8th November 2022 – Ken Clarke will present a session on House Plants.
13th December 2022 – Sonya Seth Batra will demonstrate how to make a Christmas Floral Decoration and guide us through making one for ourselves.
……and next year
10th January 2023 The Gardens of Wanstead House – Hannah Armstrong
27th January 2023 a coach trip to Hyde Hall
At our October Meeting we were delighted to welcome Ros Epson to talk to about meadows. Ros is an early adopter of garden meadows having planted one in her garden 20 years ago. Who knew there are so many different types of meadows? Alpine meadows, wet meadows, dry meadows, forest meadows, grass meadows, high meadows, low meadows and even cultivated meadows.
If you would like to plant a meadow in your garden, remove all turf, scarify the soil and then sow your seeds. Watch and wait. When the meadow is established you will need to mow it at the appropriate times, leave the cuttings for two days so the seed falls from the flower heads and then rake up all the cuttings for compost. if this sounds like hard work you could consider buying a sheep or two or a couple of cattle to do the work for you! In summary, a meadow in your garden will make your heart sing with joy, unless you are a garden footballer – in which case stay with grass as a trampled meadow will make you cry.
Judith McCann, Secretary AHS.
October is a good time to move shrubs as the soil is still warm and hopefully damp, ensure a generous watering at the time of planting and at weekly intervals afterwards if the weather is dry. It is better to water with a good bucket or watering can full – watering using a small quantity of water too often will not encourage the roots to grow deeper looking for moisture.
Continue to plant perennials and bare root shrubs while the soil is warm
Plant wallflowers and sweet wiliams for Spring colour.
Plant bulbs – daffodils, alliums, crocus and iris should be planted now. Leave tulips until the weather is cooler – at the end of November. Squirrels love crocus and tulip bulbs so cover the bulbs with chicken wire and remove as soon as you see growing tips showing through in the Spring.
Seeds of annual hardy plants can be directly sown now – poppies, nigella, cornflowers and marigold.
On the vegetable plot broad beans and onion sets can be planted now – ensure the onion sets are planted deep enough to prevents birds picking the tips out of the soil. The best broad been for winter planting is Aquadulce – cover with fleece to protect from birds.
To ensure that wildlife continues to appreciate your garden only cut back vegetation which is damp and rotting – try and keep most things in the garden and cut back from February.
Plants with tubers such as dahlias, cannas and gladioli should be taken up when the frost comes and kills the upper growth. If you don’t have anywhere to store the tubers they can be kept in the soil as long as the top of the plant is protected by a thick mulch.