Thurs 12th January
Talk & demonstration:
Making the most of growing in Pots
with Steve Bradley,
Gardening Correspondent, The Sun
Suggestions on how to grow a range of plants in containers, including Ornamental plants as well as some fruit and vegetables. This is particularly important now that peat-based composts are to be withdrawn from sale. The demonstration will include how to make watering easier, different pot types and materials, which are the best for you and how to make the most of them.
Thurs 16th February
Recent Innovations in Vegetable and Fruit Breeding and Developments
with David Allison FNVS
David Allison is a farmer’s son by birth with growing in his blood! He spent 4 years on his father’s farm, and the next 30 in Banking. He then spent 8 years as a jobbing gardener. Now retired he has three allotments where he grows a range of Flowers Fruit and Vegetables and has over 40 years’ experience. He began showing in 1975 and is past National Chairman and magazine editor of the National Vegetable Society but David has many accreditations to his name, amongst which are Member of the RHS Show committee and Accredited judge and Chairman of the vegetables trials forum at the new RHS Garden at Bridgewater in Salford near Manchester.
With such experience and insight this evening promises to be a fascinating look at all things fruit and veg.
Thurs 23rd March
Pests Diseases and Poisonous Plants
with Paul Robinson, the ‘Laughing Gardener’ 
Paul will have you laughing with his strange juices and, if you are brave enough, he will ask you to taste and guess what’s in the bottle. There are some strange concoctions in his juices, but he assures us that they are quite safe.
Paul’s talk promises to be full of laughs and lots of information about plants that are poisonous – some of which can even kill people and animals!! However, poisonous plants can be beautiful to look at too, and Paul will be trying to persuade us to see this beauty in them.
Thurs 13th April
Bulbs All Year Round
With Eileen Shone 
People often think of bulbs as a spring presence in the garden. This talk looks at bulbs and their allies that are useful in every season to add colour, glamour and seasonality.
Eileen is a retired biology & science teacher with a life- long enjoyment of gardening. She incorporate quite a few British natives in her planting schemes and aims to have something of interest all year round.
Thurs 27th April AGM followed by Talk
The Garden at Shandy Hall
with
Chris Pearson
Shandy Hall is a Grade I listed building dating from the mid-15th century. Inhabited by various families for over 600 years, it is now a lived-in museum and literary house that celebrates the life and works of Laurence Sterne.
The two-acre garden is part cottage garden, part woodland garden, and incorporates a former stone quarry, now known as the Wild Garden.
The gardens are home to many creatures. Birds – from kestrels to treecreepers – and small mammals, such as stoats and squirrels. Over 450 species of moths have been recorded in the gardens, and a wide variety of insects, wild plants and fungi can be found. Chris will explain in more detail the importance of how the house and garden are cared for to ensure that the garden has wildlife at its heart, and how the volunteer gardeners aim to please the human visitors without compromising its importance as a wildlife habitat.
Tags: 2023, April, February, January, March, May, speakers