Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - February 2010
Chairman : Grace Hunter
Secretary : Susan Mills
Garden Hut Manager : Tony Gelder
Assistant Hut Manager : Keith Gould
Treasurer : Robert Bastin
Newsletter : Diana Longshaw
The Hut
At the end of January I will be attending a garden trade
show so will be keeping my eyes open for any offers
available for Members - watch out for details of these items
in forthcoming newsletters. I will also inform members who
receive newsletters by email of the latest information
concerning hut offers etc. To those members who receive
newsletters by post (inc. hand deliveries) & have an email
address who wish to be included in receiving garden hut
latest news: please either telephone or email requesting
receipt (see Contacts Box, Hut Manager).
During February, garden club members will be given a 10%
discount on items where total sales exceed £30, excl.
special offers that have already been discounted.
New items we are trying this year include: seed potatoes
& onions sets. We have ordered various early and main crop
potato varieties so that you can try them. If you do not
have an allotment, you can plant them in a sack or large
container on your patio. Available in quantities of 5 or 10
off. Seed onions will be sold in small quantities.
A quantity of Fleece is available to start warming up the
soil. During February you can start to use slow released
fertilisers such as
Bonemeal or Rose Food around roots of bushes and shrubs
to encourage root growth.
Super Phosphate when planting trees and shrubs to encourage
root growth.
Potash to encourage the fruits to swell.
We stock most fertilisers which are available in bags of
1, 3, 5 and 25kgs
Add Lime to soil if planning to grow cabbage or brassicas
(need to be completed 2 months ahead of planting) available
in 3Kg bags
I have found a useful summary giving benefit of various
fertilisers & when to use. It will be sent to Members who
have already given the garden club their email address or
copies will be available from the hut.
Note: Stocks of SHL Potting Growing Medium has
been delayed from the suppliers due to the weather but is
expected to arrive before the end of January (date will be
emailed to club members). This compost is a top quality
product used by the horticultural professionals and has
enhanced nutrient content & moisture retention. SHL is sold
in 80 lts bags and is not available at most garden centres
and DIY outlets.
Janes February Garden Tips
Hopefully we have seen the last of the snow this year and
spring is just around the corner, signs can be seen, bulbs
popping through so sprinkle some general purpose fertilizer
around them. Trim down old foliage of ornamental grasses to
make way for new growth, new shoots will start developing as
temperatures improve. Pruning should be done this month,
especially shrubs that flower on new wood later in the
summer, buddleia, deciduous ceanothus and hardy fuchsias,
cut back hard leaving a few buds on each shoot. Evergreen
hardy plants that have become overgrown can be cut back.
Trim winter flowering heathers with a pair of shears;
cutting back to the base of a flower stalk, this encourages
side shoots, keeping the plant bushy and compact. Late
flowering clematis can be pruned towards the end of the
month, cutting back all the growth to 10-20 from the ground
to just above a healthy bud. After all pruning feed with an
organic general fertilizer and mulch. Lift and divide clumps
of snowdrops and buy bulbs in the green. Blackcurrant
bushes send up new shoots from below ground level so avoid
congestion by pruning oldest stems away at soil level now,
stems darken after 3-4 years and its these that must go to
make room for young productive shoots. Autumn fruiting
raspberries should be cut back to ground level ensuring no
stumps are left that can harbour disease. Raspberries have a
useful life of about 10 years so consider replacing now and
as weather allows (there are plenty of very productive
varieties available). Start to sow a few vegetable seeds
under glass in modules, lettuce, radish, peas, beetroot,
summer cabbage and spinach.
Re: Janes February Garden Tips Your garden hut
stocks:
Slow release fertilisers in bag of 1Kg, 3Kg, 5Kg giving good
value low prices compared to local garden centres. Also, for
the members with a large garden, the 25Kg bag may be a more
suitable size. Fleece in 10 metre lengths at £4.00.
Events Report
Norma Desmond gave a talk on The Life of Lancelot
Capability Brown at the Social Evening held on Wednesday,
20th January and showed with a great deal of knowledge, just
how history and Capability shaped our Land.
The next Event will be on Wednesday, 17th February when
Linda Smith will be speaking on Pond Plants & Wildlife
through the year Wildlife visitors to the Pond & the
plants that will encourage them. As usual this will be held
in the Church Hall, Chalfont St Peter at 8 p.m. Members of
the Club are free but Guests are required to contribute £1.
Plus Refreshment .
Advance Notice of : The AGM followed by Ian Currie
Making sense of the Weather - Wednesday, March 17th.
Club Spring Show: Wednesday, April 21st.
Higher Denham Open Gardens in aid of NGS Grand
Valentines Day Garden Extravaganza, Sunday, 14th Feb 2-4.30,
entry £3. Register at Wind in the Willows, Farm Lane,
towards Moorhouse Farm, Lower Road (off Rectory Lane). Abbey
Bank matching donations. Contact Anne Ling, 01895 833408
aloing1@aol.com
Keiths Outings
Welcome to the new season of coach outings. We have seven
this year, the first being to PETWORTH HOUSE N/T- on
Wednesday March.31st. Set in 700 acres of parkland and
holding a herd of fallow deer, the house contains a grand
collection of paintings by Turner, Van Dyke, Renolds & Blake
with carvings & sculptures by Grinling Gibbons. You will see
the kitchen with a Batterie de Cuisine of 1000 items with
upstairs rooms also open. The Serpentine Lake, which is fed
by a mile of brick culvert, can be viewed from the dam with
a superb view of the valley. The coach will leave Church
Hall Lane at 9.30am and we exit the venue at 4pm. Coffee or
Tea & biscuits are included in the price and will be served
on arrival. Please make cheques out to Chalfont.St.Peter
Garden Club and post to - Mr K.Gould, 10 Leachcroft,
Ch.St.Peter,Bucks. SL9 9LG, or hand in to the hut on a
Sunday. Postal bookings will be acknowleged by phone Keith
/ 01753884012.
Please book me
seats for Petworth @ £15ea. for club
members &
.seats @ £17 ea. For all others. - Plus £9.00ea
(group price entry) if not a N/T member. Total of. £
.
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Chalfont St. Peter Garden Club Membership Application
Form 2010
To: The Membership Secretary, Chalfont St. Peter Garden
Club, 14 Foxdell Way, Chalfont St. Peter, SL9 0PN.
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