Newsletter March 2022

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is GG-logo.jpg

Grayshott Gardeners Newsletter

March 2022

FROM THE CHAIR

Dear Members,

I hope your homes and gardens survived the storms without too much damage.

I am pleased to say I can guarantee Dudley, Eunice and Franklin will not be visiting our gardens again, but as yet I have not heard what Gladys is up to!

Sadly, our Secretary Anne Butler has resigned her position after 3 years of serving on the committee, for which we thank her for her really excellent work  and I look forward to seeing her at future club evenings.

We now have a vacancy and I would be pleased to hear from anyone who might have an interest in learning more about the secretarial role, please call me on 01428 482750 or email me at <chair@grayshottgardeners.net>.

Currently apart from general admin we have 5 Committee meetings a year which require the taking of minutes.

I am pleased to report that the video recording of our last speaker Harry Baldwin (see report elsewhere in this Newsletter) has already received 68 hits, so it appears that those unable to come to our meetings are enjoying the presentations.

Lastly and by no means least, a big thank you to Gordon and Judith for once again opening their garden for us all to view their beautiful snowdrops, for which the weather was amazingly good.

Best wishes John

MARCH MEETING

Our next meeting on the 9th March is a Keynote Lecture by Matthew Wilson, so why not invite your friends? We are pleased to inform you on that night catering will be back to normal.

Matthew is an award-winning garden and landscape designer, writer, radio and television broadcaster and lecturer. He has designed two show gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.  In 2016, his show garden, entitled ‘God’s own country – A garden for Yorkshire’ was sponsored by Welcome to Yorkshire, and was inspired by the East Window at York Minster, the largest single expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain.   

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is M-Wilson.jpeg

His garden won the esteemed People’s Choice Award at the show, and his talk will all be about getting a show garden ready for Chelsea and is entitled   ‘My Chelsea Story’

As this is one of our Key Note lectures  members can attend at no additional charge to their membership fee, however should you wish to bring a guest, there is a charge of £8. Guests who are members of inter-village clubs will be charged £5.

BORDE HILL GARDEN

Why not join Harry Baldwin, head of horticulture at Borde Hill, on a free, hour-long guided tour of the garden?

The tour will focus primarily on the garden’s impressive collection of magnolias, some of which were collected by the great plant hunters of the 1900s and are now Champion Trees.

Tickets are included in the garden admission – adults £10.50, children £7

Tour dates: 29th March and 5th April

Booking is essential at www.bordehill.co.uk

FEBRUARY MEETING

Harry Baldwin made a welcome return to Grayshott Last month to present his most interesting talk ‘The World of Oaks’

Oaks have been important for humans since ancient times – many cultures developed with acorns as a staple to their diet.  And their wood has been used for centuries, to build cathedrals, ships and shaft props in the coal mines.

England is blessed with many ancient oaks – more than elsewhere in Europe.  This may well be because our Royal Forests and Deer Parks, made fashionable by William the Conqueror, allowed commoners to collect wood, but not to cut the trees, thus preserving them for future generations.  Some of these trees are thought to be about 1000 years old.

We had a fascinating evening listening and learning about oaks.  Some of us might even have been converted to Quercophiles!

SHOWS

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 3.-Viewers-Spring-2018-copy.jpeg

We’re delighted to be preparing for our Spring Show – our first “in person” show since 2019!   It’s very exciting and it will be such a joy to welcome you all to the village hall to view the exhibits, partake in a cup of tea with a scrumptious slice of homemade cake, maybe buy a plant or two…..Talking of exhibits, please don’t be shy! Please do enter as many classes as you can – there are many opportunities to show your beautiful plants, veg and blooms, perhaps some craft you’ve created in those long days of lockdown, or some delicious produce inspired by “bake off”.  If you’ve any questions, please do contact Pamela Wright on      shows@grayshottgardeners.net.

On the topic of baking, we offer an apology – the recipe for the Coffee and Walnut cake has a mistake in it.  The ingredients for the cake and the topping include 50ml of strong black coffee.  We’ve translated this quantity to 3 teaspoons, which is not right.  It would be 2.81 tablespoons, but please just ignore the spoon mistake, and stick to 50ml.   I’m sure it will taste delicious – happy baking!

VISITS

Join us for an exclusive tour of Millais Nursery Garden, Churt One of the country’s leading specialist rhododendron growers, with 5 consecutive RHS Flower Show ‘Golds’

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Millais.jpeg

Tuesday 17th May            5.30pm—7pm

Explore the newly remodelled garden
See mature Rhododendrons in their prime

Purchase plants at 10% discount

Tour the propagation unit (optional)

Light refreshments served on arrival

Cost £5 per head. 
In aid of the National Garden Scheme Charity (Places are limited)

Information from Vanessa Thompson at a club night or email: events@grayshottgardeners.net  to reserve your place

JOBS FOR THIS MONTH

1. Prune bush and climbing roses.

2. Plant shallots, onions and early potatoes.

3. Plant summer-flowering bulbs.

4. Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials. (See plant sale article)

5. Top dress containers with fresh compost.

6. Mow the lawn on dry day (if needed).

7. Cut back Cornus (dogwood) and Salix (willow) grown for colourful winter stems.

8. Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control.

9. Start feeding fish and using the pond fountain : remove pond heaters.

10.Protect new spring shoots from slugs.

The above list was taken from the RHS website where you can also get more information on each topic. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/in-month/march

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Subscription Payments

Our membership secretary would like to remind you that subscriptions should be paid by the end of March.

As a reminder, its £20 for the year and if you would like to pay on a club night, cash would be appreciated.

Village Hall wifi connection

For those members who would like to be on line while at the hall.

PLANT SALE

We are planning a Plant Sale this year to be held in the Village Hall on May 7th

For this we will need PLANTS and plenty of them!

Please help by

1. Potting up any perenials you have been splitting.

2. Offer to grow on and re-pot plug plants provided by the club.

Jan Bebbington will be on hand at the next meeting to take names and give advice.

Together we can make this a great event so please help if you can.