Aldersbrook Horticultural Society began after some gardeners of the Aldersbrook Estate, East London, organised a very successful Garden Trail in June 2018.
We thought that the time was right to set up a local gardening group.
In October 2018 Aldersbrook Horticultural Society was born.
Our committee was made up of some of those keen gardeners who had opened their gardens in the trail. From our first meeting when about 30 people turned up we have grown from strength to strength –with over 150 members & supporters. Our main purpose is to organise meetings to share information about gardening and the natural world. We have a range of speakers, some who appear on TV, award winning garden designers and local experts who speak with enthusiasm and inspire us to continue to improve our gardening. We meet monthly from September to May, with an annual trip in June and a summer party in a local garden in July.
As well as our summer trip we organise at least one other trip during the year. We are affiliated to the RHS and we can be booked to give advice to local gardeners about how to improve their gardens. A monthly newsletter keeps members informed of all our activities.
In May we hold a plant sale selling plants grown by our members with proceeds for Cancer charities and every other year in June we organise the very popular Aldersbrook Estate and Lakehouse Estate Garden Trail, sponsored by Stow Brothers, with the proceeds going to local charities.
We also garden in the community – during our first year we took over the planting and maintenance of the Aldersbrook Bowls Club garden and after the COVID lockdown we planted the garden at the Aldersbrook Medical Centre, donating three fruit trees in memory of those who died from COVID. Working parties in these gardens take place monthly on a Friday or Saturday morning. The Aldersbrook Medical Centre garden won the award for the best community garden in the Redbridge and Bloom 2024 Amateur Gardeners competition. Redbridge Council invited us to plant up and maintain a rain garden full of wild flowers on the Lakehouse Estate at the end of Blake Hall Crescent/Belgrave Road – it looked glorious during the Summer months and is well cared for by a dedicated team of Lakehouse gardeners.
We are a friendly bunch: keen gardeners, novice gardeners, balcony gardeners, indoor gardeners, allotmenteers and those interested in the local natural environment.
We meet in Aldersbrook Bowls Club, E12 5DY, 7:30pm every second Tuesday of the month.
You can join at a Tuesday meeting or via the How to Join tab in this website.
Annual fee is £35 or you can pay £5 per meeting.