Memory Gallery

Saturday 6th September 2025 – Summer Show

Long Bennington Open Gardens 2025 This event was a great success, with loads of visitors & 11 gardens taking part. In all 95 maps were sold, so along with sales of cake & refreshments, a total of £720 was raised. Well done to everyone who took part & helped at the village hall. We aim to hold another one in 2028.

Tuesday 27th May Garden Visit to Hill Top Farm (Peter & Veronica)

Saturday 29th March Spring Show 2025

Tuesday 28th January 2025 – Speaker Martin Fish, gave a talk on “Containers for all Seasons”

Tuesday 26th Nov 2024 – Christmas Social

Saturday 7th Sept 2024 Summer Show

Weds 29th May a rescheduled evening visit to Norwell Nurseries and Garden

May Plant Sale

May 2024 Plant Sale – the stall outside the Methodist Church raised £200, the weather was not great, consequently we were not as busy as in previous years. Later Dick Hicks sold another dahlia for £5, Amy sold £10 worth to her neighbours and in the following week she managed to sell some of the remaining clubs plants at her Open Garden for £10, so in total £225

Spring Show Sat 16th March

Tues 25th April – the speaker was Sally Smith

Tues 28th March – the speaker was Michael Myers

2023 Spring Show – Sat 25th March

2023 AGM, Membership & Gardening Quiz

The VERY SHORT AGM was well attended – 33 members & quests. The gardening quiz was a bit of a brain teaser, for example: Q: how many species of avocado are there ? A: 500 (does make you wonder why the shortage)

First speaker of the New Year, Tues 24th January 2023 – Alan Clements.

There was a very large number of people who turned out for Alan Clements talk on Cascade Gardens – over 40. This included 8 guests, some of whom were members of Bottesford u3A Gardening Club. So a great start to the New Year.

Nov 22nd 2022 Christmas Social

GQT GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME
Question 1 Our peppers had small maggots inside the fruit and brownish patches disfiguring them. What are we doing wrong?
Answer Sometimes moisture can drip on the pepper and form spots on the
fruit. Sticky strips can trap insects. Could be bruising and sun scorch
or extreme heat from the sun.

Question 2 We have embraced peat-free compost this year but have been very
disappointed with its performance. It does not hold moisture and has
not provided good germination or growth to tomatoes and cucumber
plants. Can the panel recommend a solution?
Answer Try a good peat free compost made from bracken and sheep’s woolfibre. Need to apply feed after 5/6 weeks of use.

Question 3 We have been plagued with black fly which ate the bottom flowers on
our runner beans. Is there anything we can do about it next year?
Answer Looks like plants have been under stress through lack of water.
Water/spray with diluted Fairy Liquid to control aphids. Plants can be
stressed when planted too early. Ian plants his beans in the first week
of June in root trainers, then plants out in mid June.

Question 4 Our garden is choked up with bindweed this year. Is there any way of preventing this
Answer Control it before it takes hold and pull it up regularly. Use RoundUp
to control. Dig the ground and pull up every piece of root.

Question 5 My alstroemeria’s have been in pots for about 2 years and go into the
greenhouse for overwintering. Would they be better planted into the garden all year? Answer Better in the ground, although they are not completely hardy. Mulch to over winter outdoors.

Question 6 My hydrangeas have suffered during the heatwaves, would they
benefit from being pruned hardback now, or left until the Spring? Answer Leave them as is for added protection, the shrub may die otherwise.
Question 7 and 16 We have a largish garden with several big trees- old apples, rowan, and silver birch. I would like to add a conifer (we did have a mature
Skyrocket that died for no obvious reason) Can the panel suggest
another with a compact habit and preferably with decorative cones that will hopefully mature before we reach the end of our life spans. We are in our 60’s Answer Boundary hedges are limited to 2 metres in height wherever you live
in this country. Can’t recommend a conifer and don’t know why a
conifer would die from aphid attack. Suggest you visit a garden
centre to look for a suitable replacement conifer with small cones.

Questions 8, 11 and 22 How do I clear Ivy roots from under a conifer hedge without killing the hedge? Answer Cut or saw the trunk/stem off, but you must expose the root. Drill a
hole in the stump of the ivy and fill it up with SBK, which does not contain glyphosate, and cover it. Once the stump is cut off then the ivy top will die. Another solution is to mix white vinegar with water in a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. This will kill the ivy but will also kill surrounding plants if not protected. Wear protective gloves. It is also worth mentioning that Ivy is a valuable food source for
wildlife such as birds in winter and beneficial to other insects.
Question 9 How can I stop a palm growing too tall. So far it is 8ft? There is no leader to cut off. Answer Palms should not be cut down. Remove side shoots at the base when they are yellow.

Question 10 Which rose is best to choose for making a hedge?
Answer You can plant any shrub roses. Consider disease resistant roses which
can also be quite expensive. Prepare the ground well and remove weeds. You can also trim with hedge trimmers. Rosa Rugosa is a good choice as it does not need much attention and will also grow in poor soil. It comes in pink, red or white and has large hips. Prune after flowering.

Question 12 What is the best way to get rid of tree suckers that keep coming up in the lawn? Answer If you can trace the line, then dig down and cut the root system off or
carefully cut out. Can also be sprayed with SBK as it doesn’t contain
Glyphosate so will not kill grass.

Question 13 Gravel gardens- are they a good idea with climate change?
Answer Yes, may have to start thinking about gravel gardens and drought
resistant plants. Beth Chatto gardens are a good example of this type of garden. Suitable plants include, Agapanthus, Alliums, Potentilla groups, as well as Lavender, Nepeta and Santolina. Look on the Beth Chatto website for further information.

Question 14 Which are the best flowers to grow for cutting?
Answer Think about the season you can cut the flowers – March to November. Also think about colours. If you like pastels, grow flowers accordingly. Good choices include Tulips, Narcissus, Agapanthus, Sweet Williams. For perennials, include Achillea which flowers for 2/3 months through summer, Peonies, Scabious, Phlox and Dahlias. Annuals including Cosmos, Cornflower, Ammi and Sweet Peas are also
a good choice.

Question 19 We have had an outbreak this year on our living willow fence of
metallic blue/green imported willow leaf beetle which obliterated the spring growth and reduced the summer growth. Have you heard of anything effective in dealing with these pests? Answer No, but the problem will come and go.

Question 21 I have raised veg beds which we filled with turf. They sank down to about half the bed and I am adding my garden compost when I can. Is there a point where home compost isn’t enough? Is 50% soil ok, or does compost eventually turn into soil? Answer Compost will break down and disperse eventually and you will need
to add some form of soil. Suggest getting a few bags of John Innes No
2 or No3 compost which will not disappear over time.

Question 24 I have 3 Himalayan Cherry trees, 2 in damper ground one closer to the
house. The one nearer the house has struggled in the drought and the
leaves have dropped off or are brown. Can it be revived if so, how?
Answer Do not water at this time of year. The tree is probably still alive but
wait and review it next year. If there is still a problem, then it is
possible to move them. Think about the timing if moving.

Summer Show 2022 – Entries were slightly down compared to last year, as was number of visitors, not surprising given strange weather & what’s going on in the world. However, due to everyone’s generosity the Club managed to raise more money than last year !! So a huge thankyou to all the volunteers who organised this years show – for making hot drinks, cakes, putting tables up, then taking them down, greeting members of the public, donating to the raffle etc – especially for giving up your time and ditto to all the visitors.

26th July- Day Trip To Breezy Knees Gardens, Near York

2022 Spring Show – was a great success thanks to the generosity of club members & members of the public.

Spring Show 2022 Leaflet

February Club Meeting, short AGM, new Auditor approved & gardening quiz.

Poster For Upcoming Open Gardens Day – 19th June

January – First Club Meet Of 2022 – With Speaker. There was a great turn out for our first meet of the New Year & it was especially nice to welcome 6 non-member guests. Our thanks goes to Colin Deeley who gave a talk on nearby National Trust gardens & parks. These included Belton House, Clumber Park, Gunby Hall, Woolsthorpe Manor, Southwell Work House & Stoneywell Gardens. He also spoke about the National trusts latest purchase of Sandilands, a former golf course, which will be developed into a nature reserve. The above slideshow, is just a few of the many pictures we were shown. Gunby Hall has a strong historical connection with the poet Rudyard Kipling & Colin’s wife Maureen recited his poem “The Glory Of The Garden” :

The Glory of the Garden

Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,
You find the tool and potting sheds which are the heart of all;
The cold frames and the hot houses, the dung pits and the tanks,
The rollers, carts and drain pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you’ll see the gardeners, the man and ‘prentice boys
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise;
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing: – ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade,
While better men than we go out and start their working lives
At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner knives.

There’s not a pair of legs so thin, there’s not a head so thick,
There’s not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick,
But it can find some needful job that’s crying to be done,
For the Glory of the Garden Glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,
If it’s only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener’s work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away!

And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away!

Rudyard Kipling

Club Trip To RHS Bridgewater 2021

2020 Summer Show With a Difference – COVID 19 Restrictions

2019 Summer Show

2018 Club Trip To Bressingham Gardens – Norfolk

2017 Club Trip To National Trust Stowe Gardens & Coton Manor

2016 Club Trip To The National Trusts Biddulph Grange Garden – Staffordshire

2016 Club Trip To Trentham Gardens – Staffordshire

2015 Allington – Club Members Garden

2015 August 6th Martin Fish – His Garden Near Ripon

2015 August 6th RHS Harlow Carr

2014 Plant Sale

2011 Spring Show