| Meeting Day | 3rd Friday |
| Time | 10.00 - 12.00 |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Location | Various outdoor locations & Castle Street during some Winter months. |
| Co-ordinator(s) | Kath Edwards and Elaine Boothman |
Our group comprises members with an interest in plants, gardens and gardening.
We meet at Castle Street Community Centre for some of the winter months, where we invite speakers, show DVDs related to Gardening and the History of Gardening , or some members will take part in presentations on a chosen theme.
In the warmer months we visit gardens of interest or other members’ gardens.
Our learning, in addition, comes from our own members’ knowledge as we discuss topics of interest, swap plants, seeds and produce.
We have 30 members at present with a waiting list for new members.
May 2018
We continue to thrive as a group and so far this year we held the Members’ Annual dinner in January at the Crooklands Hotel. In February we met at Castle Street to watch a DVD on Garden History – starting with 17th Century Gardens and in March we had a visit to Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston.
The following table shows our plans for our meetings from April to August
| April 20th | Askham Hall Nr Penrith |
| May 18th | Hanging Basket Demonstration Farleton View Nursery and Tea rooms |
| June 15th | Garden Visit to Hazelwood Farm, Silverdale |
| July 20th | Kirkby Lonsdale Garden Ramble |
| Aug 17th | Yewbarrow House, Grange-over-Sands |
Our group is full at the moment, but we are operating a waiting list for new members.
Nov 2017
Our group has had active and varied summer events in 2017. We enjoyed a Kendal Garden Ramble, visiting other members’ gardens, and gained new ideas for our own. This will be repeated next year with different members taking part. We had a glorious sunny day at Conishead Priory and a guided tour of the gardens at Sizergh Castle. In November we discussed our own garden weeds having identified them from photographs and actual samples, and how to obliterate or just choose to live with them.
Our December meeting will be earlier in the month because of Christmas, and will be held at Crosthwaite Village Hall on December 8th
Demonstration of Moss Wreath Making. Using moss and foliage from our gardens to make Christmas decorations. There will be a Jacob’s Join lunch.
Meetings for next year include:
January: Members’ Annual dinner.
February: Castle Street. A DVD on the History of Gardening
March and April: TBA
Our group is full at the moment, but we are operating a waiting list for new members.
July 2017
Our group has had active and varied Spring events in 2017, with talks on the problems of gardening in shady, rocky and boggy areas; a visit to Rydal Mount and Rydal Hall Gardens; a garden visit to Long Howe Cottage in Underbarrow; a garden visit to Boars Rock garden in Crook. We visited Holehird garden with an insider’s view of the Propagation house and greenhouses, and the (new for 2017) Display House. August will be our AGM with a progressive tour of members’ gardens in Kendal.
We have lots of exciting things planned for the next few months. These include:
September 22nd A visit to Conishead Priory
October 20th An expert guided tour of Sizergh, with Acers being of particular interest.
November 17th Meeting at Castle Street, with a presentation/quiz by our members on problems and identification of weeds in a Cumbrian Garden.
December 15th Using foliage from our gardens to make Christmas decorations, with a Jacob’s Join. To be held in Crosthwaite Village hall.
Our group is full at the moment, but we are operating a waiting list for new members.
March 2017
Our first meeting for 2017 in January took the form of a video tour of the Crosthwaite Garden ramble 2016. This was a substitute for what had been advertised, as our speakers who were to have given a talk on Gardening with Mosses and Ferns, were taken ill quite suddenly. We may attempt this again at a later date in the year.
Our February meeting on Alpine Gardening - Wood or Rock was very informative and gave our members an insight into the problems of Lake District gardening - wet, rocky terrain and little sun!
Before going to press our March meeting will be a film about the History of Gardening –The Edwardian Period, and in April we will have visited the Rydal Mount and Rydal Hall Gardens.
19 May - Garden visit to Long Howe Cottage in Underbarrow where we hope the rhododendrons and azaleas will be in flower.
16 Jun - Garden visit to Boar’s Rock garden in Crook
15 Jul - Visit to Holehird to look at the propagation greenhouses and see how the new Display House has been developed.
18 Aug - AGM and plant swopping day at member’s garden.
Our group is full at the moment, but we are operating a waiting list for new members