At our March meeting we were entertained by Liz Taylor who described the work being done by the Woodland Trust to try and repair the damage being done to our woodlands by development and pests and disease. Apparently they need to plant 2000 trees each just to keep numbers as they are. Working with trees needs a longer time scale; some of their projects have a timetable of 100 years!
The evening also featured our annual daffodil bench show which which this year coincided nicely with the flowers in our gardens, as was illustrated by the 54 entries. This made judging difficult as all the blooms were of such excellent quality.
The single colour section was won jointly by Anne Haynes and Margaret Ridgewell Brian Haynes came second and John Dunkley and Janet Forth came joint third.
The Small flowered section was won by Val Jackson, Tom Wallis came second and Avril Minchin got third place.
The bi-colour flower section was won by Jenny Wilshire, Jean Spokes was second and Lynn Ashbee and Rosemary Dunkley shared third place.
Our next meeting will be on 8th April when we definitely will welcome the return of Patsy Rayner who will tell us about plants and literature. (My apologies for mistakenly trailing this talk last month). Aprils meeting will also have our annual Tulip show, let’s hope for as much success as with the daffodils.
This winter has been generally mild and I have noticed signs of aphids on our roses in sheltered spots. This might seem a bit ominous, but on the positive side there are a lot of ladybirds hidden around the garden and all through the winter we have been finding lacewings in the house. With any luck these predators will help to control the greenfly numbers before they get out of hand.
Some Things to do in April
April is a busy month in the garden when we can start sowing and planting in earnest, but be vigilant for late frosts, particularly if you are planting out tender bedding plants. It’s also a good time to start feeding shrubs and roses.Mark Newstead
For more information visit the Heyford Gardening Club & Allotments page
The Nether Heyford Prattler 