Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society is one of Norfolk’s longer
established Horticultural Societies whose origins can definitely
be traced back to 1922. There is also anecdotal evidence of a
Local Gardening Society emerging shortly after the Great War.
Most of our
Members are keen flower, fruit and vegetable gardeners.
Our monthly
meeting is held at the Hethersett Methodist Church Hall which is
to be found in the Great Melton Road, with parking behind.
The meeting is
usually held on the third Wednesday of the month, at 7.30pm.
We always try
to arrange at least one annual coach outing to a garden or show.
At the end of
summer at Harvest time we hold our annual Members’ show; where
good spirited competitions for best produce holds sway.
Each year there
is a Summer Party cum meal in a Member’s Garden and an Annual
End of Year Dinner; plus the excitement of a raffle each
meeting.
We will always
welcome new Members; do come and join; or telephone Chairman Eric
Crowe on 01603-810333.
Annual Show
2008
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Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society reported a bumper crop for
its annual show in Hethersett Village Hall.
Entries
in the various classes were up by 40 on the previous year and
there was plenty of opportunity for younger members to join in
with classes including the best monster made from fruit or
vegetables and decorated wellies.
It was a special day for 11-year-old Callum Doonan who is in
his first year at Hethersett High School. He took the prize for
the best monster made from vegetables and also the heaviest
marrow with a six pounder that the previous week had come second
in a show at Little Melton. Not to be outdone the remainder of
the Doonan family also met with success with mum Fiona, dad John
and sister Rebecca all winning classes of their own.
Local resident Carol Towells surprised herself by wining the
best bowl of roses section and also the best exhibit in the
photography section. Carol also exhibited vegetables for the
first time since renovating an allotment in Little Melton.
The President’s Cup and Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural
Medal for best entry in show went to Mina Lofty.
Prizewinners were: President’s Cup and Norfolk
Horticultural Society Medal for best in show, Mina Lofty; Emily
Knights Memorial Trophy for Vegetable, fruit and flowers,
Pauline Harper; Banksian Medal for vegetable, fruit and flowers,
Margaret Sidell; Peter Bond Trophy for vegetable, fruit and
flower section runner-up, Margaret Sidell; Chairman’s Trophy
for best exhibit in vegetable section, Mina Lofty; Charles Tudor
Challenge Cup for most points in the vegetable section, Pauline
Harper; Deacon Senior Cup for best exhibit in the fruit section,
Pauline Harper; Deacon Junior Cup for most points in the fruit
section, Pauline Harper; Burton Fanning Silver Challenge Cup for
best exhibit in the flower section, Sheila Read; Silver
Challenge Cup for most points in the flower section, Margaret
Sidell; Benjamin Trophy for best arrangement, Margaret Ford;
Peggy Crowe Memorial Plate for best exhibit in the photography
section, Carol Towells; John Howard Memorial Cup for best
exhibit in the domestic section, Pauline Harper; Abra Trophy for
most points in the arrangement, photographic and domestic
sections, Margaret Sidell; Ethel Haywood Memorial Cup for bowl
of roses, Carol Towells.
Most points in decorate a wellie and draw a picture of a
garden for seven years and under section, Christopher Sidell;
most points in making a monster from fruit or vegetables, Callum
Doonan.
Non members classes: Tray of garden produce, Fiona Doonan;
heaviest marrow, Callum Doonan; best scarecrow, Anne Edwards;
nine small tomatoes, Fiona Doonan; Photograph “morning
glory”, John Doonan; photograph “a garden visit”, Rebecca
Doonan; jam filled Victoria sandwich, Fiona Doonan;
Annual
Show 2007
Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society’s annual show is looking to
extend local people’s interests in gardening by including a
number of fun categories in its annual show which will be held
in Hethersett Village Hall at 2 p.m on Saturday, 8th
September.
This
year’s classes will include “scarecrows and “decorated
wellies” Prizes will be presented by chairman of South Norfolk
District Council Joe Mooney at 3.45 p.m
“Part of
our Society’s purpose is to extend an interest in gardening
matters to all ages and walks of life in and around Hethersett.
One way of starting this process is to invite outsiders to
participate in our produce annual show,” said society
committee secretary Leslie Dale.
Non-Members
can enrol entries on Thursday 6th September at the
Methodist Hall at 7pm. Classes also include tomatoes, apples,
specimen roses, photos, sponge cake and six classes for
youngsters. Full details are available by telephoning Marilyn
Savory on 01603-811271.
Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society dates back to the early 1920s
and is one of the oldest in the county. There is anecdotal
evidence of it being founded soon after the First World War. It
meets on the third Wednesday of each month apart from December
when it takes place on the second Wednesday. Meetings are held
in the Methodist Church Hall in Great Melton Road at 7.30pm and
there is always a speaker who is an expert in some aspect of
horticulture or conservation.
Reports
April/May 2010
Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society’s April meeting started
with a short annual meeting with Chairman Chris Morriss the
Chairman giving a resume of the year’s activities> The
committee was re-appointed, details were given of three trips
planned for the summer and Marilyn Savory announced the winners
of the table show.
Jim
Paine of Walnut Tree Garden Nursery gave a talk entitled
“Gardening in the Shade”.
He began by recommending his own method for frightening
off muntjac and Chinese water deer by having a portable radio in
a waterproof bag and tuned to Radio Four in the garden.
The talking voices did the trick although it was only
suitable for rural locations.
Continuing
with his talk proper, Jim emphasised the importance of
understanding a garden; the nature of the soil, the types of
shade and hence available light, the fact that shade moves as
night follows day and that obstacles of varying sizes cause
different shading conditions. It was important to match the
known characteristics of plants to a proposed planting site. For
example in woodland areas before tree foliage breaks, spring
flowering plants will prosper; but once woods become scrubby
thickets shade becomes more of a year round problem for smaller
plants.
Plant
leaves adapt to shady conditions producing larger surface areas
to capture the suns rays to aid the production of sugars.
But these bigger leaves are thinner, transpire more and
there is a risk that such plants could wilt and die in the heat
of summer. In newly
cleared land seeds which have previously been lying dormant,
germinate as the sunlight penetrates through the canopy.
Jim
went on to describe a host of plants suitable for various types
of shade, commencing with the candelabra primulas as seen at
Fairhaven Water Gardens, and included hostas, dicentras, violas
and pulmonarias.
The
group’s May talk entitled “Autumn Bulbs” was given by Rod
Leeds, who described in detail the characteristics of some 60
different bulb varieties of ten main families; many found within
his old orchard garden, which we are to visit in September.
This talk’s purpose was, in part, to whet appetites for
the glories to be seen there in three months’ time.
Rod
included bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and corms in his definition of
“bulbous” plants. He amazed us with colourful slides of
cyclamen, amaryllis, colchicums, roscoeas, codenopsis, and
sternbergias, many of which were from exotic parts of the world;
for example Turkey and Greece sourced several species of
autumn-flowering crocus and cyclamen; whilst amaryllis was from
South Africa. Some
from hotter more arid climates could thrive with very little
water and a few from desert like areas of the world for example Amaryllis
belladonna requires water to stimulate it into growth – so
Rod just pops the dry bulbs into a water butt in late summer
prior to planting.
Clearly
there is a multitude of beautifully coloured flowering bulbs to
enhance gardens, if only gardeners were aware. Although autumn
bulbs are not the favourites of the Dutch bulb trade there are a
few professional British bulb growers and we were recommended to
search out their offerings in the specialist gardening press.
On
Wednesday 16th June Matthew Davies will describe the
activities of the Norwich Fringe Countryside Management Project
with reference to Hethersett; and on the 21st July
Paul Metcalf will discuss Soft Fruit.
Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society meets at 7.30pm in the
Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton Road and all are welcome -
occasional visitors are charged £1 and refreshments are
included.
October 2009
Our
October talk was by Alan Barson and was entitled “Putting the
Garden to Bed“. In his usual witty style Alan soon had us at
ease and chuckling in the seats. More seriously we learned HOW
to make hazel nut liqueur chocolates using gin soaked prune
damsons; HOW to decompose leaves quickly in a black bag using
lime and a free source of ammonia based nitrogen; HOW to
identify land in need of enriching compost just by assessing how
scarce and pallid ones worms were; HOW to take hardwood
cuttings. Now whilst sap is still in trees and shrubs; to cut
below a node and shave 1 inch bark to expose a cambion layer,
before planting in 1 inch sand with compost above.
We
were advised to prune pipped fruit now, but to leave stoned
fruit bushes until later to help avoid sliver leaf disease and
essentially to use Vaseline as a virus access inhibitor to the
pruning wound.
This
was 60 minutes packed with useful information and so we finally
agreed that tea could be served, as Alan’s beer bottle could
not be allowed to be opened in the Methodist Church Hall.
On
Wednesday 18th November Dr Sarah Wilmot will be
“Celebrating 100 Years of Plant Science at the John Innes
Centre”.
On Wednesday 9th
December festivities will be preceded by tales of
“Horticultural Travels” from Ben Potterton.
We meet at
7.30pm in the Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton Road. All are
welcome - occasional visitors are charged £1.00; refreshments
are included.
Leslie Dale,
Committee Secretary.
January 2009
Hethersett
Horticultural Society received some timely winter advice from Simon
White of Peter Beales Roses on how to prune roses of all
descriptions with photographs of massive displays of colour
bound rambling roses in some of Norfolk’s premier gardens.
Members
heard of the need to first take out “dead” then
“damaged” then “diseased” wood; followed by
“wayward” or “weak” stems, cutting at 45 degrees just
above a bud and sloping away from it.
Optionally new wood could be cut at different heights so
that in summer the whole height of rose plant would be covered
with blooms.
Another technique, for keeping massive ground cover
rambling-roses under control, was the hedge trimmer, but this
risked dieback from badly fragmented stems and/or the
introduction of disease.
This
was a very enjoyable talk and slide show from a person who
obviously knew his subject inside out.
On
Wednesday 18th February members will hear the story
of Gooderstone Water Gardens from Coral Hayos, the daughter of
its developer and on Wednesday 18th March Graham
Simmonds of the Norfolk Metal Detector Society will tell about
some of his finds from gardens.
The
society meets at Hethersett Methodist Church Hall at 7.30pm.
Annual Membership is £8 and visitors are charged £1
with refreshments included.
December 2008
Jim
Paine of Walnut Tree Garden Nursery near Attleborough talked to Hethersett and District Horticultural Society about plants
which could give interest and colour to gardens in winter.
members
took an immediate and envious shine to Jim who had successfully
escaped a pressurised modern job to earn his crust through
pursuing his gardening hobby.
Ten years on, Walnut Tree Garden Nursery now sells plants
covering all aspects of the garden environment. He talked about
many types of evergreen plants, shrubs and trees, from the 300
foot tall redwood which could live up to 1000 years to a
miniscule saxifrage. All
could, potentially, grow in a Hethersett garden.
Leaves
were not just green in colour.
The smoke bush for example had red and purple leaved
varieties. Sometimes
leaves were shiny, sometimes matt and sometimes fluffy.
Some species’ foliage would be variegated, again
producing pleasing appearances to the eye, while some species
produced appealing scents, for example sweet box and myrtle.
After
a very interesting talk the evening was rounded off with
Christmas nibbles and drink and carol-singing.
On
21st January Simon White of the Peter Beales Nursery
will challenge members with “Who dares prune!“ and on 18th
February members will hear the story of Gooderstone Water
Gardens from Coral Hayos, the daughter of its creator.
Meetings
are held in the Methodist Church Hall in Great Melton Road at
7.30pm. Annual
membership is £8; visitors are welcome and pay just £1
refreshments are included.
July 2008
Well-known
Norfolk Naturalist and EDP columnist, Rex Hancy took members of
Hethersett and District Horticultural Society on a captivating
journey through the tree-lined streets of Norwich. It began in
the Hay Market at the statue of seventeenth century naturalist,
Sir Thomas Browne, where members were introduced to a
magnificent pair of Turkey Oaks and learnt that the Turkey Oak
is just one of eight species of oak in Norwich.
From the
flowering Manna Ash trees of St. Peter Mancroft, to the
“gold-plated” Oriental Planes in front of the Guildhall and
the pyramidal Turkish Hazels in London Street, each tree has a
story to tell. Some, like the leaning Huntingdon Elm on Cattle
Market Street, and the miraculously-saved London Plane in
Chapelfield Gardens, are quite mysterious. Others, like the
chimerical Adam’s Laburnum in St Peter Parmentagate and the
“evergreen” Turner’s Oak on Gurney Road, are highly
unusual.
Most, like the
Weeping Ash at the entrance to the Archant Newspapers car park
on Rouen Road and the English Oaks of Earlham Hall Park, are
seeped in history and must have witnessed great changes. All are
worth seeking out and appreciating more closely. A visit to the
Chapelfield shopping mall can now include viewing the flowering
of the splendid Euodia in St Stephens’s churchyard and the
majestic evergreen branches of the Himalayan Deodar in
Chapelfield Gardens.
June 2008
Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society enjoyed a talk by Rod Casey
on
“The Shape and Flavour of Peas”.
A botanist by profession,
Professor Casey introduced members to the world of gene
selection through breeding to enhance characteristics of peas
and pea plants. First though there was a quick trip down memory
lane to Back Lane, Hethersett in 1976 when it led to pea fields
where, if residents were lucky, portions of crop were left
unharvested and local people’s freezers were filled with peas
which Birds Eye deemed “overtime” or had fallen over.
The example of fallen over
peas was used by Professor Casey to illustrate how genes from
more robust pea family members were selected for repetitive
pollination in a controlled environment, to generate a new pea
variety with stronger stems, after a period of at least six
years.
Members also discussed the
wider pea family, glimpsed the time wise bio-make up of peas,
showing how the sugar content peaked at about one third the time
they took to ripen to maturity; how certain of the pea family
developed differing percentages of sugar or starch or fibre; how
fully ripened peas could end up being ground together with wheat
to produce vegetable protein for use in vegetarian foodstuffs.
Knowing now that there are
varieties of pea which do not fall over or require pea sticks
for support, means that there will be a rush of orders for the
“Samson” or “Princess” varieties next year.
On 16th July Rex Hancy will talk about the “The Trees of Norwich”
and on 20th August Pauline Harper will talk about
getting “From Veg Plot to Pot”.
The club meets at
Hethersett Methodist Church Hall in Great Melton Road at 7.30pm.
Annual Membership is £8 and visitors are charged £1 with
refreshments included.
May 2008
Well-known Norwich horticultural enthusiasts John and
Anne Bridge took members of Hethersett and District
Horticultural Society on a brief holiday to India and Sri Lanka.
The slides they showed encompassed the mass of humanity of the
subcontinent, some impoverished but set alongside the opulence
of the Taj Mahal mausoleum and Red Fort in Agra in India and the
colonial tea-plantation-towns of Sri Lanka.
Members were impressed by the artisan skills displayed
in the jewel-inlaid mosaics of the Taj Mahal and of the pink
city of Jaipur and were intrigued by the plant life -the
bread-fruit, jack-fruit and the red bananas. Members saw
pictures of ladies collecting the youngest leaves from the tea
bushes to be dried and processed to produce the finest tea
–“broken orange pekoe”.
Members appreciated the scale and the atmosphere of
the two countries from the comfort of their chairs in Hethersett
Methodist Church Hall.
The
Society’s talk on 18th June will be by Rod Casey on
“The Shape and Flavour of Peas“. On 16th July Rex
Hancy will talk about “The Trees of Norwich”. The society
meets in Hethersett Methodist Church Hall in the Great Melton
Road at 7.30pm. Annual Membership is £8 and visitors are
charged £1 with refreshments being included.
April 2008
Nick
Gibbons talked to the April meeting of Hethersett and District
Horticultural Society on The Wildlife of Western Australia.
He
described the flora and fauna discovered during a large circular
tour which started and finished in Perth and which took five
weeks.
He
explained that there are 12,000 species of flowers and thousands
of trees and shrubs. Some were given names as they might be
described on sight or smell such as drumstick, trigger plant,
old man’s socks and the warty hammerhead orchid.
Some
flowers are pollinated by birds such as the white-cheeked
honeyeater being attracted to nectar and exotic pterodactyl type
birds such as the buzzard-sized white-tailed cockatoo.
In landscape terms members saw slides of tree-covered rocky
countryside, with poor soils, unusual rock formations such as
the limestone pavements, and the lost grain belt where a rising
water table contains dissolved salts making the soil unusable
for wheat production.
Members also heard about aerial walkways such as that in the
Karri-tingle Forest at 60 metres above the ground. In the past
fire watch towers were created by driving steel spikes into
these massive trees to provide a stairway to the sky.
In
summing up, the group’s new chairman Chris Morriss likened our
predecessors’ lack of belief in the discovery of the platypus
to the strangely wonderful flowers and shrubs, which could only
be verified by sight of the images from Nick Gibbons’ glorious
projection slides.
The
next talk on 21st May will be by John and Anne Bridge
entitled “Colours, Chaos and Curry” about their travels in
south east Asia. On
18th June Rod Casey will discuss the “Shape &
Flavour of Peas”. The
Society meets in the Methodist Church Hall in Great Melton Road
at 7.30pm. The
annual membership subscription is £8 and visitors are charged
£1.50 with refreshments being included.
February 2008
Planned
speaker for the meeting of Hethersett and District Horticultural
Society Paul Corfield had another engagement for the evening and
so George Dawson and Margery Ward stood in for him and shed some
light on the benefits of taking part in the ‘Anglia in
Bloom’ competition as well as offering advice and tips.
They stressed that ‘Anglia in Bloom’ is a campaign
and not a competition, enhancing the local area and showing that
the community cares about its environment.
Brightlingsea in Essex was a case in point, where
following the disturbances of 1995 when there were animal-export
problems in the town the place was very run-down.
Now they are involved with the campaign there is a marked
reduction in
vandalism, there is less litter around and they are winning
prizes. Everyone is
encouraged to take part by growing plants, providing funds,
watering, weeding and keeping the place tidy.
Hethersett
Environmental Action Team (HEAT) already do a lot in Hethersett
(now officially classed as a small town and not a village) to
enhance the environment but George and Margery were able to
spread the word to a wider audience at the meeting.
The
next meeting, preceded by a short AGM will be on Wednesday 20th
March at the Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton Road at 7.30pm
and Bill LeGrice will be speaking on ‘Roses’.
Visitors are welcome at just £1 admission.
December 2007
Dr Anne Edwards, a volunteer for the
Norfolk Wildlife Trust, gave an illuminating presentation about
Ashwellthorpe Lower Wood and its coppice management to Hethersett & District Horticultural Society.
Although probably best known recently for its supply
of wooden poles for the Co-op brush making factory, this ancient
wood was listed in William the Conqueror’s Doomsday book. It was made a nature reserve in 1992.
Members learned of its edge zone, the wild wood where
decaying fallen trees were left untouched and its managed,
coppiced, areas. Here
over a rotation of 12 years the NWT aims to cut down the poles
to reveal the stool or stump so allowing light onto the forest
floor and growth of rare plants.
The pathways or “rides” between the coppiced sections
are mown and brimstone butterflies, woodpeckers and deer abound,
but we only see the deer hoof prints outside of the solar
powered electric fence which safeguards new growth.
Anne showed many wonderful photos of flora and fauna;
most striking was the fully extended “stinkhorn” fungus.
Finally members learned of the different types of tree
and their characteristics and uses. The coppiced wood could be used for making hurdles, poles,
firewood, even besom brooms.
The NWT is always looking for more volunteers and
anybody wishing to join this happy Sunday afternoon team or
other teams across Norfolk can phone 01603 812309.
November 2007
Over
50 members and visitors heard Bob Coutts, head gardener at
Somerleyton Hall, wax lyrical about herbaceous borders at the
November meeting of Hethersett and District Horticultural
Society. Although
Bob plants and maintains two borders which are 5 yards by 20
yards in size he was adamant that the same principles would hold
for the smaller gardens we would be working with.
The
areas had to be cleared completely of perennial weeds,
double-dug in late autumn, adding lots of manure or compost and
then planted up before Christmas. No fertiliser was applied until early April when the plants
would be having a growth spurt.
Then in early May hazel twigs were put in to support the
plants. This would make the beds look untidy for a few weeks but
before long they would disappear under the new growth.
Bob
had slides showing the enormous choice of herbaceous perennials
available and with careful selection it was possible to have
colour and form in the border from May to late autumn. It was an
inspiring talk.
Dr
Anne Edwards will describe the woodland conservation work in
progress at Ashwellthorpe – with the title “If
you go down in the woods today…”- at the next meeting of
the society on Wednesday 10th December.
Visitors are welcome to hear Anne at the Methodist Church Hall, Great
Melton Road for 7.30pm at just £1 per head.
October 2007
What
do you do with a feather bed when it reaches the end of its
useful life? Hethersett
and District Horticultural Society members have discovered that
the contents, along with shredded newspapers can be used to
great effect in place of compost and manure, to line the trench
prepared for growing sweet peas.
The trench is filled in and left to over-winter before
planting up in March.
Joy
King, a well-known exhibitor of sweet peas, having grown these
flowers to perfection for over fifty years, gave her advice to
members at the October meeting of the society.
She sows the seed in late October in pots, leaves them
outdoors until March and then plants them in the prepared
trench, each plant being supported by a six-foot cane.
Then as they grow she coaxes, cajoles and trains them up
the canes, picking the flowers regularly to encourage continuous
flowering. What
started for her and her husband as an experiment when they were
given a packet of seeds soon became a passion.
How many Hethersett folk will take up the challenge as a
result of Joy’s inspirational talk?
At
the November meeting on Wednesday the 21st, Bob
Coutts, the retired head gardener at Somerleyton Hall, will be
speaking on ‘Herbaceous Borders for the Small Garden’.
Visitors are welcome to come and hear this popular
speaker. It’s
just £1 per meeting including tea or coffee.
September 2007
Terry Rand spoke to
Hethersett and District Horticultural Society about “Organic
Gardening”. His immensely informative talk was based upon many
years of experience gained in his five acres of garden. He was
quick to point out that being organic is not just about avoiding
the use of pesticides, fertilisers and fungicides.
Terry touched on the use
of compost to replace lost mineral content and on composting
methods and the importance of a four year crop rotation to rest
soil and avoid yearly repetitious demands on minerals.
Other subjects covered
included “boxed beds” for poorly drained soils, vertical obstructions and fleece covers to fool carrot flies,
short hosepipe lengths to represent snakes, pigeons eyeing up
cabbages, the use of car tyre piles as heat reflecting back
drops to peach trees, double walled polytunnels for exotic
fruits, using bottle topped poles to support low cost netted
fruit cages, using bulb planters to plant potatoes, using
potatoes to break up new ground ahead of proper digging, cutting
the bottom off old demijohns to act as mini-greenhouses.
On 21st October Mr Bob Coutts from
Somerleyton will talk about “Herbaceous Borders for Small
Gardens” and on 12th December Ms Anne Edwards will
give a talk entitled “If you go down to the woods today”
All are welcome. Visitors are asked to
pay £1 and this includes tea or coffee. The society meets in
the Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton Road at 7.30pm.
August 2007
John
Carrick gave a talk to Hethersett and District Horticultural
Society entitled “An Introduction to Topiary”. He defined
topiary as “the art of developing trees and shrubs into
ornamental forms which would not normally occur”; going on to
surprise members with statements that its origins were first in
Egypt several thousand years ago, then evolving in Greece, and
Italy. Queen Anne’s Hampton Court Palace grounds appear to be
the first noteworthy place in England where topiary first
appeared.
Almost
any dense foliage tree or shrub and even ivy, can be used as a
subject. Oldest surviving examples appear to be in yew.
Victorian England, with its improving transport communications
was the period when the interest in topiary extended
countrywide.
With
words of caution about human fingers, members were guided
through tooling, from tree loppers, shears, secateurs,
sheep-shears, to scissors. The best results, said John, were
with the slowest tools.
Moving
swiftly through fertilisers and wire mesh growing-frames the
club came to the fun bit. John got out his shears and in about
10 minutes converted a four foot high box bush; into a spiral.
It would have been helpful, afterwards, to have had the use of a
vacuum cleaner when tidying up the meeting room!
On
September 19th Terry Rand will talk about “Organic
Gardening” and on 17th October Joy King will talk
about ”Growing and Showing Sweet Peas.” Everyone is welcome.
Visitors pay just £1 and this includes tea or coffee! The club
meets in the Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton Road at 7.30pm.
June 2007
Mr John Bridge
from the Norfolk and Norwich Hoticultural Society was gust
speaker at the latest meeting of Hethersett and District
Horticultural Society held in the Methodist Church Hall.
John is a well
known gardener, allotment enthusiast and competition judge and
his subject was “starting an allotment.” The talk was
particularly relevant to Hethersett as the parish council is
attempting to find land for rent or purchase for a new allotment
site.
John
started by showing a photograph of a massive bramble thicket
adjacent to his own allotment and invited discussion on how to
clear it. Depending on how “green” or energetic one was, it
could be either cleared manually, or chemically. Some wily
people used old carpets to cover and kill weeds. Soil should be
ph tested and the result -14 alkaline or 1 acid, used to
determine crops and any neutralising treatment. It would be a
long hard slog! Grass could be dug in, but spear grass should be
heaped and wetted with sulphate of ammonia to encourage
decomposition into compost. Digging prior to winter should just
be “rough”, to allow weather to break up the clods.
Crops
and pros and cons and tips came next. These included advice on
only sowing enough seed for cropping needs. Any fruit trees
should have dwarf rootstocks. Leave broad bean roots in after
cropping, to “fix” nitrogen in the soil and avoid buying
other people’s brassica (“greens”) seedlings, to avoid the
risk of importing clubroot. Use old raspberry canes as pea
sticks.
There
was too much more by way of useful information to print; but as
a final note, John uses a four year “crop rotation” Year One
- Roots eg carrots and parsnips; then manure the soil. Year 2 -
marrows and peas, Year 3 potatoes, Year 4 greens. He encouraged
people to grow their own food if they have the land. He pointed
out that the exercise involved is healthy for you, the food can
be totally organic, it’s low cost and good for you and your
pocket.
May 2007
Mr Alan Barson spoke to the May meeting
of Hethersett and District Horticultural Society on ‘Lawn Care’ in his own
whimsical, inimitable style with lots of basic information
peppered with the odd anecdote to keep his audience on their
toes.
He recommended a first class book for
bedtime reading, a Penguin paperback by the Norfolk botanist, C
Hubbard, ‘Grasses’. This had illustrations and corresponding
detailed of some 150 species.
Such a book would ensure that the reader got off to sleep
quickly. However, the audience stayed awake
throughout Alan’s talk to hear him explain the intricacies of
sowing lawn seed mixtures and the science behind scarifying,
aerating and applying fertiliser.
Soil aeration was stressed as this
would encourage rainwater and fertilisers to pass down into the
soil through any thatch formed by the build-up of moss.
Root growth would then be enhanced. The only equipment
needed was a garden fork to spike the lawn at intervals to a
depth of six inches. The final sad fact was to hear that if
we in Hethersett had mossy, weedy lawns, the advice given would
be to dig it up and start again – or even move house to
Hellesdon.
There we were assured one could find
the two feet of medium loam needed for a good lawn.
This was the “best soil in Norwich”. The next talk to the society on
Wednesday 20th June at 7.30 p.m (this is a change from the
original date of 13th June). will be given by John
Bridge. John is a
regular prize winner at the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural
Society shows and is an enthusiastic vegetable grower.
He will be speaking on ‘Starting an Allotment’.
Meetings are in the Methodist Church Hall, Great Melton
Road, Hethersett and visitors are most welcome.
April 2007
The
RSPB’s Robert Lucking, a North Norfolk Reserves Officer, came
as replacement for the advertised speaker at the April meeting
of Hethersett and District Horticultural Society and found
himself being unexpectedly rewarded by having to judge the
monthly table show; the cakes on offer being particularly
welcomed by him.
The
group was treated to an extensive audio-visual presentation
about the RSPB in its widest context and about the birds of East
Anglia and then onto “attracting wild birds into your
garden”.
The
RSPB is a research, campaigning and lobbying organisation on
behalf of birds in Britain and of certain species worldwide.
Members’ attention was drawn to two RSPB worldwide campaigns,
firstly the slaughter of albatrosses by “long-line” fishing
for tuna type fish in the world’s oceans; and secondly the
acquisition of a substantial area of tropical rain forest in
Indonesia to protect all species of wildlife.
With
fresh water meres to hand, Bitterns find East Anglia’s reedy
beds just perfect and Avocets have prospered on the marshy
scrapes for many years now, since Minsmere and other reserves
have been tailored to their needs. Most of Britain’s Marsh
Harriers are found over the East Anglian reserves, millions of
winter waders exist in the Wash, Stone Curlews are found in
Breckland type habitats, Little Turns on the coastal Denes,
Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Yellowhammers in the hedgerows.
The
core important message received from Rob was, that if gardens
were likely to be visited by wild birds, they must provide
winter and summer food and springtime nest sites and water.
Apart from our Ladies cake crumbs, other good bird foods include
Nyger seed, sunflower seed or proprietary seed mixes.
Natural
planting was considered the best to provide food and shelter in
the garden, honeysuckle, lavender and climbing ivy were amongst
those recommended.
Finally
members were shocked to learn that if a sparrow hawk starts
taking your garden birds, it must be viewed as an accolade to
your bird friendly garden.
March 2007
Our
chairman expertly dispatched the AGM portion of the meeting and
then moved swiftly on to introduce Mr Ben Potterton to talk
about "Plants for Shady Places".
Ben
soon made clear his Norfolk credentials, as being soundly
grounded at Easton Agricultural College and moving on via a
first career post as a Wyevale Garden Centre manager, to running
his own modestly sized nursery called "Blacksmiths Cottage
Nursery" at Langmere near Dickleburgh, set up with the aid
of a Prince’s
Trust grant. Here not only does Ben propagate nearly 4000 plants annually,
but he also devotes part of his site to the breeding of
threatened bird species of the crane family. Alpacas, poultry
and ducks complete the picture.
His
specialty is Woodland Perennials. In his talk he described in
the order of 25 different small species appropriate to woodland
environs, many of them providing colour to brighten the dull
days of a Norfolk winter and some of them good at mulching out
weeds. How could we forget the "Double Green
Celandine", the "Mouse Tail Plant", and the
"Wood Anemone"? We flitted past fritillaries, we oo-ed
over the mini tulips and the hairy yellow-flowered "RipVanWinkle"
mini-daffodils. Aided by feeds of chicken manure, as recommended
by Ben, one's Shady Place Plants should do well!
In
his concluding remarks Ben mentioned a couple of humorous
anecdotes related to his exhibition garden at a national show
where he was also supporting other Norfolk-related displays.
Having finished "dressing" several thousand small
plants onto these displays during a long hot day, he swiftly
arrived back in the evening in his dickey-bow suit to meet the
bigwigs. However feeling somewhat hungry, he found succour in a
stick of Yarmouth's best rock borrowed from the adjacent
display. "Hello" said a voice from over his shoulder
"pleasure to meet you"; turning around Ben found his
sticky pink hand shaking that of the exhibition's chief VIP
visitor! Oh YUCK!!
February
2007
We
wondered whether our speaker, Mr Alan Barson had been taking
lessons from John Cleese. In an extremely witty delivery, Alan
nearly had us in stitches on several occasions as he recounted
several anecdotal aspects of his gardening experiences whilst
talking about “Waking Up the Garden”!
Starting
with the desirability of lawn aeration, which also allows CO2
gas to escape, we moved swiftly onto scarification to aid
removal of this year’s excellent crop of moss.
Alan
declared that one third of the ornamental garden should be
planted with evergreens shrubs, and then went on to suggest some
deciduous shrubs which flower early and are highly perfumed to
ensure attracting pollinating insects; eg winter flowering
honeysuckle.
In
late February with sap starting to rise, gardeners could take
hardwood cuttings, remembering to cut optimally just below a
node to get the position of future rooting cells present; and
then scrape off a sliver of bark to expose the cambium layer,
apply a smear of fresh rooting powder on the scrape and then
plant out and not disturb for 12 months.
He
then delved into the options for soil improvement, organic
blood-fish-bone, “grow more” fertiliser, alkaline mushroom
compost, hop compost and different types of farmyard manure. We
were to remember that wood chip based manure will remove
nitrogen from soil and is best stored in a compost bin for 12
months before use.
We
moved on to airing and spraying dahlia tubers on trays of peat
to encourage them to shoot.
Thinking
of garden pests Alan recommended putting up a Lacewing
’hotel’ box, as apparently these insects are very welcome in
the garden because they eat aphids.
Finally
said Alan, hoicking a bottle of beer out of his box, to which
was tied to a string; “the best use for waterbutts is keeping
my beer cool and the string is essential“!
January
2007
January's meeting enjoyed a holiday from matters
normally and strictly Horticultural!
Our Treasurer, Brian Clark, indulged the many members present in a slide
show of excellent photo transparencies taken by him and his wife Sybil,
during two trips to the Falkland Islands, via Brize Norton, and Ascension
Island and Mount Pleasant airfield.
Neglecting for a moment the unpaved roads of the Falklands, Brian said that
the worst part of his journey was in travelling from Hethersett to Brize
Norton.
We now know the names of the five main constituent plants which form up the
"Dwarf Heath Shrub Community", found over much of the rocky outcrop of
the islands which constitute the Falklands. We can advise on the breeding
and nesting habits of four differing penguin species and we are now
acquainted with the predatory habits of the striated caracara bird and its
carnivorous intentions toward fellow avians.
On Ascension Island we were shown the raucous Sooty Terns at Wideawake Bay,
the semi-feral donkeys, the mountaineering land crabs and the beautiful sandy beaches on which
Green Turtles come to breed. Mountain or hill tops sprouting radar dishes,
microwave links and the suspected "elint" facilities were all there to see
on Ascension Island with its 2 mile runway; a half way pitstop on the 8000
miles, 16 hour journey to the Falklands.
December
2006
Mr Nick Gibbons
was guest speaker at the December meeting held in the Methodist
Church Hall.
He spoke about
Thetford Forest and its wildlife and explained that far from
being just a forest, it was originally land cleared during the
Stone Age and contained much grass land. Its geology was of a
chalk base with soil or sand on top. It was so varied that the
soils could be either acid or alkeline and where sandy it could
blow about.
The land was
originally mainly tussocky grass, inhabited by rabbits, one of
Britain's inheritances from the Romans. Sheep followed in the
aftermath of the land enclosures of the 1800s. There are many
meres resulting from the Ice Age "Pingoes" or marl
extraction pits. Marl was used to improve the land but
nevertheless the land continued to be poor for agriculture.
The decimation
of Britain's forests in support of our armed services during the
First World War resulted in a desire to plant new woodland.
Coincidentally many huge impoverished estates in Norfolk were
waiting to be bought up. Aforestation by the Forestry Commission
appeared just perfect for the unproductive lands surrounding
Thetford.
Planting began
about 1919 and has now been resumed after harvesting began in
about 1968. Indeed the rotational clearances and return to
grassland or heath are key to the survival and multiplication of
bird life. Nightjars, woodlarks, crossbills and curlews are all
prospering under this rotational regime.
Many rare
plants such as Green Hellebrine and Tower Mustard seeds
germinate after long periods of rest when clearance has
happened. The vote of thanks was given by Mrs Audrey Howard.
November
2006
Ms Robin MacDonald spoke to some 40 members of the Hethersett & District
Horticultural Society and visitors on Wednesday 15th November,
2006. She told of
the earliest records of orchids being about 300BC when the Chinese were
known to use them in medicine or for perfume.
Only species orchids produce
perfume, the hybrids do not. In the 1800's the rich and famous spent small
fortunes in acquiring and growing newly discovered orchids from around the
world; though many dead orchids later it was realised that buoyancy of the
air and humidity, not heat, were essential for the promotion of healthy
growth!
Robin referred to the magnificent contribution to the development of
orchids in Britain made by John Lindley. He was the son of a Norfolk
nurseryman and became a Professor of Botany in London and secretary of the
Horticultural Society, now the Royal Horticultural Society. His treatise on
orchids took ten years to compile and was regarded as highly authoritative.
Robin went on to talk about the care of orchids and finally we were
>treated to a most exciting slide show of just a few of the most beautiful
of the 25,000 species (in 750 genera) known today.
October 2006
On the 18th October,
2006, Somerleyton's renowned gardener, Mr Bob Coutts, returned to address the Hethersett
&District Horticultural Society on the subject of "Just Pruning".
From the wealth of information which flowed down from Bob, down at a
breathtaking pace, it is plain that he is a veritable
encyclopaedia of Pruning knowledge.
Demonstrating with a variety of shrubs which Bob brought with him, he soon
made clear, that whilst Annual Pruning is essential for almost every shrub
and fruit tree, it is also essential for Gardeners to know what the shrub
needs and what he or she seeks from that shrub.
Pruning for best results does not mean that every plant is pruned in the
autumn, sometimes it is flowering or fruited spurs which are to be removed,
sometimes it is complete limbs which must be removed.
Bob also reviewed the merits of various types of pruning tools and by the
way, DO MIND YOUR FINGERS!!
If we have at all wetted appetites to know more about Gardening; do please
come and join us.
