Talk on Dahlias by Richard Ramsey March 2022

Flower arranging workshop April 2022

Gardeners Delight 2022' 

Visit to Wisley by coach 14 July 2022 

AGM AND TALK 10 August 2022

13 October 2022 Talk by Simon Horrill - Spring Ideas

30 November and 5 December 2022 Christmas workshops

9 February 2023 Talk by Everett Leeds - Clematis through the seasons.

This was a general Talk by Everett Leeds covering all the groups of Clematis and there are so many ! so many more than I had heard of before including a tiny one from New Zealand !. Everett is an expert on Clematis being a member of the British Clematis Society and also covered a bit of history, pruning- how and when, planting where and how to protect clematis in pots and propagation. All very informative in alight hearted way - with some lovely slides.

31 people braved the cold February night - a good turn out and had the added bonus of buying a few clematis seeds and some helpful leaflets.

11 March 2023 Talk by Colin Moat - 50 Shades of Grey (about plants for shady areas) 

On Saturday 11th March over 60 members and friends braved another cold day for a talk given by nursery owner, Colin Moat- 50 Shades of Grey which provided us with lots of inspiration and advice ( and a few plants to buy)

Pineview Plants is run by Colin & Cindy Moat and is approaching its twenty fifth year. Colin, on his retirement as an IFA in 2012, reinvigorated their hobby nursery. This started in the nineties, driven mainly by the love of plants and their propagation.

Pineview Plants offer a wide range of herbaceous perennial plants ranging from rare, new or unusual, to easy, interesting and reliable. Many have been selected over the years, however, Colin is always on the lookout for better or more attractive forms with their selection changing from year to year.  Their criteria are always good garden plants selected from new named varieties, to plants of species raised from seed. The wide range primarily reflects plants that are of interest to them and that they believe to be of outstanding merit, with leanings towards shade loving plants. These include many ferns, and a huge range of Epimedium’s. They also have collections of Sanguisorba, Thalictrum, Persicaria, Anemone nemerosa, Eranthis and far too many others!

Self Drive to Munstead Wood, 25 MAY @11.00 and 2.00  the home of Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). 22 members visited

Both house and garden are Grade I listed. The house, which is not open to the public, was designed by a young Edwin Lutyens and constructed from bargate stone and other local materials. Miss Jekyll incorporated many of her own ideas into the design, all of which add to its charm. It was completed in 1897. The house has been sold for the first time since 1968 and as you can only visit in a group we have booked a visit as there may not the chance in future years.  

17/18 JUNE 2023 GARDENERS DELIGHT

11 gardens opened over the weekend.

Trip to RHS HYDE HALL 13/07/2023 - (See the March RHS Garden magazines - a great article on Hyde Hall)

34 of travelled to Essex to see the wonderful gardens at Hyde Hall which surpassed our expectations with numerous areas to explore many in full flower. The Gods were smiling at us , with no rain , a little sunshine , but a comfortable temperature to wander and sit and enjoy the vistas , and even better no delays on the M25. Add in time for a little retail therapy and who could ask for more.

 Self-drive visit to Heathside in Cobham 25 July 2023

22 of us visited on a bright and sunny day (  a pleasant change this summer ) and had a wonderful time

The owners of Heathside do all the gardening without extra help and clearly have to work very hard to produce such a colourful and vibrant display.  Colourful well-established trees, both evergreen and deciduous: and shrubs formed the structure of the centre of the garden; these are supplemented by herbaceous plants (and the odd interesting topiary) with a colourful display of annuals in the patio beds and pots. The Monkey Puzzle Tree is outstanding and even had "cones "  , something I have never seen before

 A number of water features added interest. Beyond some huge pots dividing the end section of the garden from the rest, we came across a beautiful Victorian style glasshouse. Inside the wide door were display benches with collections of succulents. Around every corner in this pretty garden, one was met with plants of interest with even the smallest space put to good use. Plenty of ideas for ones own garden.

The refreshments were lovely and the shortbread and flat jacks filled a hole.

 Annual General Meeting 9 August at 7.00pm

This was held at a new venue St John's Church, The Avenue,Tadworth,KT20 5AB and was attended by 24 members and was followed by a talk by Cherrill Sands  a local consultant garden historian with a MA in the Conservation of Landscapes , Parks and Gardens. Cherrill  talked about Gardens of Surrey which was marvellous, informative and entertaining. We would hope to invite Cherrill back for another talk in 2024.

Attached is a list of the gardens Cherrill talked about with details of there web sites.

Simon Horill Talk 19 October 2023 Small Space Big Ideas @7.00 pm Meeting Room

This was inspired by a client who felt her space was too small to do anything with. The talk looks at the practical ways to view a small garden or an area within a larger garden and make it work for you to allow you to achieve your dream space.  An entertaining hour showing us design ideas. 

To remind you Simon retrained as a garden designer later in life and as a huge change after a wonderful career working as a dancer with highlights being a member of The Royal Ballet and the West End production of Cats. He knew as he wasn't going to be able to keep dancing all his life and he wanted to do something as creative and challenging. After many deliberations garden design seemed a good fit. He was interviewed and offered a place at London College of Garden Design on the diploma course . He was based at Kew and met so many amazing and generous people who had such a passion for sharing their love and ideas about gardens in all their forms. After learning many new skills, he graduated (with distinction) and started mixing garden design and dance teaching.

Christmas Workshop 28 November 2023

Jasmine ran this year's workshop on Tuesday 28th November @ 2.00 ( see pictures below ) 

Jacqueline Aviolet talk Saturday 2 December 2023 Brussel Sprouts to Tangerines

A fun  pre Christmas talk by long-time nurserywoman and public speaker Jacqueline, encouraging horticultural things with humour and it certainly had us all laughing about Brussel Sprouts and various other Christmas fruit and veg.  Jacqueline runs her own nursery (www.rosiesgardenplants.com)  and she brought a few plants for sale. 

Saturday 10th February 2024 – A discussion led by Sylvia Pocock (one of our show judges) 

Sylvia, a RHS Judge generously ran an informal chat and workshop for 20 members which was warmly received , and we all picked up a few tips to help with this years shows.

2 March 2024 Dan Cooper Containers in the Garden

A little bit of information re Dan

Dan, aka The Frustrated Gardener, has 40 years of hands-on gardening experience. He tends 2 coastal courtyard gardens, 1 large allotment, 150 dahlias and over 200 houseplants at home in Broadstairs, Kent. Dan’s gardens have opened for the National Garden Scheme since 2014 and he appeared on BBC Gardeners’ World in 2019 & 2020. The gardens have appeared in print across multiple magazine titles, including the FT, Homes and Gardens and RHS The Garden (2020 and scheduled for April 2024), and in books including ‘Fearless Gardening’, ‘Garden Design, A Book of Ideas’ and ‘Garden Design, A Book of Style’ (published in 2023). 

Dan founded Dan Cooper Garden in 2022 with a mission to curate the best gardening products and present them alongside sound advice. Dan works with leading horticulture brands such as Niwaki and Gold Leaf Gloves as well as developing his own range of tools. He offers garden consultations and mentoring programmes to people who want to develop their garden and gardening skills. Dan has 15.4K Instagram followers @thefrustratedgardener and 3.8k @dancoopergarden. His podcast with Julia Parker, Two Good Gardeners, launched in March 2023 and is now in its second series. 

Approx 70 people attended the talk and were entertained by Dans fabulous slides and engaging manner, some even spending a few pennies on this goodies.