Village Gardeners
IN A NEW DEPARTURE for the Club this month, members enjoyed a self-help
Gardeners Question Time. With a little wine for encouragement and seated in a
circle, everyone was easily drawn into a lively and wide ranging discussion.
We began by considering the problem of chlorosis in the Chairman's garden. From strawberries to laurel bushes, lots of different plants are affected though often only one or two in a row. The problem is not obviously related to soil pH and though heavy feeding might have helped this year, the response was not uniform. John Norris reminded us that in a previous life the garden had been a farmyard, one significant legacy from which would be soil compaction. There might be others.
Next under scrutiny, some of the problems inherent in green-house cultivation; whitefly, red spider mite and the control of tomato blossom end rot. Since the latter has been associated with irregular watering, the conversation turned naturally from there to cunning methods for water conservation and use in the garden.
A complete break from tradition, this was a forum where the hard won "wrinkles" from experience were shared between members. And the verdict? A successful experiment, thanks to Margaret Joyce whose idea it was. Let's do it again - and I'm sure we shall.