WEST BLETCHLEY 
GARDEN CLUB
Meets at 7.30 p.m. (usually), on the second Tuesday of the month in Rectory Cottages.
BULLETIN BOARD

                                           Programme June 2006 - April 2007
.
Tuesday 11 th.  July            Hidden Gardens of Central MK

7.00 p.m.    Meet outside Rectory Cottages, Church Green Road, Old Bletchley

Come along and spend a summer's evening wandering through little known planted areas around and near CMK Station. A chance to be taken on a guided tour with a 'Blue Badge Guide' and see various areas of planting by the various departments oF Milton Keynes Council and other authorities.

£2.50 per person (Guide Fee) Car Share Available - 'travel share' donation.

For more details telephone 01908 644349

Tuesday 15 th. August        Garden Party

Tuesday 12 th. September   Talk on Stowe Gardens

Tuesday 10 th. October        Buckingham Nursery (Over-wintering)

Tuesday 14 th. November      Orchid Society Talk

Tuesday 12 th. December    Christmas Workshop

Tuesday 9 th. January          Quiz

Tuesday 13 th February        Cornwall Gardens Talk

Tuesday 13 th. March          Slides by Barbara & AGM

Tuesday 10 th. April            Potash Nurseries
 

                               Programme September 2002 - December 2002

Tuesday 10 th. September 2002 7.30 p.m
    Rectory Cottages   -    Problem sharing Question &Answer Session
                                   Members Free        Non-members £1.00

Tuesday 8 th. October 2002    7.30 p.m.
    Rectory Cottages    -    'Planting Ideas for Winter'   -   Alison Thompson
                                     Members £1.00      Non-members £2.00

Tuesday 12 th. November 2002  7.30 p.m.
    Rectory Cottages    -    'Winning Gold at the Chelsea Flower Show' - Clare Hodges
                                       Members £1.00      Non-members £2.00

Tuesday 10 th. December 2992   7.30 p.m.
    Rectory Cottages    -    'Christmas Decoration with Flowers'
                                        Members Free        Non-members £1.00
                           The Committee
             Chairman                 Helen Vernon  648655
            Hon Secretary           Brenda Ladd
            Hon. Treasurer        Jenny Cozza   367550
             Membership            Jill Jones    644349
             Publicity                 Ray Jones    644349

                                              Earlier Events
                                               August  2002
On 13 th. August, a garden barbecue was held in Church Green Road

                                               July 2002
On July 9 th. the Club visited Anne Earl's delightful garden in Cottingham grove to take part in a quiz. As they sampled Anne's cakes contestants, were able to explore the garden while looking for the questions which were hanging on cards throughout. If you were not able to come try your hand at a few sample questions:-

    Who or what is Muller Thurgau?
    What is a Ha Ha?
    Where did Market Gardening start in the 16C. - Guildford, Chelmsford or Sandwich?
    What was a 'Beetle' used for?
    How often does a Bamboo flower?
    From what kind of Rose is Attar of Roses made?

Answers soon

                                                                             June  2002
Following a General Meeting which approved a constitution and elected a new committee, there was a tour of Church Green Road gardens. The owners of gardens visited were as follows

1     Garden for the Blind          Parish Council
 This Garden was originally sponsored by TOC H and maintained by Milton Keynes Council. Having fallen into disrepair, its revival was sponsored by the Neighbourhood Council and maintained by the Parish. Raised beds with scented plants.

2      Glen Lodder
Winner of 1999 West Bletchley in Bloom contest. A long narrow garden divided into 'rooms'.

3     Rosemary Moore
An even longer narrow garden full of interest and also divided into 'rooms'. Near the end is a hut used to breed insects.

4     Brenda Ladd
A medium sized wide garden with a Mediterranean feel.

5     Juliet Simpson
This was originally an old garden that is being gradually revived.

6     Keith Woodward
A half acre more notable more for problems of dealing with size and shape than quality.

7       Dr & Mrs Jarvis
The garden proceeds around the house to your right. There is a separate section, mainly for vegetables at the end of the rear garden.

8     Margaret Marengos
(Refreshments) This is a prolific organic garden recently extended.

                                                                 February  2002

A small group met in February and were entertained to an extremely interesting talk and slide show by Sue Fisher on “How to Make the Most of a Small Garden”.  This was followed by a question and answer session.  I have since received a note from Sue saying how much she enjoyed her visit to our club.

On Tuesday 11 December 2001 there was a Christmas social and raffle – members brought food and drink contributions.

                                         November  2001 Meeting
Present: Sue McComie, Liz McManus, Janey Roberts-Jones, Gill Beattie, Brenda Ladd, Sue Marie, Anne Earls.

Apologies: Keith Woodward, Margaret Marangos

At the start of the evening a vote of confidence was taken in support of  the Treasurer as she was worrying about a relatively small amount of members’ payments which somehow went adrift when we met at her house.  The vote of confidence was unanimous.

Janey gave us a wonderful demonstration of winter fresh flower and foliage arranging.  She produced four various sized ones and these were then raffled off to cover her costs.  She explained that lots of items could  be used for the base (baskets, saucers, dishes, plastic food containers) as once finished the base is hidden.  A block of oasis is used to arrange the flowers and this costs approximately £1 and will do four arrangements.  It should be floated on a bowl of water for a couple of minutes, it will be ready to use once it has sunk.

If using a candle for the centre of the arrangement three cocktail sticks should be cellotaped around it and then these can be pushed into the oasis.  Any greenery from your garden can be used and will usually last about a month and the flowers probably about two weeks.  The arrangement should be watered every other day.

A wreath for your front door can also be made using two metal coat hangers fastened together.  Once greenery and berries have been wound round and held in place the hangers won’t be seen.  For extra effect the wreath can be sprayed with glitter.

The following points were discussed and noted:

1. Agreed:  to draw up a programme for the whole of 2002 and widely display it.  Anne would also do a small mailing to the competitors in the West Bletchley Gardening Competition.
2. Noted:  that compost, seeds, bulbs, manure and other bits and pieces was available at the Allotment Association, Tattenhoe Lane.  £2.50 a year for membership (£1.50 for oldies).  Feb-June Saturdays & Sundays 10-12.  July to December Sundays 10-12.
3. Noted:  that no payments had yet been paid for hiring the hall.  Anne to investigate amount.
4. Noted:  that a letter of resignation had been received from Juliette as Treasurer.  She was now helping a friend with a patchwork club.
5. Agreed:  to no longer send copies of the meeting notes to those who had not attended as it was costing valuable postage.  The present mailing would be the last to all on the membership listing.
 
 

9 th. October  2001 Meeting

Present: Pat Zompi, Brenda Ladd, Sue McComie, Sue Marie, Jane Roberts-Jones, Margaret Marangos, Sue and Peter Jarvis, Peggy Green, Connie Penton, Gladys Banks, Anne Earls.

Apologies: Keith Woodward, Juliet Simpson

At the start of the evening Peter Hughes presented the three awards he had not managed to give out previously. The overall trophy and prize to Gladys and the runners up certificates and prizes to Peggy and Anne.

Janie welcomed Tania, the representative from Frosts Garden Centre, to the meeting. Jane kept us entertained for well over an hour with a guide to winter container displays and various hints and answer to members’ questions as follows:

  1. Winter Container Displays
Invest in good thick terracotta pots, preferably hand spun as there is less water within them. The best containers of all are wooden ones or barrels. Pots need to be insulated in Winter and kept moist in Summer. Ensure the pots have decent drainage – crocks need to be as small as possible but thick and the depth of them needs to be 2". Ensure that the drainage hole is kept clear. Polystrene can also be used or 2" of grit (free broken crocks can be obtained from most garden centres when available – Peter also has lots if needed).

Next fill with loam-based soil – Innis No 2 best for the Winter (No 1 is for cuttings, No 3 for trees and shrubs). The containers are best placed on bricks or pot feet, especially if doubtful about crocking. Anything heavy is best placed on a trolley first then when fleecing it can be tied to trolley and moved around for shelter as necessary.

When planting up always choose the same plants for the same conditions. Silver plants tend to like sunny dry conditions. Grasses like to be well drained and ferns prefer to be moist. Plant things no deeper than they are when bought and as much air round them as possible, about a finger’s width compost all round. Pansies must be winter flowering ones. Euphorbia can start off in pots but need to planted out at end of Season.

Temperature of –4 is severe. Old carpet, newspapers, fleece (different grades) and sacking can all be used for protection but NOT plastic. One layer of fleece will increase temperature by 2 degrees, therefore wrap round a couple of times. Wouldn’t recommend leaving it on all winter. For some things a wigwam can be made with canes. Any standards, e.g. Vibernum and camellias.

Wallflowers or primroses can go in pots with bulbs underneath now. Tulips leave till later. Ornamental cabbage and Feverfew can be grown in pots.

2. Answers to Seasonal Questions
  1. If Camellias abort it is usually due to extremes of temperatures.
  2. Any standards like Vibernums and Bays should be fleeced around the trunk. Any training/pruning should be done no later than the first week of August. Viburnams can be pruned straight after flowering or in May.
  3. Cordelines, etc. should be loosely tied into a candle shape and then fleeced around ensuring the top is not open. Remember they still need watering.
  4. Vine weevils which are crusty backed beetles with strong teeth (their larva also eat the root systems) come up through bottom of pot. Use a very weak solution of Jeyes liquid or vaseline can be smeared round drainage hole and outside and inside of the rim of pot.
  5. Scale on Bay – use any systemic insecticide like Roseclear when dry (April/May to August).
  6. No plants should over winter with problems, deal with them first.
  7. If making own bark leave for one year before putting on the garden.
  8. To get rid of squirrels use Renidine in bucket filled with bark chippings and apply it round bottom of the tree.
  9. Rose season is from November to April/May and are best bought bare rooted. Compost round them should be intact.
  10. Bougainvillea can be cut back to half or third to survive.
  11. Hostas can be divided now but if re-potting add grit or sharp sand to the mixture.
  12. When taking Lilies out of pots dust with yellow sulphur, leave stems on and hang up by stems.
  13. When the fleece is finished with it should be shaken out and hung to air.
 September  2001

Approximately seven or eight members of the club paid a visit to the new M&B Nursery in Middlesex Drive. The owner is only just starting up so there wasn’t a huge selection of plants but he was extremely helpful and there were some very nice bedding plants. A discount of 10% was available to club members and this was taken advantage of.

Afterwards the members went back to the hall for a general social evening.

The Treasurer had received a thank you letter from Willen Hospice for our recent donation of the proceeds of a raffle and Janie read this out to those present. It is hoped we will be able to have another raffle for charity at the Xmas social event.

The August 14 th  2001 meeting featured Bonzai plants .

Present: Janie Robert’s Jones, Sue Marie, Juliet Simpson, Sue McOmie, Liz McManus, Keith Woodward, Anne Earls

1. It was reported that Chris Boucher was standing down as Treasurer and that Pat Zompi had volunteered to take over.  All present agreed to this.

2. It was noted that Sue Marie had come second in the Frosts Pots and Patio section of the Frost’s Garden Competition and Tony (Pat Zompi’s son) had come third in the same section.

3. Keith volunteered to supply us with a draft constitution for the club, which we would need if we were ever to seek funding help from the Council.

Tony Zompi’s talk on Bonsai

Tony started his hobby when he was 12.  He has approximately 50 bonsai specimens which made an extremely impressive display.  Pat said they made a particularly spectacular display in the Spring and Autumn of each year.  Tony’s particular favourite was one of the Acer trees.  He told us that it was not an expensive hobby as nearly all of his came either from seeds or from small seedlings found in the garden or in the wild.

A bonsai should be started early in the year (March).  When starting he said to trim the roots back to a neat ball, generally this was about a third taken off.  He used any good potting compost and fed them regularly with pelleted chicken manure or tomato food.  The tops were pruned when necessary to obtain the best shape and angles.  Any leaves should be removed at the end of the leaf itself.   It was best to use copper wiring when needed but it was essential to keep a regular check on the tension to prevent the bark being harmed.  Spray against insects, etc. when necessary.

The bonsai should be left outside all year and if taken indoors for show this should only be for two or three days at the most.  When young it was best to re-pot them every year, then as they got older every other year or every five years.  He said he found the books were not always correct and he found you learnt from experience.

At the end Chris thanked Tony on behalf of the club for a very interesting talk.
 


 

The July 2001 meeting was a visit to 7 gardens in Old Bletchley. A small number of members plus two visitors toured seven West Bletchley gardens.  Luckily the rain held off though it was a very chilly evening.  The tour started with Dr Jarvis’ garden and then the group clambered over the garden wall to Margaret Marangos's !!!

Halfway through a very enjoyable visit to all the varied lovely gardens the evening was punctuated very pleasantly with drinks and nibbles at Sue Thatcher’s house.  Thanks Sue to all who attended.

Barbecue Garden Party

Frankie hosted a wonderful barbecue in her garden on 12 June 2001.  Unfortunately numbers were not as high as expected, which was a shame as Frankie had done us proud with a huge spread.  All present thoroughly enjoyed themselves and shared gardening stories, tips and spent a pleasant evening looking round her plot.

Several prizes were donated for the raffle.  £15 was raised which has been donated to Willen Hospice

On Tuesday, 10 th. July the club will meet at 7.30 p.m. in Rectory Cottages and then look at some gardens in Old Bletchley. On Tuesday 9 th  October there will be a talk by an expert from Frosts. Current & Previous Competitors in the West Bletchley in Bloom Contest are welcome to future meetings. Please bring any plants you may have to sell for club funds.

MINUTES – 1 May 2001
Present: Keith Woodward, Brenda Ladd, Chris Boucher, Juliet Simpson, Sue McOmie, Rosie Moore, Gordon Farr, Pat Zompi, Jane and Arthur Robert’s-Jones, Peter Jarvis, Liz McManus, Pauline Mason, Sue Marie, Margaret Painer, Pam Kerr, Val Allen, Anne Earls.

Apologies: Frankie Davis

At the start of the meeting there was a sale of surplus plants in aid of club funds. There were a wide variety of plants which raised the sum of £10. All monies from future sales of surplus plants will go towards an agreed charity.

This was followed by an interesting talk by one of the club members about some unusual geraniums which can be obtained from Potash nursery.

Agreed:

1. To charge all members £1 per meeting. This has since been amended to an overall yearly membership charge of £5 to paid to Chris Boucher (Treasurer).

2. To have a raffle at the next meeting in aid of an agreed charity. Anne and Rosemary have so far agreed to donate a prize. If anyone else has any further prizes please bring them along to the next meeting. Anne to purchase a book of tickets.

 

Garden Problems Discussed:
 

 1. What to do with a Gunnera once it was dying off – cut corm off at this stage.

2. How to eliminate invasive weeds from the garden – it was suggested that Bravado and Verdone were both good weed killers to apply. It was best to allow the weeds to grow enough to be able to apply an adequate amount and ensure it only was put onto the weed and not other plants.

3. Dealing with unwanted pests, e.g. vine weevil, and insects, including wasps – it was suggested that a pint of Malathion was the best application. With a wasp’s nest it should be poured (carefully) into the entrance.



Home