West Down Gardening Club meets usually on the third Thursday in the month in West Down Parish Hall
Future meetings
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Recent meetings
THE GARDENING CLUB held a very well attended January meeting. The speaker was Tim Evens from Harpers Mill at Sterridge Valley, Berrynarbor. He was accompanied by Tim Davis who operated the Slide Show. This was a really enjoyable evening. We progressed through the seasons, there were the changing scenes in the garden as the plants and flowers went from winter into spring growth then the glory of summer, following on were the autumn colours. To accompany this we saw the birdlife attracted to the garden and its woodland surroundings. There were also animals, large as in the Red Deer and small as were the little mice. Lizards and slow worms and insects were not forgotten and perhaps most beautiful were the Butterflies, altogether this was a delightful programme showing so much that was a garden with much more than plants and trees. We have been invited to join the Gardening Club meeting at Goodleigh on March 14 The speaker will be Nick Hamilton and his subject is “Barnsdale after Geoff”. Many of us remember Geoff Hamilton and this should be a interesting evening. |
2011
November meeting
The Gardening Club welcomed back Dave Squires from RHS Rosemoor. He gave us a Slide show and talk on "The Scented Garden" Dave's slides showed us the vast number of shrubs, perennials, bulbs and herbs that are scented, some with an intoxicating perfume and others that repel insects.
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October meeting A large attendance of members and visitors had a thoroughly enjoyable evening being transported by wonderful slides to Madeira. Howard Wills came to show us the plants and scenery of this beautiful Island. There was such a variety of aspects and so much to marvel at. There were high volcanic mountains with rugged ridges, deep narrow valleys run down to steep cliffs around the coast. High up there are walkways and tunnels to make access to areas that are too difficult by road.A Cable car runs down to the more level ground that is only accessible from the sea There is a magnificent Botanic Garden with much to admire Every display is on a very large scale, this includes Palm Gardens , Topiary and a larger than life Terra Cotta Army. The competition for a photograph of a Holiday Garden resulted. 1. Margaret Thomas, 2. Laurie Pine, 3. Keith Oades. There was a wonderful display of scenes from all around the World. |
GARDENING CLUB SEPTEMBER MEETING Walk and Talk through the Vegetable Garden |
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| GARDENING CLUB AUGUST MEETING The guest speaker was a welcome return visit from Jennifer Harmer. Her talk was on Auriculas. This is a plant which has had a place in our gardens since the beginning of recorded plant history. New named varieties have been developed but they still closely resemble the many paintings that have depicting them in over the years. Slides of the many lovely colours and their variations were shown and also illustrated the methods of propagation used. A competition for an arrangement in a egg cup resulted 1.Jackie Milsom, 2.Ruth Verney, 3. Cathey Clarke. |
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August visit to Suttons Seeds |
July Meeting
The Club returned to their regular meeting night at the Parish Hall after a three month break when they had enjoyed a series of outdoor events.
On arrival at the Hall we found tables laden with Plants of all descriptions on one side, and the other wall was covered with beautiful prints of flowers and plants. These were the work of our very talented speaker, Glen Headland from Holsworthy. She is a keen gardener, journalist and photographer. Her illustrated talk was entitled "Gardening on a Budget" She said that there are many very expensive products in the shops and garden centres which with a little knowledge we could replace with very good alternatives. We were told how to make a simple soil test to ascertain our soil type. Compost making was a must. Saving and exchanging seeds can be a great saving. There are a range of remedies which can be found within our homes for the control of pests from ants, slugs, aphides and even moles without buying the expensive branded products we have got accustomed to using.
We all went home with a lot of worthwhile ideas to try out.
Another table in the Hall was filled with vases of Sweet Peas, these were the resulting blooms from the seeds we were issued with at our Annual meeting. These were judges for the monthly competition and the winners were 1. Jean Matthews; 2. Janet Tolman; 3. John Goodman.
Andrea Staddon was thanked for arranging our exhibit at the recent Church Flower Festival.
The stall at the Village Fayre raised £150.89p. Members were thanked for their contributions of plants and time spent helping at the stall.
June walk around four gardens & tea at Little Comfort
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Dorset Visit
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 N.G.S garden at Beara |
April Meeting.
We all welcomed the return of Neil Lovesey from Picket Lane Nurseries in Dorset. I do not think we had expected his talk on "Cottage Gardens" to contain so many interesting facts. We started in the time when most of the country was owned by large land-owners mostly Royalty or Lords or Peers of the Realm. This being so the workers would not have ownership of land or home. Industrious men would obtain permission to build a dwelling, in return he would grow and supply produce to his master and if insufficient would also labour for his Landlord. This was the original meaning for this well known term. In 1349 a ship landed which brought rats and fleas which would change the way of life in the country as the Black Death wiped out a third of the population. The fear of infection led people to move away from communities and build their cottages in more remote areas. Cottages did not start with a planned area of garden; gradually plants which had a purpose such as herbs for healing and medicine were grown near the cottage as were plants for food. This over time developed into what we see today. There are still examples of these plants to be found around the gardens of older properties. Everyone found this a very enjoyable talk with so much of interest The competition for a photograph of a Cottage Garden resulted - 1. Roger Parry; 2. Pat Williams; 3. Ruth Verney. |
March Meeting - A.G.M. & 10th Birthday Party
The Annual meeting followed, The Annual Report highlighted that our membership had reached the high of 51. The programme of activates enjoyed during the year varied from talks and demonstrations, films and garden visits not forgetting our Christmas lunch at RHS Rosemoor, this was on a lovely December day and walks around the garden were enjoyed before lunch. The Financial report was satisfactory and although we had paid more on speakers this year it was considered that this has contributed to our successful year. There is still money set aside to maintain the Village plant containers. The overall winners in the competitions throughout the year were 1. Ruth Verney; 2 Janet Tolman, 3 Jackie Milsom and Jan Oades (tie). Election of Officers saw the return of Chairman Jan Oades; Secretary Ruth Verney Treasurer-Laurie Pine. Committee members are - Jane Devlin, Roger and Nina Parry. Toni Buchan was thanked for auditing the accounts and agreed to be re-appointed for the coming year. New programme were available and described the wide variety of event we will be able to enjoy over the coming months, This includes a visit to Dorset to Picket Lane nurseries and Mapperton gardens, a talk on Gardening on a Budget our own Open Gardens afternoon with Cream Tea and much ,much more. The business complete we were then entertained by really beautiful slides presented by John Pearce of Ilfracombe who is one of our members. The pictures were predominately of Exmoor and surrounding area with many wonderful images of Red Deer in their natural surroundings and reminded us of the lovely countryside we have so near to home. |
January meeting Members were delighted to welcome Maureen Dennis a well known past resident of the village with a selection of her lovely films. There was a good attendance in spite of the very frosty conditions. The film " A Secret Garden" showed all manner of different aspects of what to look for in addition to the flowers in their seasons, Bird song was also a feature. The many insects and their purpose in nature, Caterpillars, Butterflies Moths and Dragonflies were all beautifully portrayed. The plants that have been with us thousands of years and their medicinal uses were all described. We then saw a number of well known gardens which we were invited to identify. A light-hearted film entitled Grannies handbag, narrated by Maureen's grandson was a real contrast, then there were glimpses of the plants growing in betweenthe limestone paving of theThe Burren in County Clare, Ireland and finally some snow scenes .
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