SIGNS of Spring were in the air at Mickleton Gardening Club’s March meeting when the monthly competition was a selection of Spring flowers. There were beautiful displays of colourful blooms brightening up the hall and reminding everyone of the joys of gardening. The winner of this competition was Pam Govier. The Gardening Club’s Spring Show will take place on April 8 and the Show Secretary, June Howse, encouraged everyone to help make it a colourful event by entering as many flowers as possible.

David Cropp, the speaker for the evening was introduced by Chairman, Jonathan Collins. David’s topic was ‘Defensive Gardening in a Time of Climate Change’. David began by reminding his audience of some of the dangers of gardening as he had recently had a serious accident whilst working in his greenhouse. Some of David’s ideas appeared to be quite controversial to traditional gardeners. The idea of not weeding (except for very invasive weeds) to allow the weeds to keep moisture in the soil and to act as a mulch. We were also advised that it is better to water from above and not around the base of the plant and that plants generally know what they are doing and grow better without interference! The topic of builder’s rubble being left in new gardens was raised and David described finding scaffolding poles and an old jumper when digging in one of his gardens! Following an interesting question and answer session a vote of thanks was given to David.

The next meeting is on April 19 at the King George’s Hall, 7pm for refreshments, 7.30pm for a talk on ‘No Plot, No Problem’.

SANDRA REED