Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton Gardening Club logo of a watering can surrounded by the club's nameDenton Gardening Club

Introduction

Denton Gardening Club normally meets on the 3rd Tuesday most months (though there are occasional exceptions, like the month of the Annual Show). Between October and April meetings with guest speakers are held in the village hall and in the summer meetings include evening outings locally, perhaps a visit to a garden or nursery, as well as meetings in our own members' gardens.

We also hold an Annual Show, summer outings, plant sales and other events. New members are most welcome so do come along and join us. Details of the current programme appear below.

Contact: Adele Godsmark: 01986 788352, Email

Information about the history of the Club appear on the Club History Page.

Meetings

Between October and April meetings with guest speakers are held in the village hall, starting at 7.30 pm. Previous meetings have been on subjects such as Garden Design, Perennials, Orchids and Container Gardening. Whatever you are interested in, there will be something for you!

The summer schedule includes evening outings locally, perhaps a visit to a garden or nursery, as well as meetings in our own members' gardens.

Club Programmes 2023-24

Autumn-Winter Programme

  • October 17th - A Year in the Cut Flower Garden
    Gabi Reid of Gabriel’s Garden.
    Gabriel’s Garden is an established cut flower garden and floristry studio in the village of Gissing. Gabi grows a wide range of plants - hardy annuals, perennials, roses, dahlias and chrysanthemums plus much more to use in her seasonal bouquets, natural funeral flowers and floral workshops. Ten years on and the garden is a haven for wildlife and her talk ‘A year in the cut flower garden’ will look at ways to encourage, promote and increase the biodiversity in our gardens and whilst growing beautiful flowers.
  • November 21st - Rachel Perry
    Growing veg at Wakelyn’s Agro-Forestry
    Rachel Perry will be joining us to talk about RealVeg@Wakelyns. RealVeg produce Organic vegetable shares (boxes) locally as well as supplying vegetables to retail and restaurants. Rachel will take you on their journey growing veg within the UKs most diverse agroforestry farm from the beginning to the present day. The presentation will be full of photos and interesting facts and we will learn a little more about this agroforestry enterprise which lies very close to Denton. Rachel also hopes to bring seasonal vegetables to sell on the night.
  • December 19th - Christmas Social Evening
    Details to be confirmed.
  • January 16th - My Weybread Garden
    Mellissa Sheldrake
    Mellissa moved to Weybread in November 2018 from a very mature and lovely garden to approx. 1.5 acres of grass that had not been cut for four years, piles of rubble and various broken washing machines etc. This was particularly hard as she had been working as a national NAFAS flower demonstrator and relied heavily on plant material from her own garden. She will be sharing with us her journey to get to the stage when she was able to open the garden to the public in July 2022.
  • February 20th - Henstead Exotic Garden
    Andrew Brogan
    Unlike many gardens that were made years ago, say by the Victorians, this garden was made from scratch some 18 years ago. Andrew will be sharing the story of the creation of this garden, some two acres in size. The original owners of the land owned about 1,600 acres in the area at one time. The house, old Victorian walled garden and land fell into disrepair over time as the money ran out. Andrew negotiated the purchase of extra land to extend his own garden and to buy four extra chunks of land over the years. This was good and bad, because the garden had been designed each time as a fait accompli so when a further half acre of nettle infested land was added there would be a lot of backscratching wondering how this extension was to be added to a finished part of garden. The garden has featured multiple times on television and in the national press and it promises to be a fascinating tale.
  • March 19th - A-Z of Roses
    Simon White
    Simon is the Garden Centre Sales Manager at Peter Beales Roses in Attleborough Norfolk and has over 39 years’ experience in growing the nation’s favourite flower, the Rose. He has a passion for the Rose and likes to share this passion with others. The late Peter Beales started the rose nursery in 1968 and started to specialize in the old-fashioned style of Shrub Rose and Climbers and Ramblers. Today they list over 1100 different varieties which is possibly the largest collection of roses grown commercially in the world with over 250 which are unique to them and can’t be purchased anywhere else in the world. This talk is not a catalogue of roses from A-Z but a fascinating PowerPoint presentation which covers all aspects of rose growing. Remarkably for every letter of the alphabet there is something to do with roses even for the letters x, y & z.
  • April 16th - The Secret Life of Plants
    Jim Paine
    Jim has run Walnut Tree Nursery in Attleborough for many years. Last Winter, he gave us a fascinating talk on Trees for all seasons. This year we have invited him back to talk about The Secret Life of Plants. In his talk he will explore some of the latest and most remarkable discoveries about the inner working of plants. How do plants tell the time? How and why do plants communicate with one another? Did you know that some plants can generate enough heat to melt snow, whilst others nourish their young? These and other extraordinary stories from the secret life of plants make for a fascinating talk that will enhance your enjoyment of the plants in your garden and the countryside around us.

Summer Programme 2024

All summer meetings are held at 7pm on the third Tuesday of the month. We are lucky that some local gardens which open to the public for charity have generously agreed to host us this summer as well as some more local friends.
Please try to car share where possible and park considerately to neighbours of the gardens we are visiting. As always, wear footwear suitable for uneven ground!

  • Tuesday May 21st.
    A private visit to The Laburnums, The Street, St James, South Elmham, IP19 OHN, thanks to the owner Jane Bastow.
    If ever a house were aptly named, it's The Laburnums. There are nearly 30 of the trees in the one-acre garden, with new seedlings always coming along. The garden is a quarter of a century old now, having been created from an empty space and can be described as a plants person’s paradise with a huge range of plants collected over the years. Jane hopes to have a few plants for sale.
    Cost £5.00 per person from which Jane will make a donation to the Suffolk Heavy Horses Society (Suffolk Punch Horses).
    Please park at the Village Hall nearby.
  • Tuesday June 18th.
    A private visit to The Old Coach House, The Street, Brockdish, IP21 4JY. (Opposite Old Forge Court)
    Jackie Spooner regularly opens her riverside garden for local charities and has kindly agreed we can visit in June. A courtyard, with a mix of baskets and pots, leads on to perennials and annuals. a cutting garden, and a small veg plot. Through the honeysuckle arch, there is a grass area, with fruit trees, and seating to watch the visitors to the bird feeders. A circular walk takes us through the woodland of about 2 acres and riverside seating may offer a glimpse of a pair of Barn Owls that have nested here for the last couple of years and a pair of swans who return each year with their young.
    Cost – a donation to Jackie to pass on to one of the charities their open gardens support (including the East Anglian Air Ambulance).
    Parking. Please park carefully on the road. There may be one or two spaces at the house for anyone with mobility issues but please check first with Adele.
  • Tuesday July 16th.
    July offers us the opportunity to visit two very local gardens.
    Meet at 7pm at Abbey Farm, Mill Road, Alburgh,IP20 0DS.
    Having only lived here for 3 years, Yan and Denise Michael are Gardening Club members and, in their words, “we are trying our best to establish a garden.”
    This ‘Garden in Progress’ is part of a plot which is approximately 2.3 acres in size. The previous owners ran the garden as more of an allotment and kept sheep. (Gardening Club did visit some years ago.)
    Yan and Denise are now working to turn it into a flower garden – something that has had its challenges with the extremes of weather they have experienced since moving in. There is also a small orchard and vegetable garden, a wooded area and a large meadow.
    Parking is available in front of the house.
    We will then drive the short distance to Darrow House, Darrow Green Road, Denton, IP20 0AY, where Fiona Tomlinson and Ed Reed have kindly agreed we can visit.
    Their garden is 0.9 acre with a natural swimming pond. Should the weather be suitable we are welcome to swim, as long as people don't mind a few other creatures sharing their swim. Fiona and Ed have been there almost 7 years and planted quite a few trees and added herbaceous beds to what was previously a field. It is nature friendly plot and they have Great Crested Newts, Hedgehogs, Goldfinches and Barn Owls living there as well as an occasional kingfisher. Fiona is a fan of Beth Chatto’s gravel and dry gardens and has been moving in that direction.
    There will be parking for about 4 or 5 cars on the drive for those with limited mobility. Other visitors can park on the verge outside being sure to tuck in.
    There will be refreshments at the end of our visit in the garden
  • Tuesday August 20th.
    A visit to Henstead Exotic Garden, Church Road Henstead near Beccles, NR 34 7LD. Meet there at 7pm.
    Owner Andrew Brogan gave us a highly entertaining and interesting talk in February on the development of The Exotic Garden at Henstead. He has kindly invited us to enjoy this tropical paradise on a private visit for our last meeting of the summer. Variously described as “Suffolk’s Secret Jungle” and a “Cornish Garden near Beccles” and much praised by Alan Titchmarsh, this garden promises to delight us with its tropical plants and interesting landscaping.
    To round off the evening the Committee will serve light refreshments in the garden.
    Cost £6 to members (subsidised by DGC) Guests welcome £8.

The Annual Show

An Annual Open Show is held either in July or, more commonly, at the beginning of September, or even at the end of August!

The 2024 Show will be held on Saturday 31st August
Full details, the entry form etc. can be seen on the Show Page

Details of previous Shows appear on the Club History Page.

Christmas Tree Competition 22

Following on last year's triumph, the Club again decided to enter a tree in the Alburgh competition.
There were more entries this year, including one from the Art Group, but the Club won again -
B1
The tree was then proudly displayed at the Club's very successful Christmas Social Event on December 29th.

Christmas Tree Competition 21

A group of Club members joined together to create an entry in the 2021 Alburgh Church Christmas Tree Festival. To their great delight, following a poll of those attending, they were rewarded with First Prize.
The pictures below, thanks to Peter Wiltshire, show:
The winning entry -
A
The trophy and certificate -
A
And the plaque on the trophy -
A

Club Gatherings

Just click on any of the small pictures below if you would like a larger image!

The following photos are from recent shows – click to enlarge.

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