When I lived in Northern California, I belonged to a wonderful and hugely energetic garden club. Many of the members were exceptional gardeners and we were all able to draw upon one another’s expertise. We called ourselves ‘dirt gardeners’ because we liked to get our hands down in the dirt…. well, I admit to wearing gloves no matter what I’m doing in the garden, but we took the ‘hands on’ approach.
Having moved to England a few months ago, and into a new house two weeks ago, I am now searching for a new garden club and hope it will be similar to the one I so enjoyed in California. Joining a group of people, who have a similar interest, can be a joy; sharing ideas, tips, suggestions and field trips is so satisfying. If you are looking for a gardening group and find one does not exist in your area, why not start one? You can keep it small if you wish, or allow it to grow naturally into a proper club with a board, by-laws, minutes and the sort of structure necessary for a large number of members.
You could start with family, friends and neighbors, and if there isn’t enough interest, attend some of the talks given by many local nurseries and garden shops. They teach a lot about composting, dealing with pests, propagation, rose care or other particular plants, among a myriad of other topics. And, you may find the same people turning up for each talk. If you do, start a conversation and see if anyone would be interested in creating a small group. Advertise in local papers, or by post card on notice boards in libraries, gyms, nurseries and garden shops; ask around at PTA meetings, I’ll bet someone is just waiting for someone else to suggest it.
When you’ve found some who are interested, invite them to your home for coffee (it absolutely does not have to look like a palace!) and show them your garden if you are proud of it; and if you are not, show it to them anyway and ask for some design suggestions. You could talk about what you are planting, why some things grow well and others do not in that area, which nurseries appear to have a better selection, better prices or healthier plants, the kind of soil you have or need, and the best tools for the job. It would be a lovely gesture to have some of your own seeds to give out, some cuttings or split clumps of overgrown plants to share. Perhaps they would be interested in visiting some public gardens – discounts are often given for groups, and it’s so much nicer to be able to discuss what you are looking at with someone else. Study newspapers and magazines for dates and places when private gardens in any given area are open to the public. They are fascinating because you will find a wealth of strange shapes and sizes, and, therefore, great innovation.
As the group or club becomes more mature you may want to participate in charitable work, as we used to: we raised funds to help a school start a gardening project, landscaped a senior citizens’ home, sent a sizeable check to help restore a large arboretum in San Francisco which had been badly damaged by storm and often volunteered to prune specially planted areas of the town. It might be fun to tackle an unruly area of your own town in order to beautify a corner, though you’d have to arrange that with the Town Hall first, of course. If you enjoy that, take a critical look at your area and see what needs to be done in odd pockets. It’s always so satisfying to the soul to become engaged with such matters.
I wish you great success and joy in any of these projects. You will be surprised at how much you can learn by just talking to other people, and the close friendships that will grow.
