‘Soil Health linked to Gut Health’
Dr Jane Gleeson
Wednesday 11th December 2024
This startling comment illustrated the importance of knowing how to create and maintain this amazing substance. It takes 1000 years to create 1 centimetre of soil by erosion of bedrock and decomposition of organic matter.
At this monthly meeting Dr Jane Gleeson gave an illustrated talk about ‘Soil Health linked to Gut Health’ and it was obvious she felt strongly about her subject. After spending ten years in the field of mental health she changed the course of her life to become a horticulturalist. She mentioned Albert Howard who, in the first half of the 21st century, travelled to India to teach the farmers about artificial fertilizers and pesticides, and was surprised to find they were able to grow food in a sustainable way without these chemicals. He had learnt a valuable lesson.
Dr Gleeson took us through the soil food web from soil health, plant health and animal health to human health. It was a wonderful biology lesson including explaining why we should not dig unless really necessary to avoid damaging the delicate biosystems surrounding growing roots. We learnt so much, including that nematode worms are the most abundant life form on the planet.
Visit www.soilfood.com as there is so much to learn, and although this website is for farmers it applies equally to gardeners.
Our guts need a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, protein and fibre. One of the many slides illustrated the essential bacteria in action in our colon.
Finally, we were encouraged to check the ingredients of packaged food in shops. ‘If you don’t know what it is – don’t buy it’
Altogether a fascinating talk containing lots of ‘food for thought’.
SPECIAL EVENT- FEBRUARY 2025
‘The Garden in Art’
Matthew Biggs
Wednesday 12th February 2025, 2.30pm
Followed by Afternoon Tea
To be held at Boxgrove Village Hall
After the success of the Talk and Tea event in 2024, we will be returning once again to Boxgrove.
This year we welcome Matthew Biggs who is probably best known from Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time where he is a regular panellist. Matthew has also presented numerous television programmes, notably Channel 4’s Garden Club.
Matthew trained at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where he now lectures. He has written several books and has contributed to two Gardeners’ Question Time books, as well as to several magazines. These include the RHS journal ‘The Garden’, BBC Gardeners’ World, BBC Countryfile & others.
This lecture is a journey across cultures and continents showing the endless ways in which painters, photographers, landscape designers and other image makers have portrayed gardens through history, covering a diversity of gardens from grand estates to urban community plots and window boxes, in a wide range of styles and media.
Featuring both iconic and lesser-known artists, it tells the story of each image, reinforcing the ongoing relationship between gardens and art throughout history.
This will be a ticketed event and tickets will be restricted to members only until 31st December. Tickets are £6 for members.
Should tickets be available for non-members, these will be £12. You may apply for a ticket for one guest and we will let you know after 31st December if your application has been successful.
Tickets will be allocated in order of application. Please do not make payment for guest tickets until you are notified of availability. If you would like to pre-book a ticket and/or add a guest to the waiting list, please click here:
There will be a raffle to include a food and a garden hamper. If you would like to donate to either of these e.g. preserves, garden twine, or other prizes then for details please contact:
Raffle proceeds will be donated to The Sussex Snowdrop Trust, a local charity, in support of their work providing ‘Nursing Care at Home’ for local children who have a life-threatening or terminal illness.
Previous Monthly Meetings
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‘Great Companions:
Ornamental Grasses and
Excellent Perennials’
Marina Christopher
Wednesday 9th October
preceded by Autumn Flower Competition
Marina runs Phoenix Perennial Plants, a nursery near Alton suppling unusual plants to some of the top designers for their gardens at Chelsea Flower Show that have won ‘Best in Show on several occasions.
After the excellent talk on Late Summer Flowers that Marina gave at our September 2022 meeting in 2022, we were not disappointed – an enjoyable evening with lots of useful information. Again, Marina brought lots of the plants to show us, rather than just relying on images.
Grasses make up about 20% of the planet’s earthmass and, being wind pollenated, are not reliant of pollinators. Marina not only took us through a wide range of grasses and their possible uses in the garden, but also covered herbaceous perennials and other plants that mix well with them.
‘Propagation’
Ray Broughton
Wednesday 11th September
Having trained at RHS Wisley in the mid-1970s, Ray was Head of Horticulture at Sparsholt College for 12 years. In 2000, he was awarded a Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture in recognition of his services to horticultural education. He then taught staff and students at RHS Wisley where he was chief examiner.
This knowledge and experience shone through in a talk full of useful information on many aspects of propagation, all presented in an enjoyable and accessible way.
In addition, Ray gave a large number of useful tips; here are just some of them:
Clean up secateurs by leaving the blades in tomato ketchup for a few days. It is the vinegar that does the work, but if you just used vinegar it would evaporate or run off, whereas the ketchup keeps it in contact with the metal.
You can do the same thing with hedge trimmer blades, using a squeezy bottle of ketchup.
In the spring seedlings and cuttings can get very leggy. This is not due to low light levels, but the lack of carbon dioxide that is needed for photosynthesis. To provide a source of CO2, put some fairly fresh manure in a two litre plastic pot, cover with cling film and make holes in the film. Use from February through to the end of April.
Hardwood cuttings, for example of cornus or buddeja, should be taken in November.
One way to make them easier to look after is to use a “Dutch roll”.
Take a length of plastic sheet cut from an old compost bag, black side up, and cover it with a one inch layer of compost. Place the cuttings spaced out along it, roll it up and tie it up.
Keep it over winter, lying horizontally somewhere dark and cool, like a shed or garage.
Open it up in April, when roots should have started to form, and pot up individually.
When filling a seed tray always make sure the compost in the corners is also firmed down, otherwise moisture will migrate there, leaving the centre dry.
When sowing dark coloured seed, mix with a little cornflour so that the seed will show up white against the compost.
To remove any surplus seed from the seed tray, rub a plastic pen to create static so the seed will jump up to the pen.
Don’t cover seed too much, but even seed that needs light to germinate should still be covered with very thin layer of compost or vermiculite.
When dividing dahlia tubers make sure each division has a stem; without a stem it will not grow.
Hose down hedges mid-December to mid-January to remove female aphids sheltering there before they lay their eggs.
Beware euonymus and nasturtium, as they excrete sucrose which attracts aphids.
‘How to be a 21st Century Gardener’
Timothy Walker
Wednesday 12th June
Timothy was the director of Oxford Botanic Garden for 26 years and is now lecturer in Plant Sciences at Somerville College Oxford.
His talk focussed on how gardeners can cope with many of the challenges they are facing from environmental changes whilst reducing their use of natural resources.
He pointed out that in spite of gloomy predictions by nurserymen they have been able to become
peat free
He succeeded in making this not only interesting and informative, but also thoroughly enjoyable.
The talk was structured in the following ten chapters, all spiced with humour:
- Look after your soil;
- Choose plants that like your soil;
- Grow more native plants;
- Grow more fruit and vegetables;
- Reduce watering;
- Reduce pesticide use to the minimum;
- Adapt to climate change;
- Look after endangered species;
- Gardening for nature;
- New gardeners.
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This is most important thing. It is said that you can improve soil, but not change it. Timothy had found in his own garden that it can be changed, but this was only feasible for a small area, needing to replace the soil going down three spade depths.
Prioritise making your own compost – do not let the compost heap dry out, otherwise the bacteria et al. that break it down will not be able to function. The compost heap also needs nitrogen, not to enrich the final compost, but to promote these things that break down the heap into compost.
such as Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus.
Lots of natives make very good hedging plants, e.g. hazel, sloe (blackthorn), hawthorn.
Other natives worth growing: ox-eyed daisies, ragged robin, bugle, foxgloves, yellow mullein, honesty.
Avoid exotics that could pose a threat if they break out into the wild.
by concentrating on plants that do not need constant watering.
If watering is required (such as growing vegetables) he recommended the use of porous soaker hoses in the soil, which get the moisture where is is requited, rather than traditional watering, where a lot is wasted on the foliage.
Use predators to control greenhouse pests instead and encourage toads, hedgehogs and thrushes to help control slugs and snails. Use copper tape or copper containers to protect hostas.
Also choose resistant plants/varieties –
e.g. mildew resistant Aster varieties, such as ‘Blue Danube’ and ‘Little Carlow’.
“Wimbledon chop” – similar to Chelsea chop, but carried out at the start of July, to produce more flowering heads and shorter stems on asters.
Mediterranean plants can be useful to cope with rising temperatures and drier summers, but should not be used in rich soils, as they thrive on poorer stony ground, as in the Delos Garden at Sissinghurst.
Timothy presented the example of critically endangered Euphorbia stygiana, native to the Azores, but hardy down to minus 15oC.
He had set up a project to propagate this species at Oxford, with the work carried out by young members of his team, which was very successful.
Encourage the development of young gardeners to looks after gardens in the future.
In the examples of projects at Oxford University Botanic Gardens, the work of young team members was highlighted.
‘The Arts and Crafts Movement and its Gardens’
Stephen Harmer
Wednesday 10th April
Stephen has a master’s degree in Garden History and teaches at RHS Wisley. His favourite subject is the history of the Arts and Crafts garden, and he has incorporated some of its principles in his gardening at Tonbridge School, where he is Head Gardener.
The gardens inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement were supposed to be the closest to the traditional English garden; however, this was something that never really existed. Influenced by Italian renaissance and Persian gardens, they rejected the formality of the typical Victorian garden and its reliance on blocks of bedding plants. Following Ruskin’s lead that nature should be used as the inspiration, the Arts & Crafts movement rejected shoddy Victorian mass production; it was generally anti-industrial, focussing instead on hand made craftsmanship and preferring simplicity to the over-elaborate decoration of the day.. Its leading light was William Morris and much of his influence can be seen in his favourite residence, Kelmscott Manor.
What is outside the garden is just as important as what is inside it. Carefully placed “windows” should give views out into the surrounding countryside.
William Robinson, the influential gardener and writer, with his popular and influential books “The Wild Garden” (1870) and “The English Flower Garden” (1883), described how this style of garden should look. The garden should look absolutely natural. Exotic plants could be used, but on condition that they could survive unprotected in an English garden throughout the year. Planting should be so dense that by mid-May no soil should be visible. This can be seen as the start of the modern mixed border.
The garden must surround the house, with flower gardens to be overlooked by family rooms, looking south. The garden must have:
- wild flower meadow (any flowers that would naturalise could be used);
- a sports lawn;
- different levels and terracing;
- strong hedges;
- a formal forecourt;
- symmetry, with a vista;
- use local materials;
- timbers, especially oak;
- old fashioned flowers and vegetables;
- old gnarled fruit trees;
- a nuttery.
Robinson put his principles into effect by purchasing Gravetye Manor, near East Grinstead, and transforming the garden.
Notable exponents of the Arts & Crafts style were Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens. Prime examples of their own designs: Munstead Wood, Gertrude Jekyll’s own house and garden; Upton Grey Manor, designed by Jekyll and Lutyens; this garden subsequently fell into complete neglect, but has been faithfully restored by current owner, Rosamund Wallinger.
Arts and Crafts elements lived on even after the real Arts and Crafts period had finished, e.g. Sissinghurst (and Vita Sackville-West and Howard Nicholson’s previous experimental garden, Long Barn) and Great Dixter.
Steven explained that 1916 marked the end of the Arts and Crafts gardening movement; the huge number of First World War casualties, exemplified by the Battle of the Somme that year, meant that the manpower needed for the upkeep of such gardens was no longer available.
‘Designing Small Gardens’
Annie Guilfoyle
Wednesday 13th March
The Spring Flower Competition was held before the meeting.
Award-winning garden designer Annie Guilfoyle combines a successful consultancy, Creative Landscapes, with lecturing and writing on the subject.
She has a long association with West Dean College, where she organises all the garden courses and teaches some of them; she also teaches garden design at Great Dixter.
Internationally, Annie lectures and runs garden design courses in several Europe locations and in the USA.
She imparted this knowledge and experience in an excellent presentation, full of useful information delivered in an appealing way.
The following notes do not do the talk justice, only capturing some of the points Annie made.
She considered the small garden as perhaps the most challenging for a designer, compared to a large area and unlimited budget. The features of a small garden can be used in many settings; indeed, many large gardens are a compilation of smaller ones: e.g. Sissinghurst and, to some extent, Great Dixter.
One theme that Annie mentioned repeatedly in her talk was offsetting main features, such as patios, steps, decking, at an angle of 45o to the perimeter of the garden. This gives the garden an impression of being larger, as the eye is drawn to the longest, diagonal, length. Also, it gives larger spaces for planting, compared to a narrow border surrounding, say, a patio that is not offset.
It has the additional benefit that the eye is not taken directly to the other end of the garden, making it appear more complex and larger.
She showed several gardens that she had designed as examples, including:
- East Molesey, Surrey
- Kew This garden measures just 4m x 4m. Evergreens. Decking set at 45o.
- Arundel – again hard landscaping set at 45o, giving deeper spaces for planting.
- Hove This garden shows an example of another theme that Annie mentioned several times: reuse what is already there – in this case an underused swimming pool repurposed as a pond, with the decking giving it a curved edge to dissimulate its origins.
Reusing what is already there saves the cost of a great deal of material and of bringing it in or taking it out, as well as being ecologically more sustainable.
This garden also has a gate with the start of gravel path leading into the border and, by implication, to another part of the garden, whereas, in fact, it doesn’t lead anywhere. The gate is left slightly open – always more inviting.
Water features are important in any garden, no matter how small. Their sound adds another, relaxing, dimension that can distract from noise coming from outside.They also bring in wildlife.
In small garden, you can remove lower foliage from a large garden shrub, so that it looks like a small tree, in proportion to the garden.
Use climbing plants to add another dimension and to extend the flowering period when growing through earlier flowering shrubs.
Korean lilac Syringa meyeri is exceptionally fragrant and its size makes it particularly well suited to small gardens.
Use more specialised nurseries for access to a wider choice of plants, mentioning in particular:
Colour :
In a small garden go for muted colours, as they will make it feel larger.
Using bright colours will make the space appear even smaller.
Shade plants:
Annie mentioned, amongst others Gillenia and ferns, which she considers much underrated.
Use dark foliage plants to set off lighter colours.
Bulbs – excellent for small gardens, as they will make their appearance through other planting and once flowered will then disappear again.
Showing just how small gardening can get, Annie introduced something with many potential sites in our area: pot hole gardening
‘Revive Your Garden’
Nick Bailey
Wednesday 14th February
Boxgrove Village Hall
This special LHS event welcomed Gardeners’ World presenter Nick Bailey to speak on a subject that many of us could benefit from.
The audience of 100 was captivated by Nick’s masterly presentation of a great deal of very useful information leavened with anecdotes and humour.
The talk and the ensuing questions were followed by a delicious afternoon tea.
The Sussex Snowdrop Trust Chairman and Co-Founder, Diana Levantine, gave a short description of the trust and its wonderful work as a unique charity providing ‘Nursing Care at Home’ for local children who have a life-threatening or terminal illness.
The proceeds of the bumper raffle were donated to The Sussex Snowdrop Trust. Many thanks to all those who donated prizes.
Nick’s eloquent and well illustrated talk went through the aspects to be considered when planning to revamp a garden, starting from what you have to work with: the plots, its size and aspect, the soil and other possible limitations, existing planting.
Then to the essential decisions: what you want from your garden: –
‘Form follows function’ (Corbusier).
What of the existing planting can be rejuvenated.
How to use pruning to help achieve this.
How can it be enhanced by additional planting.
How to get rid of really troublesome weeds.
And very much more.
Click this Points & Plants link to see more details of what Nick mentioned in his talk.
Nick’s excellent talk, rounded off by a lovely afternoon tea with home made cake, made for a very enjoyable and instructive afternoon.
‘Clematis through the Seasons’
Everett Leeds
Wednesday 10th January
Everett has had an interest in clematis for over forty years. Member of the International Clematis Society and founder member of the British Clematis Society (Chairman four times), he has co-written two books on clematis.
His knowledge and enthusiasm were evident in the talk that was very well received by a large gathering of members.
History
The native Clematis vitalba (Old Man’s Beard) was the only clematis known in England until the reign of Elizabeth I, when Clematis viticella was introduced from southern Europe.
Other European clematis were then introduced: C. recta, herbaceous, not a climber, with small white flowers, and C. integrifolia, again herbaceous, not a climber, from the alpine region.
It was not until the 19th century that plant hunters introduced species from China, C. patens and C. lanuginosa that brought larger flowers and new colours.
In the late 1850s Jackman’s nursery, Woking, bred C. jackmanii, which had a much larger flower size than any previous clematis.
A hybridisation race then ensued.
Ca. 1900 clematis wilt appeared.
C. texensis was introduced just before 1900 from Texas, bringing red tulip-like flowers.
Propagation from cuttings Read more Show less
The basics of taking the cutting can be seen here, although Everett made the following points:
Before putting the cuttings into the pot, put them in a plastic bag with some systemic fungicide, to allow the leaves to take up the fungicide and help protect the cutting from fungal attack.
He puts the cuttings up to their necks around the edge of a pot filled with pure perlite.
This then goes into a propagator, or failing that, is covered with a clear plastic bags secured with a rubber band around the pot.
He sprays the cuttings with weak systemic fungicide once a week.
After 5-8 weeks the root system should have developed – this can be checked by feeling the resistance when pulling lightly on the cutting.
The cutting can now be potted on, in John Innes No 3 with a handful of grit, into a pot which is only just large enough for the roots; if the pot is too large, the roots will tend to rot.
Keep damp and pot on when the roots fill the pot.
It is best to keep the new plant in a pot until it can be planted out the following spring.
When training up trees that are still alive, plant clematis away from the tree, to the north, and train it up against the trunk with a cane.
Feeding – Everett recommended that clematis be fed with rose fertiliser.
Including those from all the following groups:
Early season species:
Early large-flowered clematis:
Can be affected by clematis wilt which can affect all the plant or just parts of it. Cut off all affected parts and dispose of in bin.
It is recommended to plant deep, so that the part of the plant in the soil may escape wilt.
If the plant does not recover it can be replaced with another clematis in the same place – there is not the same problem as there is with replacing roses.
With their large blooms, they are susceptible to damage by wind and rain, so they are best planted in a sheltered location. Also, they do not like too much direct sunlight, so plant in east-, west- or even north-facing locations, but not in south-facing.
There are about 4,000 cultivars.
Late flowering clematis:
Prune hard to about 1 foot in February.
Herbaceous Group:
Bushy, non-climbing, grow to a height of 0.75 – 1.25 m.
At end of season cut down to 20 cm ready for winter.
Herbaceous clematis do not like too high temperatures, so when planting in containers, insulate the inside of the container, e.g. with bubblewrap; must be watered at least once a week.
‘Creating Movement whilst Frozen Still’
Ben Pope
Wednesday 13th December 2023
With 25 years of horticultural experience, Ben has spent the past 15 years as head gardener of a private estate near Midhurst, maintaining the large garden to a very high standard, whilst growing fruit, vegetables and cut flowers, featured in Gardeners’ World. In addition, Ben teaches at West Dean College and the Chelsea Physic Garden.
A large number of members braved the winter evening to hear an excellent talk, well presented and illustrated. Ben suggested that, rather than ‘putting the garden to bed’, we use structure and winter colour to create movement by visual effects.
Views, Shapes, Surfaces, Spaces:
Create a visual path around garden – the eye moves more slowly and calmly along curved edges, whereas it will follow straight lines more rapidly.
Using different types of surface will also slow the eye down as it moves from one to another.
He showed how this calming effect can also be achieved with rounded and undulating tops to box hedging. The junction of two main paths was softened with an invitation to linger by having the four corners of the hedging rounded, rather than ending in straight angles.
Clipped plants such as lavender can form domes under frost or snow. Beech, yew, bare branches and Garria, with hanging tassels, all provide contrasting shapes and colour.
Light and reflections:
Be aware of light and how it moves around garden.
Side lighting from low sun in winter and long shadows cast on the lawn can create attractive effects.
Using reflections from water or mirrors adds depth to the view.
Repetition and perspective:
Repetition of shapes and colours can provide interest and a sense of perspective.
Create the impression of greater distance by gradually reducing the width of a path.
Box balls of diminishing sizes, again using false perspective to give an impression of distance.
Plants:
Just some of the plants that Ben suggested for the winter garden, either to add structure and movement, or colour, especially the bulbs heralding the end of winter:
Read more
Monarda stands well until February
Aster umbellatus
Phlomis – will last throughout winter
Potentilla
Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ – glows in sunlight
Garrya elliptica
Miscanthus nepalensis
Miscanthus sinensis – Golden colour in winter sun
Cyclamen:
- C. hederifolium: after ending flowering early in winter, its foliage will then continue to look good.
- C. coum: flowers later in winter.
- Do not grow these two types of cyclamen together, as C. hederifolium will completely take over.
Primulas
Crocus
Hellebores
Hyacinths – useful for colour and scent at the end of winter.
Species tulips, e.g. Tulipa turkestanica
Scilla bifolia e.g. Peter Nijssen
Muscari
Eryngium – leave flower heads standing through winter.
End of winter – Pulmonaria
Cardoon
Trees and shrubs
Hamamellis ‘Aphrodite’
Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’
Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’
Skimmia
Sarcococca for scent
Colourful stems:
Rubus (white stemmed bramble), Salix (willow), Cornus (dogwood) – all require hand pruning right back, as only the new season’s stems will have the best colour.
Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ is not so robust, so only take down a proportion of the stems each year.
Deciduous grasses – cut back mid/end February to let new shoots come through.
Evergreen grasses – just comb them through to get rid of dead growth at the end of winter e.g. Pheasant’s tail grass (Stipa arundinacea), Stipa tenuissima and Carex.
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