Monthly Meeting May 2013

It was a rather cool and slightly overcast morning, but the Willow Glen Gardeners braved the chill on Tuesday the 7th of May and descended upon Leon’s home in the wilds of Windellama.

We were greeted by a gaggle of geese whom whilst not officially belonging to Leon have quite definitely made their home in his orchard amongst his marvellous collection of apple trees.

The squatters roam their territory...

A hot drink and a piece of crustoli was the priority of the day as we gathered for our meeting, firstly we wanted to express well wishes to some of our members who were unable to come to the meeting due to illness, we hope they are all feeling better soon!  On to the business of the day and it seems that all of our weeds are thriving nicely and as we prepare our garden beds for winter John P gave us some fantastic advice on how to create the perfect compost - this will hopefully be available on our website www.whispersfromwillowglen.blogspot.com soon for everyone to read.

Getting ready for the meeting

Most of this lovely garden has been developed over the last 12 years that Leon has been living at the property full time. He has included some artistic sculptural elements as well as a wonderful collection of different plants such as euphorbia’s, roses, and hardy palms as well as conifers and trees like the magnificent peppercorn.

A dragon statue adds a touch of whimsy.



Honorary Garden Club Member "Sarge"
 

After a wander around the property and some cuddles from 28yr old Thoroughbred ‘Sarge’, Leon gave us a demonstration on the ancient art of scything which he uses to cut the grass in his enclosed vineyard area, apparently this method is coming back into fashion due to its economical and Eco-friendly nature. As an initial sceptic I must say that it was very quick and efficient and a lot easier on the back than trying to repeatedly pull the mower cord!   

 Look out it's the Grim Reaper! Oh, phew- it's just Leon.



Leon demonstrates Scything

A lovely morning was had by all and eventually it was time to grab one last piece of crustoli and head back to our own gardens to plant our new English Oaks and Conifers that Leon propagated and was kind enough to share with the group.

Next month (June 2013) our meeting will be held at John and Caroline E's house in windellama, we will be starting at 10am, please bring a plate to share.