Welcome to Church Crookham Garden Society

27th April 2021

Church Crookham Garden Society, Fleet, Hampshire UKA vibrant garden society active in Church Crookham, FLEET, Hampshire. We hold several annual events and shows and run a comprehensively stocked stores hut with discounts for members.

HISTORY

Church Crookham Garden Society was formed in 1954 as the Ryelaw Garden Society. It was founded by residents of Ryelaw Road as an outlet for their interest in gardening. A potted history about the success story by founding members to cultivate the local sand can be found here…

At some time in its early stages, the Society began marketing garden supplies and until 1997 traded from sheds located in Moore Close.

The name of the Society was changed to Church Crookham Garden Society to reflect the wider residential location of its members.

Shows were organised and now two shows per year are held, one in the spring and one in late summer.

Garden Society Trading Hut News

The trading shed is closed until February 2022.

Members of the society take advantage of significant bulk purchases.

Trading Hut, Church Crookham Memorial Hall, Sandy Lane, GU52 8LD, (opposite the Wyvern pub).

2021 Price list – click here
FREE PARKING

In 1997 the ground occupied by the Society’s sheds was subject to planning consent for residential building and the Society moved to a purpose built concrete structure located in the car park of the Crookham Memorial Hall in Sandy Lane, Church Crookham.

The Society is run by two committees:

  • Main committee
  • Show committee

Each committee is made up of elected members, and is chaired by the Society Chairman.

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January 2022 Gardening Tips

1st January 2022

Liz Kirton writes :

On the last day of December 2021, on a quick stroll round my garden, I found that even in the ‘deep mid-winter’ there are flowers to appreciate:- witch hazels, both red and yellow unfurling their petals, Iris unguicularis adding their beautiful blue flowers, winter jasmine giving a lovely yellow sheen to the wall outside the front door, and, surprisingly, some left overs from Autumn – a honeysuckle and a rose!

Crocus and daffodil leaves are pushing through the soil and snowdrops are nearly in flower. All indications of life after apparent death!

Here are things to do this month…

  • Start pruning Wisteria: cut back the last season’s growth to 2-3 buds of the older wood
  • Hard prune bush roses since flowers are produced on the new season’s growth. Cut them back to a strong outward facing bud and remove dead and crossing branches.
  • Shake snow off evergreen shrubs to prevent damage to branches and ‘scorching’ of foliage.
  • Feed apple trees in late winter with ‘growmore’ or other suitable fertiliser, compost or manure by sprinkling over the area just beyond the branch canopy. Dessert apples need more potassium, cookers more nitrogen, I am told.
  • Once your Christmas hippeastrum/amaryllis has finished flowering, feed it fortnightly to build up the bulb. Cyclamen benefit from the same treatment.
  • Start chitting early potatoes in trays in a cool, light, frost-free location.
  • Sow begonia, lobelia, salvia and pelargonium in a heated propagator.
  • Enjoy witch-hazels, snowdrops, winter aconites, hellebores, and Iris unguicularis (stilosa) (pictured below). It is worth cutting back the foliage of the last two to see the flowers better.

 

Wishing you a happy and productive 2022.

December Gardening Tips

2nd December 2021

This is a difficult time for plants:  when water freezes in the ground, they cannot replace water lost from the leaves.  They have adapted by losing their leaves and becoming dormant, or by having waxy, waterproof leaves. The lance-like leaves of bulbs let snow slide off them.  You may have noticed this in the last week of November this year!

In December

  • Prune birches, Japanese maples and other deciduous trees, now they are dormant, removing crossing branches and reducing overall size.
  • Prune grapevines, apples, pears, currants and gooseberries. The aim is to achieve an open-centred tree or bush. Renovation pruning of neglected trees is a three-year job (search apples and pears: renovating old trees at rhs.org.uk)
  • Erect a rain shelter over wall-trained peaches and nectarines to protect against leaf curl until May.
  • Take hard wood cuttings from trees like mulberry, tamarix or euonymus: take the current season’s growth, cut into 10-20cm sections with about 4 buds. Cut below a node at the base and make a slanting cut away from a bud at the top. Insert into gritty compost and leave in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.
  • ‘Force’ rhubarb by covering with straw and a dark bucket or special forcer pot.
  • Forget the tinsel! Coloured stems from acers, cornus, willows and bamboos go well with holly, ivy and fir for your seasonal decorations.
  • Indoor plants need less water than you might think – only water them when the top of the soil is quite dry.  Azaleas, cyclamens and forced bulbs last longer in cool conditions, while poinsettias like warm, draught-free positions.

Have a very happy Christmas.

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Tel: 07801 714662 Email: alecjgrant@icloud.com