Bramdean House is a mainly Georgian house nestled on chalk down in a valley near Petersfield. There is a 1-acre kitchen garden divided into sub plots, an arboretum including some North American trees, ornamental and walled gardens and some wild areas. Now owned by the Wakefield family the property also has very big hedges, a […]
Our speaker for September was Pip Bensley who is a three times Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Gold medal winner . Pip’s background in horticulture caused the RHS to select her to be a judge at the 2019 EXPO in China where 110 countries participated The talk was about her travels to Beijing and meeting her […]
Dahlias have never been as popular as they are today. They have come back into fashion and are filling the gardens with a wealth of colour which extends into the autumn. No matter what the weather, dahlias can be relied upon to produce an eye-catching feature in any garden. They are easy to grow once […]
As pelargoniums are often referred to as geraniums Roger started his talk by telling us the difference, which is that geraniums (Cranesbills) are hardy perennials and pelargoniums are non-hardy. There are several different types of pelargonium. Miniature – kept in pots no bigger than 3.5”. Dwarf – kept in pots no bigger than 4.5”. Zonal […]
Over the years farming has changed and the use of herbicides means that fields no longer contain the flowers and weeds essential for insect life. This has made the garden much more important to maintain the insects. It doesn’t matter how big or small the garden is there are ways of ensuring support for wildlife. […]
Andy McIndoe spoke to a full audience about how year round planting schemes can bring interest close to the house. Buying the best pots you can afford is the best plan and when it comes to terracotta Andy suggested the English made ones are tougher than others and will survive cold weather. Good drainage using […]
Our AGM was held in the Millennium Hall, the first time back there for two years! It was good to see everyone in person again. We started with the AGM, followed by a lively discussion on how the club moves forward. Instead of the usual comprehensive flower show we had a modified bulb show. Each […]
Our last zoom talk of the pandemic! We were looking forward to hearing a talk entitled Skulduggery in the Shrubbery, which got us wondering what we were going to hear. Unfortunately, technology got the better of us, and neither our IT coordinator nor Stephan could get the show on the road. This was the only […]
Richard is the editor of Beecraft and keeps around 30 of his own hives and is the beekeeper at Westonbirt where he teaches beekeeping courses. His lively and informative talk made us think about the summer ahead and the overwintering queen bees that wake mid February to establish a nest. A new colony begins and […]
The December meeting was a talk from Chris Bird who is a lecturer at Sparsholt College.Invasive Species was the theme of his informative talk which explained that new invasive species have been introduced to the UK over a long period of time, ground elder has been here since Henry V111. Fly tipping garden waste has […]
