This group is now coming to the end of the first year and we have visited many delightful gardens, taking inspiration and learning from interesting talks along the way. Please contact Linda Wilson if you're interested.
Most of our activities take place on a Tuesday in week 1 but this may vary according to the availability of the venues and locations.
| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | Monthly on Tuesday all day Usually Tuesday pm, but may vary. Contact leaders for info. 3 terms. |
| Venue: | Various locations |
During the growing season we also propose to encourage members to ‘open their gardens’ to other members for discussion and hopefully inspiration!
Coffee and cake is a pre-requisite for all our outings and we welcome members to share their ideas or lead a planned activity.
We are always open to suggestions for future activities from our members so please feel free to offer suggestions to our group leaders!
TUESDAY 21st JULY Members Gardens Day.
Four members from the village of Catcott opened their very different gardens and described their development.
1. A modern garden with inspired layout and planting, sculpture interest and far reaching views across the levels and to the Mendip Hills.
2. An abundance of herbaceous planting, shady seating by a wildlife pond as well as productive raised vegetable beds, greenhouse and Uber construction summer house.
3. a garden divided into four areas; lawn and old apple trees, polytunnel and raised beds, rose arbour and water feature, rear garden with shrubs, pond and fern theatre.
4. Delightful terraced garden with art studio and planted with roses and small shrubs demonstrating how much can be made of a smaller garden. The whole reflecting the owners artistic talents.
TUESDAY 23rd JUNE. A real designers garden. Planting began at Westbrook House in 2003 by Keith and David - a garden designer and a painter and now has the exuberance of a well established, excellently well planned plantsman’s garden. Three distinct gardens around the house with herbaceous and shrub borders including species roses leading to a meadow and orchard with wild flowers. Altogether a delightful visit with tea and cake to conclude.
TUESDAY 26th MAY proved to be extremely hot but fortunately the gardens at Honeyhurst Farm had quite a few trees providing us with some shade. Hosts Dan and Kathy opened their garden to us by arrangement through the National Gardens Scheme. Part walled garden with babbling brook, Kathy guided us and knowledgeably described the planting and garden development. We thoroughly enjoyed the perennials, shrubs, arches, pergolas, climbing plants, pots and of course a delicious selection of cakes and hot and cold drinks all served to us by Dan.
TUESDAY 19th MARCH Our visit to Hestercombe Gardens was blessed with warm spring sunshine as we strolled around the landscaped garden, shrubbery and formal gardens, pausing here and there to admire the views and enjoy the early flowers and fragrances.
Caroline, who works mainly in the formal garden, guided us to the cascade imparting information along the way about the gardens history, planting and plans for the future concluding the tour on the Victorian terrace where we learned about adapting the planting scheme to reflect Gertrude Jekyll’s original ideas, deal with climate change and be less labour intensive.
TUESDAY 17th FEBRUARY Fourteen members spent a leisurely few hours at Kilver Court Gardens mainly to view the snowdrop display but found so much more of interest. The weather was kind to us as we strolled around this delightful garden. Head gardener Chris gave us a most informative talk on both the history and planting schemes over the years and of course we ended up in the cafe!
TUESDAY 28th APRIL Joanna opened her garden on Roman Way, Glastonbury exclusively for 15 u3a Gardens Group members with proceeds to charity through the NGS. Situated on legendary Wearyall Hill with far reaching views of adjacent meadows, this once neglected garden has been transformed by art historian Joanna into an intriguing series of colourful ‘rooms’ with many exotic and rare plants and shrubs. The statuary, wall decorations and some of the plant selections depicted classical themes in keeping with the address. The visit to this delightful garden culminated in tea/coffee and cake sat outside enjoying the view.
Thirteen members of the newly-formed group enjoyed an informative Guided Tour of the Cannington Walled Gardens near Bridgwater., located within the walls of a medieval priory. We were shown around the various garden areas including the Blue Garden, Sub-Tropical and Fernery and even got to taste the apples and pears from the abundant fruit trees. The visit was rounded off with a delicious cream tea in the gardens tea room.
