Newsletter May 2006

Cookham and Cookham Dean Horticultural Society

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, MAY 31^st 7.30pm

Cookham Dean Village Hall

Rob Reeder (from Farnham Common Nurseries)

will talk on Drought Tolerant Plants

Chairman’s letter

As many of you will be aware there was a last minute change to our programme at the last meeting as the speaker we should have unfortunately could not come and give his talk. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Susie Tremlett she found a substitute at the eleventh hour who gave us a short but interesting demonstration on making ‘hanging baskets’. Some slightly controversial points she made were taken up by members, but we understand it was her first ‘talk’ to an audience so I hope we haven’t put her off doing any more.

On the recommendation of one of our new members at the meeting who had visited Wisley on that day, Gill and I took off for Wisley ourselves the next day and were not disappointed. The Alpine house was quite sensational, with a fantastic show of every alpine you can imagine all in flower together. The rhododendrons and azaleas were probably about half out, so looking magnificent but there is still more to come if any members feel like making the trip in the near future. We hope to visit Savill Gardens in the next week or two as it is a place we still haven’t managed to get to yet, probably because it is such a busy time of year for us gardeners, but I think it does us all good to take a day off now and again and visit another garden, not only can you ‘sit’ back and enjoy it but you invariably go home with new ideas which is what gardening is all about- enjoyment! Finally,a warm welcome to our new members Valerie Trodd and Margaret Mellon and welcome back to Margaret Maskell!

Hope to see you all in May

Brian 484821

Note from Susie Tremlett;

As those of you who were at the April meeting will know, I mentioned that the speaker I had booked for May, to talk on ‘Ponds & Water Features’, had written to say he would not be able to come. However, I have managed to book Rob Reeder, manager of Farnham Common Nurseries, who will speak to us about ‘Drought Tolerant Plants’. I know Rob is known to several of our members, both through his present job and previously, when he worked for several years at Dorney Court when the garden centre there was owned by Blooms of Bressingham. In view of our present hosepipe ban and the potential shortage of water this summer, this may be a more relevant talk than the one I had planned which I shall certainly try and include in next year’s programme. June’s meeting will be in the form of an outing to the Windsor Farm Shop on the evening of 28^th June, and must be restricted to members only. More details in next month’s newsletter. Information also next month about the outing to the garden of Mill House, Medmenham, on 23 August.

PINDER HALL – GARDEN CENTRE

Some of us are basic gardeners. We have no greenhouse, are vague about plant names, restrict our planting to a limited range which thrive in our gardens and are reluctant to use specialist mail order suppliers. We agree with Monty Don’s thought that gardening can be an intimidating business which has to be fun and rewarding if it is not just to become another domestic chore.

Pinder Hall may be the answer for the likes of us. I’m a loyal fan of Vernon Brown’s Gardening sale on most Sundays (8.30am-3.30pm) in Cookham’s Pinder Hall.

The Brown family have been coming to Cookham from Spalding, Lincs for over 20 years. Getting up at about 3am they bring a wonderful range of really fresh seasonal bulbs, plants and shrubs and several planted containers and baskets. They grow some themselves, others are grown locally and some are imported from Holland. Vernon sees his strength in the quality and freshness of his stock. Everything is specially selected for that day; as Vernon says ”Nothing standing around” although I think their prices compare favourably with local garden centres. Another plus is not having to trip over pricey barbecues and kitsch garden furniture nor do you have to decode those strange labels with half-suns and hieroglyphics. Vernon has several versions of Dr Hessayon guides hanging in the appropriate place. Linda is always helpful and friendly and Josh, the youngest son ,will carry everything to the car and there’s plenty of parking space. The next few sales at Pinder Hall are on May14th, May28th and 29^th, 4^th and 11^th June.

Country Market is not just a resurrection of WI flans, cakes and eggs. Most Fridays (8.30-10.30am) there are tables outside Pinder Hall with an interesting range of sturdy plants often being sold by the people who have grown them who give helpful advice on how to nurture them. Mine have always thrived but you need to get there early to have a wide choice.

Lesley Aston(Club member)

‘Extending the Seasons in the mixed border’

Lecture by Fergus Garrett at the Hardy Plant Society meeting April 2006

I was invited as a guest to this lecture by Carolyn Foster and was pleased to see several Cookham Horticultural Society members there. Fergus Garrett is Head Gardener at Great Dixter, the late Christopher Lloyd’s garden. There were over 150 slides which Fergus rattled through in just over an hour. The message was ‘make the most of your border space by underplanting, interplanting and replacing and removing plants at appropriate times’ . “All very well if your borders are large or you have plenty of time” you may think but Fergus was at pains to point out that even the smallest border can benefit from some simple rules to extend the season of interest. Here they are;

• Always choose the best form of a plant and don’t compromise on this. You will need to keep abreast of the developments in plant breeding but a regular reading of the gardening press will help.
• Some plants are really worth their keep in the mixed border and time and again the slides showed cornus alba elegantissima, viburnum opulus compactum, euonymus fortunei, cotoneaster horizontalis, mahonia Charity as key shrubs and galanthus nivalis (snowdrops) scillas, tulips and forget me nots for early show under later perennials.Ferns were also used in shady mixed borders
• In a small shady bed try snowdrops, followed by euphorbia polychroma Major,followed by forget me nots with Tulip Ballerina.
• Don’t overcrowd emerging plants and be prepared to ruthlessly thin out self seeders .
• Don’t plant over vigorous climbers on shrubs which will take away light and vigour from the parent support plant.
• Try to deadhead perennials regularly.
• Don’t overdo architectural plants such as verbena bonariensis…a few are fine, mass planting doesn’t work
• Try different underplanting in successive years. For example, the slides showed arabis underplanted with narcissus Jetfire one year, tulip Yellow Emperor the second year, hyacinths the third, tulipa Eichleri the fourth etc. At Great Dixter they lift their tulips every year so no messy foliage hanging around…sounds expensive to me!
• Try to have a theme in companion planting e.g. oriental poppies followed by cannas contrasting with the red berries of viburnum opulus compactum.

This was a lecture filled with information and ideas, not as amusing or witty as Timothy Walker, but inspiring nevertheless with some excellent slides.

Gill Townend

Following on from our correspondence about rabbit and deer damage try to look up the following web site for another list of deer proof plants www.gardenadvice.co.uk and go to ‘pests’ I am thinking of designing some planting plans using only the plants on the list …a job for those long winter nights!

GARDENS OPEN for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust include:

Sunday, 4th June 57a Wood Lane, Sonning Common 2-5pm. A half acre garden full of hardy perennial plants, grasses, vegetables, trees and shrubs and a water feature.

Sunday,18^th June Goring Gardens. The Old Farm House, Station Road, Goring

2-5.30pm All gardens within easy walking distance of village car park.

Sunday,25^th June Maracay,Dean Lane, Cookham Dean. 2-5pm South facing garden of 0.8 acre with a woodland area, heathers and conifers, a Mediterranean and vegetable garden, lawns and well stocked borders.

Further details on these and others can be found on www.airambulancetvac.org or by phoning 01628 822711

And don’t forget our own Thames Hospicecare Gardens Open day on Sunday 11^th June. 2-6pm. All donations of plants and cakes to the Village Hall in the morning please. Cakes wrapped please but not in containers which need to be returned. Stella Fairlie 532926 is coordinating plants.

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BE WISE WITH WATER

YOU CAN USE A HOSEPIPE TO:

• Fill a watering can, water butts, pressure sprayers and other empty containers
• Connect a pressure washer to the outside tap
• Hose down pets and livestock
• Supply water for DIY and hard landscaping projects eg mixing concrete and mortar
• Fill up ponds and pools
• Water a council allotment
• Supply water to garden showers and children’s toys
• Clean windows and buildings, including greenhouses

WATER LESS OFTEN :

There are several ways to reduce the number of times you need to water:

• Water retaining gel
• Manual watering systems
• Soil reservoirs; catch run off by forming planting ‘dishes’ on slopes
• Break the crust but stop digging by late March and hoe only to remove weeds.
• Add organic matter
• Mulch
• Let the grass grow a little longer before mowing the lawn, then raise the cutting height to 4cm and leave the cuttings on the lawn.
• Provide shelter -pick a planting spot that is protected by walls, fences or other plants. Even better, delay planting until autumn.
• Bigger pots- use a bigger pot and more compost to cool the soil and conserve moisture
• Remove weeds promptly as they suck water out of the soil
• Reduce bedding plants and hanging baskets as they have high watering requirements.
• Choose more drought tolerant plants…see RHS Online (www.rhs.org.uk/advice)

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE A HOSEPIPE TO WATER PLANTS DIRECTLY OR TO WASH CARS

WATER STORAGE AND IRRIGATION STRATEGIES:

• Store water for dry spells in water butts
• Recycle grey water (bathing and washing water is ok but not from dishwashers or softened water
• Water thoroughly every 7-10 days rather than little and often. Light watering encourages surface rooting and danger of drying out.
• Water at the base of the plant whenever possible
• Water in the cool of the evening or early morning when evaporation is lower.

(summarised from www.the-hta.org.uk and The Garden magazine May 2006)

Deadline for next newsletter 6^th June. Copy to Gill Townend on 01628 483092 or gilltownend@aol.com