Newsletter                         May 2007

 

 

Cookham and Cookham Dean Horticultural Society

 

NEXT MEETING:  Wednesday 30th May  7.30pm

Cookham Dean Village Hall

 

“The Water Garden”

 A talk by Alan Buller
 
                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN’S   LETTER

 

Dear Members and friends

 

Have you all got your hanging baskets planted yet?  Uel McGowan from the Odney Club showed us how he does his special ones,  plus a lot more information which I hope you will all find useful.

 

To anyone not at the last meeting, the Society is running a competition similar to the daffodil bulb competition. We sold small plug size fuchsias at the last meeting for 50p, and the idea is that everyone grows the plant on all summer and then brings it to the September meeting to see whose has turned into the best plant.  The speaker at the meeting will be asked to judge them and the winner will receive a Gardening voucher.

If you would like to participate please get in touch with me as I have some spares which are potted up and ready for new homes.  I will bring them to the May meeting but in the meantime please do feel free to call me and I will get it to you.

 

Helpful hints to those who are already participating; pinch out all the tips as they become long enough to do so, keep the soil moist and don’t leave them in full sun.  Watch them for greenfly and whitefly, specially if you are keeping them in a greenhouse at the moment.   Even when you put them outside, keep a watchful eye on them for aphids.Feed them after the initial six weeks with a liquid feed.

 

As many of you know, Chris Sibbald very kindly took on board the task of seed and plant ordering on behalf of the Society, and whilst Sutton’s orders have been first class, Marshalls, who supply mostly vegetable seeds, have been positively awful, so we are now looking for a good and more reliable veg seed supplier.  If you know a good one please let us know.

 

On June 27th there is a garden visit to Crockmore House at Fawley.  It is for members only and there will a charge of £5. per head which is going to the owners’ nominated charity which is Breast Cancer Breakthrough.  Please meet there at 6.p.m. directions will be given and if you can share a car please do so.

 

Brian

 

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

 

Wed. 6th June   6.30pm-9.30pm Drive yourself to the Wormsley Estate at Stokenchurch for a tour of the Walled Garden, a glass of Pimms  and an introductory talk about the history of the estate.  Contact Helen Turner from Gardening Which? on

01494 782349  £12 for non members.

 

Thursday 19th July. Coach trip to Sarah Raven’s cutting garden. Pick up from Beaconsfield 9.30am. Tours, coffee, lunch and tea included at £52. Contact as above

 

 

Reminder of Yellow book openings

  

Saturday 26th May      Old Thatch

Wednesday 30th May  Dorneywood Garden

Sunday 17th June        Bradenham Manor

A unique opportunity to see the ongoing restoration of the C17th gardens, with views of the village and countryside. Reinstated Victorian summer border, yew hedges, parterre and wilderness at various stages of restoration. Garden tour at 2pm.

 

 

PRUNING WISTERIA

 

One of the most common requests I an faced with is “How do I prune my wisteria?”

There are many advisory leaflets and books on the subject but this month’s RHS  The Garden magazine summarises the techniques in a simple but straight forward way.

 

Traditional method

First cut: In August, tie in new shoots that are needed to extend the framework of branches to fill any gaps or to replace worn out limbs. Then shorten back all the current seasons shoots to around 30cm. Removing shoots at this time of year restricts the amount of vegetative growth, improves air circulation and allows more sunlight to ripen the young stems, all of which help improve flower bud formation. Whippy shoots that grow after this summer pruning should be cut back to five or six buds from the main branch just above a bud as necessary.

Second cut: In February, shorten back the summer pruned shoots to within 2.5 cm –5cm of older wood or two to three buds. It should be possible to distinguish the plump flower buds from the slimmer growth buds. This is a good method for young plants.

 

 

Alternative method

 

This is my preferred method for established plants and works well for me and for anyone who is short of time. Prune hard only once a year in late August or early September. I prune back to three buds at this stage.

 

One of the biggest mistakes is that people try to extend their wisteria too quickly by keeping all the whippy shoots which then become a terrible tangle. Be patient and try to distinguish early on which leaders you are trying to train.

GT

 

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

 

Mrs ‘Do as I say, not what I do’ is how Helen Dillon refers to herself and this piece from her ‘Letter from Ireland’ in The English Garden struck a chord with me. “What I actually do goes more like this: fall in love with a plant, bring it home in triumph, walk round the garden, find a gap, go and look the plant up in the RHS Dictionary, change mind, walk round garden failing to find a suitable place - too sunny, too shady, too dry – go back and Google plant, decide on a new spot, realise plant will be overshadowed, find doubts creeping in, reconsider plant – have I slightly gone off it? Not as exciting as I first thought? Eventually, I employ the ‘shut my eyes and plonk it in’ method. Problem momentarily solved. Excellent.”

 

 

BEST BUY

 

 

BBC Gardener’s World (April) included an interesting survey testing five sets of plants for performance and value. Each set was subject to the same test conditions. The test plants were Caryopteris, Gaillardia ,Geum, Lavatera and Rosa. The same five plants were bought from a garden centre, a nursery, the internet, a DIY store and a market to see how they compared. The results, in brief, were:

 

Nursery (4/10) although great selection of plants at reasonable prices, the test plants fared worst.

 

Internet(5/10)The plants did well but the delivery charges pushed costs up by 40%.

 

Garden centre(7/10)Not all plants performed well although decent value for money.

 

DIYstore(8/10)Healthy plants but prices on high side.

 

Market(9/10)Choice isn’t great and advice limited but prices were low and test plants developed superbly.

                                            Lesley Aston-Member

 

 

Copy deadline for next newsletter is 6th June to Gill Townend (483092) or by email on gilltownend@aol.com