Newton Le Willows Gardeners Association
@ The Hut
March 2023 Bulletin
A few bits of news and some reminders.
We have a few potatoes and onions left if anyone hasn’t purchased theirs yet.
Peat compost is meant to be phased out for gardeners from next year, though the actual date hasn’t been set yet. In preparation, there will be samples of several of our composts – both peat free and normal multipurpose, some are new to our stock list. If you can call in over the next few weeks and see what we have and compare them, it will give you an idea of what’s in the bags before you buy and also give you some idea of peat free compost composition, ahead of the time when that may be all we can buy.
Sign Up for Trips.
The trip list is available at the Hut, so do come and sign up if you intend to join us on any of the trips – the Shrewsbury Show on 12th August and RHS Bridgewater on 27th September. The Bridgewater is free entry but no coach, just make your own way there.
Sponsorships.
If you’d like to support the Show, the sponsorship list is also at the Hut.
Bedding Plants.
The bedding plants will be collected and potted on during March and left to grow on in the warmth of the polytunnel for a few weeks. I will be putting a list together of what we have available in the April bulletin.
Zoom talks.
Do you use Zoom? Are you missing our talks? We were contacted by Tender Shoots who are a small collection of independent garden clubs (formed during covid) who work together to share ideas and hold joint zoom events on gardening topics.
It’s free, just join the mailing list on their website www.tendershoots.uk. Zoom code is the same for every meeting. Meeting ID: 404 301 4750. Passcode: bonsai (If you have any queries, please contact Tendershoots directly as they are the organisers.)
Dates of Zoom talks (7.15pm for 7.30pm start for all meetings):
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| Monday 20th March | Peter Moore – ‘Plant Breeding’ – It’s extreemly likely you will already have one of his plants growing in your garden. |
| Monday 27th March | George Hargreaves – Notable Botanic Gardens of the UK. |
| Thursday 27th April | Hilary Hutson – Patio Panache – Container planting ideas from around the world. |
| April TBC | Chris Blackburn – Ultra Sonic Pest Control – Learn about the safe way to control animals coming into your gardens without the need to use harmful chemicals. |
| Monday 25th September | Lucy Hartley – Climate change and its effect on our gardens. |
| Thursday 256th October | Timothy Walker (former curator of Oxford Botanic Garden) – Bordering on Insanity (creating an all-year-round border) |
| Wednesday 8th November | Andrew Mikolajski – Do Your Roots Need Doing – Good root growth is essential for healthy and productive plants |
| December TBC | Christmas Inter Club Quiz |
That’s it for now,
Silvana
General Secretary
Newton Le Willows Gardeners’ Association
