Claygate Gardening Society
October 2024
GARDENERS ENJOY VARIETY IN A SERIES OF VISITS
Gardeners brought together by membership of the Claygate Gardening Society not only enjoy events and talks, generous discounts at some village shops and garden centres further afield—even a 50 per cent discount on seeds from Dobies Garden Supplies—but visits to beautiful gardens, all within easy reach of Claygate.
The Society ran a full programme of visits this year, including three “double bills” in June, July and September, that took members to Sissinghurst and Hole Park in Kent; Fittleworth House and Woolbeding in West Sussex; and Great Dixter and Pashley Manor in East Sussex.
Each pair combined gardens of very different styles, both National Trust and privately owned. Hole Park's interesting mix of formal and informal spaces, contrasted with Sissinghurst's weathered red-brick buildings and exuberant tumbling borders. The private gardens to Fittleworth House are of a more modest style and scale to which regular gardeners could relate, while Woolbeding gardens feature richly planted borders in a formal, manicured setting.
Great Dixter overflows with clashing colours and a vast number of plants, while the privately owned 11-acre gardens at Pashley Manor are more traditionally “managed” to form a quintessential English country garden.
Don’t miss out on next year’s visits and other benefits by joining the society. It has already put in place a programme of talks for next year, featuring the Piet Oudolf garden at Wisley; fuchsias; ideas and advice on vegetable growing; Victorian head gardeners; and Women writers and their gardens. For details, see https://www.claygate-gardening.org/.
March 2024
GARDENERS’ YEAR OF INNOVATION
A smart new website and high-profile events and activities have kept members of Claygate Gardening Society busy – and increased the group's membership. Its work has included trips to great gardens, flower and produce shows, an innovation for children, offers to the public via its Depot, and a tree-planting initiative at Claygate Primary School.
The Society's stand at Claygate Flower and Village Show featured for the first time a “Paint and Plant a Pot” activity for children which was a great success.
Sponsored by Woodlark Nurseries of Hersham, children could buy for £3 a real terracotta flower pot to paint in their own designs and fill with a selection of bedding plants to take home. There were some very creative designs. The Society hopes to repeat the event at the Flower Show this year with perhaps other attractions for the next generation of gardeners.
Volunteers from the Society are also involved in community projects at Claygate Primary School and The Hub Youth Centre. With volunteers' help, Claygate Primary School children planted 400 small trees around the school grounds, donated by The Woodland Trust as part of the national “Net Zero 2050” project, and set up a small lunchme gardening club. More volunteers are welcome to help out with a small group of enthusiastic Year 6 pupils.
- Society members enjoyed trips to wonderful gardens, including Glyndebourne, Highgrove, and the Savill and Valley Gardens at Windsor Great Park. And a full programme of talks in the winter months included “Growing and Caring for Orchids”, “Companion Planting”, “Gardening in a Dry Climate” and, most recently, a talk on “Techniques of Propagation”. Trips in 2024 are likely to include Sissinghurst and Hidcote.
- The popular annual tomato plant sale took place in April with plants kindly donated by two members; and the annual barbecue, held with Claygate Allotment Holders Association, was well attended, despite the wet weather. The Society's own Autumn Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show attracted a lot of entries and the RHS Banksian Medal was awarded for the first time to the overall winner.
- The Depot in Vale Road is open for business on Saturday mornings between 11am and noon from Saturday March 2. Run by volunteers for the benefit of members of the Society and the Allotment Holders Association, the Depot offers a wide range ofstock at competitive prices.
Annual membership of the Society is currently £5. Visit www.claygate-gardening.org for details.
Author: Ken Kilmister, Chair, Claygate Gardening Society
Recent Events
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Wednesday 5th June | at 7pm | Ministry Centre, Holy Trinity Church | Claygate Allotment Holders Association AGM | FURTHER INFORMATION |
