Pictures coming soon…

Evelyn Rumley Cup         H. HIGGINSON best first time entrant George Hills Cup                 M. HUMPHREY  best vegetable (squash) John Beer Cup             P. ELLIS   almost perfect shallots Society Cup                 E.A.RATH   best fruit (grapes) White...

Pictures to follow…

It was an early start from Ash for members and friends , as we had anticipated a rather arduous journey as this particular weekend was one when the M25 / A3 Junction was closed due to the major road works there . However our driver Derek had done his homework and led us through the leafy back lanes of Surrey on his diversion route , with only a small amount of extra time incurred. Arrival at RHS Wisley was a pleasant surprise for those of us who had not visited in the recent past ; the very majestic new double row of matched trees into the new reception area – this avenue also extending...

The Society was very pleased to be invited to the garden of our President Christine Brown and her husband Albert, in Pudding Lane , on the evening of 26th June for our Annual Rose Show.  Several members had been in that garden many years previous for the same event, and we were shocked to see how much larger all those trees had now grown!     We were fortunate to have very pleasant sunny weather although it was rather breezy , which seems to be characteristic of our current summer ! Among the lovely borders and trees we relaxed with drinks and...

Our members were treated to a very  interesting talk by Dan Cooper  on ‘Growing a gorgeous garden in pots ‘.  It turns out that Dan ,who lives in Broadstairs , had no choice but to garden only in pots as his back yard was concrete over a void below. His great photos showed how he has created a magnificent space with good growth all year round. There, the many semi-exotic plants can survive the winter as the location has sea on three sides.  He gave us a good number of useful tips – using large a pot as it practical to cut down on watering requirement , grouping pots together to reduce...

The Society had planned our Spring visit so we could see the Daffodil Festival at Hever. We were met with glorious sunny spring conditions after having had many days of a miserable cold North east wind. So we felt released and joyful in visiting such a lovely garden.

For the first time, we had to hold the Show on a Sunday to ensure a full complement of judges.  There were plenty of entries (including several first timers) and lots of visitors.  The earlier date meant a splendid display of Daffodils, but only one tulip exhibit. The Cookery judge bravely sampled the gypsy tarts, a favourite of Kent School kitchens and pupils, and was happy to follow with the many delicious chutney entries, marmalade, Victoria sponges and cheeses scones. There were fewer large flower arrangements – competition from the Church, no doubt. There were...

At our meeting in February we took on the task of trying to compare 15 different composts which we had purchased from 3 local outlets.  We had decided to carry out this comparison because of the increasing number of compost brands and sub brands that are now available to the public. As the ‘peat-free’ revolution has taken hold so many more companies have entered this space, offering a really bewildering choice. Together with many claims about the superior performance of their product !   The commercial nursery operators are now mostly using peat reduced mixes...