Gardeners urged to be water-wise

NATALIA Garden Club’s February meeting was the first one for the new year and it was good to see all the old faces again.

It was also a pleasure to welcome new member Frieda Williams.

Everybody reported having had a good festive season and they were all looking forward to getting to grips with gardening again. Gardens are looking lovely at the moment, in spite of the heat, as there has fortunately also been quite a lot of rain.

Some gardening tips:

• Choose indigenous and drought-tolerant plants for your garden, ideally plants that are suitable for your climate.
• Water your garden less often, but more thoroughly, as deep, infrequent watering encourages deep roots, making your plants less dependent on you.
• Create water basins around shrubs to collect water.
• Coat the inside of porous terracotta pots with a sealant to stop moisture loss.
• Plant annuals and other plants with high water needs in containers rather than in masses.
• Use hard landscaping materials, such as logs, pebbles or gravel, to create features which allow water to flow through them and into the soil.

Birthday wishes and gifts went to those who had birthdays in January and February.

It proved a bit difficult to find somebody to do a talk in February, as most people were still getting themselves organised after the holidays. Caroline stood in and told members all about her trip to Australia.

The next meeting will be on 12 March at the Pigeon Club, Tara Road, at 9.30am. Competitions are decorative – an Easter arrangement, with accessories; cultural – a yellow flower or spray, as well as all the other usual categories.

The following members are required to take along two plates of snacks each:
R Ndlovu,
M Page,
E Pickster,
V Pigg,
J Richards,
L Sharp,
S Shaw.