On 8 July, Grayshott Gardeners enjoyed an informative and entertaining talk by Timothy Walker, who began his career as a trainee at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and later became its director. He now lectures in plant biology at Somerville College, Oxford, and at Pembroke, Hereford and Worcester Colleges. Between 1992 and 2000, Oxford Botanic Garden won four gold medals at Chelsea. Timothy has also published books and travelled worldwide as a lecturer.

He focused on the “back border” in his Oxford garden, explaining that creating a border is a personal process shaped by the plants and colours you enjoy. While the soil should be hidden by planting, he recommended adding stepping stones so plants can be tended without being damaged. He also warned that it is easy to underestimate how tall plants will grow, making staking essential to prevent a domino effect.

He said it was a good idea to cut down spring plants (Wimbledon Chop) to make way for the autumn plants, and you can (contrary to some) move dormant plants if you feel if they are in the wrong place.  He stated that the same went for spring bulbs which can be planted after Christmas. 

Stressing the importance of caring for the soil, he said that weeds should be ‘double dug’ to remove them completely. He also recommended making your own compost and adding nitrogen, such as sulphate of ammonia.

He said it is helpful to have a plan when planting a border, considering the view from the house and how sunlight moves across it during the day. He also advised considering the spirit of the place, such as a beautiful building near the garden.

Timothy concluded his talk saying that although the colours were up to you, you needed harmony, contrast, layers and colour.  Making a border was about making pictures. 

 The evening ended with questions from the audience.

Thank you to all our members for sending in their photos.

On 10 June, Grayshott Gardeners were treated to an educational and entertaining evening with Guy Deakins. 

Guy is a garden designer, plantsman, and author of Gardener’s Guide to Protected Growing. Trained in design history and design psychology, he is particularly interested in neuroaesthetics—the study of how people respond to beauty. Since founding his business in 1999, he has worked on a wide range of projects, including small courtyards, city roof gardens, Norfolk fen gardens, windswept coastal formal gardens, and country estates.

Guy explained how to murder your garden and which minerals, mulch and manures nourish soil and feed it.  He also showed the audience a realistic skull and prop hands to illustrate that hoof and horn, fingernails, hair, and bonemeal are high in nitrogen. He added that dandelions, chicory, and beets improve drainage because their roots can reach 15 feet. Seaweed, he noted, is a conditioner rather than a feed.

Guy highlighted that laurel should never be chipped, crushed, or ingested because it contains cyanide, as do apple pips. He also noted that the possible link between glyphosate, a weedkiller used by farmers, and coeliac disease remains inconclusive.

The evening concluded with a question-and-answer session led by Guy.

Thank you to all our members for sending in photos!

The inter-village clubs hold several competitions each year, including Floral Art.  Hosting the competition rotates around the clubs, and this year it was Grayshott’s honour to host at our Spring Show 2026.

Sue Erler took the lead, even though she’d not planned a competition before. Sue set the title of ‘Ever Decreasing Circles’, and a special dedicated space was set up in the Village Hall on Spring Show Day.  Four clubs indicated their interest beforehand, and one surprise entry arrived on Friday evening! It was such a great turnout, especially as three of the other clubs also had their Spring Show on Saturday. The judge was very impressed with all the entries, saving her best comment for the winner – “Amazing” – which was Grayshott. So, as well as organising the competition, Sue won it for us too – hurray!

Many thanks to the surrounding villages for entering; Thursley came 2nd, Tilford 3rd, Headley 4th, and Churt was Highly Commended.

Thank you to all our members for sending in photos!

Thank you to all our members who sent in photos!

Following on from our January Club Night where speaker Helier Bowling mentioned in her talk that there is always something to cut in our gardens… Thank you to all our members who took up the challenge to venture out into their garden to pick some flowers in January! As you will see we had plenty of responses and some very lovely arrangements and posies, many of them scented!

The vagaries of the British weather are always a challenge for us gardeners. Last year, the challenge was how to stop potential exhibits from being battered down by the weeks of wind and torrential rain. This year however, Spring had definitely sprung in time for our show and so the main challenge was whether to move potential exhibits into the shade to hold them back a bit or to move them into the warm sunshine! Well done to our members who contributed across all the classes – it was especially good to see some new entrants.  The judges were delighted with the quality of the entries, and said it was really excellent to see such support for our club.  Hope to see you all again at the Summer Show.

The glorious weather brought out the local community in their droves to enjoy the spectacle and they certainly weren’t disappointed! The show offers such a wide variety of exhibits that there was something for everyone to enjoy, young and old alike: viewing the stunning exhibits; admiring the artistry of the craft exhibits and floral arrangements; voting for their favourite photograph; having a flutter on the tombola or recharging over tea accompanied by a wide selection of delicious, homemade cakes. Some people however, barely paused to admire the wall of colour greeting them on entering the hall – they were focussed on making a beeline to the perennially popular plant sale! This year there was the added interest of Jan’s delicate floral watercolours for sale.

The finale of the show is always the presentation of the cups which this year were awarded as follows:

Gladys Wilmot Cup (Home-produce) – Amanda Dowden

Denyer Cup (Flower arranging) – Sue Erler

Craft Prize – Eda Hughes

Photography Prize – Karen Cozens

Spring Cup (Spring bulbs) – Judith Rae

Gardeners Cup (Cut and pot/container-grown exhibits) – Ann Haussauer

Novice Cup (The exhibitor with the highest number of points who hasn’t won a cup before) – Amanda Dowden

Whitehouse Cup (All classes other than photography and craft) – Judith Rae

Best in Show Plate – Ann Haussauer

Spring Show Winners 2025

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Pictures speak louder than words and here’s a selection of photos that sum-up the happy afternoon: 

Finally, there’s an enormous amount of effort involved in putting on a show, much of it behind the scenes – so a huge thank you to everyone for their help and contributions which helped make the Spring Show such a success.  Now… must start thinking about my Summer Show entries….

What a great show – the colourful hall was a joy to behold!

It was quite amazing to see how very many flowers had not only survived but even flourished in all the wind and rain we’ve had this year. In particular, the hydrangeas with their showy blooms had clearly thrived. My own roses had long-since finished blooming, so I was surprised, and pleased, to see the many wonderful entries in the rose classes – particularly the many bowls of roses.

The glorious floral arrangements belie the time and effort taken to produce these creations. Who knew you could cover a hat in leaves as part of the arrangement? These are the only classes which can use bought flowers and foliage, although many entrants raid their gardens instead. Once again, thanks go to Sue Erler for her novice flower arranging workshops this year which have encouraged many of us to give flower arranging a try – we particularly enjoyed the challenge of producing a design in a fruit or vegetable!

Conspicuous by their absence were tomatoes and runner beans which normally grace the display tables at this time of year … they’ll need more warmth and sunshine to start producing in any great quantity. And fewer slugs…However, there was a wide array of other fruit and vegetable entries, especially in the soft fruit categories.

Despite clashing with The Wimbledon Ladies Final, the show was very well attended especially by the local community who came along to enjoy the displays, buy plants, try their luck with the tombola and to relax over tea and delicious homemade cake. It’s always interesting to see which exhibits had been placed by the judges … no mean feat considering that judging is in accordance with the RHS Horticultural show handbook and the WI rules for home produce!

Many congratulations to the worthy winners of the various awards – especially to Ann Haussauer who won both the RHS Banksian Medal and the coveted ‘Best in Show’.

Finally, many thanks go to the Shows team, supported by the Main Committee, who beaver away behind the scenes to pull together the Shows. The fact that each Show is a huge success masks the considerable amount of work required to stage it: months of planning; a flurry of activity once the entries are in and then a mountain of effort on the day. It sounds exhausting and I am sure it must be! It’s also great fun, so if you’d like to help in any way, please let Pamela, the Shows Co-ordinator know. Without the commitment and dedication of the Shows team there wouldn’t be any Shows. So, our grateful thanks go to them and all the people who support the Show in whatever way … where would we be without the all-important homemade cakes?!

There is still one award to present – the RHS Bronze Medal.  This is awarded to the person who has achieved most points across all classes for both the Spring and Summer Shows.  It’s our highest accolade and is awarded at the AGM – I wonder who it will be this year….

Here is a collection of photos from our Summer Show