either by mail
order or from the garden centre. Order by mail order now to
obtain the best selection for delivery from end of March to
May. However if you are buying from the garden centre buy
early to ensure the best choices, which can be potted up and
grown on in warm 61-65 F frost-free bright conditions until
the danger of frost has passed.
Now is a good time to sow hardy annuals outside in soil
that has been lightly forked over, don't add manure or
compost because rich soil promotes soft growth with few
flowers, just add a light dressing of general fertilizer,
sow in informal drifts making sure taller varieties are
towards the back. Summer and late flowering clematis should
be pruned now, cut off bare tops down to green shoots, these
will carry the flowers, tie in as necessary. Lawns will be
needing their first cut using a high blade setting for the
first few times. Start to sow parsnips, carrots, brussel
sprouts, onion sets, broad beans and spinach. Under cloches
sow successive crops of lettuce and other salad plants every
few weeks. Raise seedlings of tomato, peppers and leeks in a
heated greenhouse or on the window-sill.
It's sometimes better to sow peas and broad beans in
about 90 cms lengths of plastic guttering, fill with compost
sow and water, they will develop strong plants which can be
slid into final position outdoors. Fruit trees will benefit
from a feeding of sulphate of potash to replace nutrients,
lost from previous years of cropping and winter rains; mulch
and compost
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