COVID Update
We are unable to meet in the village Hall but we have activities planned on ZOOM:
We are determined to stay in touch with our members and have events planned online using Zoom. Please keep an eye on our Calendar Page for all updates...
We are determined to stay in touch with our members and have events planned online using Zoom. Please keep an eye on our Calendar Page for all updates...
Next Meeting:
ZOOM Talk starts at 7:30pm on Tuesday 23rd February
Our speaker is Andrew Mikolajski, he will give a talk on "Permaculture for Gardeners".
Andrew is a horticultural consultant, writer and lecturer with over 20 years of experience. He is the author of over 40 gardening titles and an advisor to the RHS. Andrew is based in Northamptonshire where he runs gardening courses at Lamport Hall. His Talk will explain the principles of permaculture so we can all consider how to garden in a sustainable and ecologically harmonious manner.
He has visited us before and we are looking forward to welcoming him back for another informative and entertaining evening
ZOOM Talk starts at 7:30pm on Tuesday 23rd February
Our speaker is Andrew Mikolajski, he will give a talk on "Permaculture for Gardeners".
Andrew is a horticultural consultant, writer and lecturer with over 20 years of experience. He is the author of over 40 gardening titles and an advisor to the RHS. Andrew is based in Northamptonshire where he runs gardening courses at Lamport Hall. His Talk will explain the principles of permaculture so we can all consider how to garden in a sustainable and ecologically harmonious manner.
He has visited us before and we are looking forward to welcoming him back for another informative and entertaining evening
The Spring and Summer Show Schedules are available to download on the show schedules page. We are hoping to be able to run the shows as normal... however should we need to make alternative arrangements for the Spring show in March - we will update you here. For now, please do print out the schedules and entry forms and prepare your exhibits as normal... Happy Gardening.
Membership 2020-2021
Membership renewal is due for another year. Membership of the club runs from October 2020 to September 2021. Normal annual membership costs £18. This year we are offering our membership for just £10 for the year. Whilst we cannot guarantee when meetings will resume, we will do our best to organise some talks and other events on ZOOM whilst the village hall is closed. Our members also enjoy discounts at several local Garden Centres.
For details on how to pay your subscription this year, please get in touch:
email: lwgardenclub@gmail.com
Recent News:
Our ZOOM club Speaker on Tuesday 26th January was Darren Lerigo who spoke to us about
“Clippings - How to prune Topiary and Shrubs”
We would like to thank Darren for a very entertaining and interactive talk. Darren showed us fabulous pictures of topiary gardens up and down the country and discussed the difference between formal and organic topiary.
Darren provided lots of practical tips for creating clipped and shaped shrubs in the garden. He focused mainly on Box and Yew hedging, but also described other species that are good for clipping. The most important criteria for a shrub species to be clipped is that it must sprout from old wood. Darren answered questions about Box Blight, the fungal disease that harms boxwood: he recommended that pruning equipment always be cleaned with dilute bleach to prevent the spread of this disease. By far the worst affliction for boxwood, however, is the box caterpillar. The moth was introduced from Asia and is now a very widespread problem across England - it can destroy entire box pants rapidly. Darren recommended the use of nematodes to control the caterpillar and pheromone traps to catch the adult moths.
It was clear from Darren's wonderful presentation that clipped shrubs can make fabulous architectural impact, and create fun and interest in any garden.
Darren has written a guide 'How To Combat the Boxwood Caterpillar'. It can be viewed on the 'Practical gardening Tips' page of our website, along with news of brand new cultivars of blight-resistant Boxwood :
“Clippings - How to prune Topiary and Shrubs”
We would like to thank Darren for a very entertaining and interactive talk. Darren showed us fabulous pictures of topiary gardens up and down the country and discussed the difference between formal and organic topiary.
Darren provided lots of practical tips for creating clipped and shaped shrubs in the garden. He focused mainly on Box and Yew hedging, but also described other species that are good for clipping. The most important criteria for a shrub species to be clipped is that it must sprout from old wood. Darren answered questions about Box Blight, the fungal disease that harms boxwood: he recommended that pruning equipment always be cleaned with dilute bleach to prevent the spread of this disease. By far the worst affliction for boxwood, however, is the box caterpillar. The moth was introduced from Asia and is now a very widespread problem across England - it can destroy entire box pants rapidly. Darren recommended the use of nematodes to control the caterpillar and pheromone traps to catch the adult moths.
It was clear from Darren's wonderful presentation that clipped shrubs can make fabulous architectural impact, and create fun and interest in any garden.
Darren has written a guide 'How To Combat the Boxwood Caterpillar'. It can be viewed on the 'Practical gardening Tips' page of our website, along with news of brand new cultivars of blight-resistant Boxwood :
Our ZOOM club Speaker on Tuesday 24th November was Doug Stewart, who spoke about
“Super Heroes - The Plant Hunters”
Doug described himself as a “total plant geek”. He is a professional Associate with the RHS and had worked in a wide variety of horticultural positions and been involved with horticultural education for over 20 years.
Doug gave us a very entertaining talk about some of the original 'Plant Hunters' who travelled to some of the most remote parts of the world in Victorian and Edwardian times to bring plant specimens back to the UK.
He told us stories of the 3 plant hunters Frank Kingdom-Ward 1880-1820, Reginauld Farrer 1880-1920 & Ernest Wilson 1876 - 1930.
Exploration was funded by wealthy landowners who wanted to improve their plant range. Much of the exploration from his 3 plant hunters was done in Asia. There were no home comforts, no GPS and expeditions were time consuming as they had to wait for any specimen to flower and produce seed so it could be collected. Seed survived better than other plant material when shipped back to UK, bulbs tended to rot even when encased in clay.
Doug encouraged us all to, when we buy a packet of flower seeds, think about what endeavours the original plant hunters went through to collect the first specimens, catalogue them and bring them back to the UK to be propagated. We would like to thank Doug for a very entertaining evening.
The Annual Show.
Sunday 6th September 2020.
Thank you to everyone who came, supported, exhibited and judged at the show.
It was a great success and lovely to see so many exhibits in the hall. The show was kept very COVID safe so well done everyone for obliging to our new rules.
Thank you Ian Bone for taking some fabulous photos at the show - a selection of which can now be viewed on our Photo Gallery Page.
Congratulations to Eva Rogers who has won the Cyril Collins Cup for the most points in total at the show this year. For the results and winners of other trophies please visit our trophy 2020 page.
Sunday 6th September 2020.
Thank you to everyone who came, supported, exhibited and judged at the show.
It was a great success and lovely to see so many exhibits in the hall. The show was kept very COVID safe so well done everyone for obliging to our new rules.
Thank you Ian Bone for taking some fabulous photos at the show - a selection of which can now be viewed on our Photo Gallery Page.
Congratulations to Eva Rogers who has won the Cyril Collins Cup for the most points in total at the show this year. For the results and winners of other trophies please visit our trophy 2020 page.
NEWS by Christine Bone
After a turbulent period when meetings, visits and shows have been cancelled we were delighted to hold our Annual Produce Show on Sunday 6 September 2020.
Emma and Paula did an amazing job of organising a show that complied with the Covid -19 regulations.
Entry to the Standlake Village Hall was limited to 30 people at any time, hand sanitizer, face masks, one way markings on the floor, separate entrance and exit allowed visitors to safely view the exhibits. Unfortunately, we were unable to have a raffle, serve refreshments or hold presentations to the winners but visitors were still able to enjoy the wide range of exhibits.
We were fortunate that we had a warm sunny afternoon and the sun streamed through the windows to illuminate the floral entries. After viewing the show visitors were able to mingle on the large patio outside the hall – socially distanced of course! Many thanks to the exhibitors and supporters for all their efforts – without their entries there would not have been a show.
The winner of the most points at the annual show was Eva Rogers who received the Cyril Collins Cup. A full list of trophy winners can be found on the club website.
Happy gardening; stay safe and well!
Members' Discounts
As a member of the Garden Club you can enjoy the following discounts on presentation of your Membership Card:
10% Cassington Nurseries, Cassington
10%Yarnton Nurseries and Garden Centre. Quote Number 60
10% Burford Garden Centre (Plants only). Collect Discount Card from Customer Services
10% A.K. Timms Brize Norton (Garden Centre Only)
10% Discount available also at Hill Top Nursery, Ramsden: On Tuesdays and Thursdays only – Members must enrol with the nursery to receive their own discount card.
The Club would like to thank all participating Nurseries for their continued support.
As a member of the Garden Club you can enjoy the following discounts on presentation of your Membership Card:
10% Cassington Nurseries, Cassington
10%Yarnton Nurseries and Garden Centre. Quote Number 60
10% Burford Garden Centre (Plants only). Collect Discount Card from Customer Services
10% A.K. Timms Brize Norton (Garden Centre Only)
10% Discount available also at Hill Top Nursery, Ramsden: On Tuesdays and Thursdays only – Members must enrol with the nursery to receive their own discount card.
The Club would like to thank all participating Nurseries for their continued support.
