Halton Gardening Group
The Gardening Group was established in 2012 with the aim of providing a forum to share information, swap plants and gardening know-how, and to improve the local environment of the village of Halton.
Meetings are held in the Coffee Shop at the Centre on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 10 am to 11.30 am. (no meetings August, December or January).
All are welcome. You don’t need any gardening knowledge or expertise. We are keen to involve all sections of our community, and we are open to ideas and suggestions for individual and community benefit. We are enthusiastic amateurs with a varied range of knowledge and experience.
Contact either Anne Snowden (Secretary) on tel: 07523 182617 or Monica Williams (Chair) on tel: 01524 811068 for more information on the Group.
Our next Plant Sale and Coffee Morning was due to be held on Saturday 16th May but this is now caneclled due to the Coronavirus.
The improvements to the sloped banking at the front of the Centre building are now complete thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Halton Gardening Group members.
The group would like to thank the local community for their generous support at last year’s plant and bulb sales. A big thank you is also extended to Lune Hydro and Carnforth Rotary club for their generous grants.
The terrace is a striking example of what can be achieved on a difficult plot with the right expertise, so thank you S G Landscapes (Stephen Gott) for his patience, hard work, and professionalism. Now that the terrace has been constructed, HGG are currently planning a new planting scheme which should take shape over the coming months. It will include village favourites such as, alliums, grasses, rudbeckia, asters and sedum. Watch it grow and flourish during the year, and note the other areas in the village that have had some TLC by HGG members.
This year’s fundraising will go mainly towards improving the planting in the Memorial Garden, and maintaining the current planted areas.
HGG responsibilities March 2020
Wild flowers at the Centre
Eagle eyed visitors to the Centre will have noticed results of quite a different gardening project. Last summer in 2019, the Gardening Group dug and prepared three patches on the football field slope and sowed mixed wild flower seeds from Kew, helped by pupils from St Wilfrid’s School. Despite the drought some of the annuals flowered and this summer visitors have enjoyed several types of colourful perennials.
Attractive signs designed by school pupils now mark these three original wild flower areas. On 1st June 2019 many of the large invasive plants on remaining areas of the slope were removed by members and friends at a very strenuous Big Dig session. A mixture of meadow grass and annuals was sown with posts and tape added to mark these new areas.
This wild flower work is ongoing and hopefully the bank will be covered eventually in mixed grass and wild flowers for all to enjoy.
Photographs during the year
Plant Sale May 2019
Some of the group and helpers on the day. There was a queue outside before 10am and when we opened the door people hurried in with their plant shopping lists! We offered as wide a range as we could, and some plants went like hot cakes. We had tables and chairs near the cake stall and it was good to see people relaxing for a while after they’d had a look round and made their purchases.
Thanks to everyone who gave their time, made cakes, and donated plants and tombola prizes. We were very pleased with the event and raised a decent amount for our next project. A few plants were left over which we donated to Animalcare.
Plant and Craft sale 2018
The main hall was in full bloom for the Plant and Craft Sale on 19th May 2018. It was almost like the Chelsea Flower Show! Money raised was put towards replanting the various areas and new planters. At the end of the sale the raffle was drawn. Prizes were donated by local people and businesses, including A M Hair, Blacks Chippy, Halton newsagent, Halton Village Butchers, HiQ Garage, Lancastle International, Out of the Woods and The Greyhound, thanks to everyone for their kind donations.
Garden Safari 2017
A successful event around the village
For information on the Group’s contribution to the development of the borders at The Centre, see this story:
https://www.haltoncentre.org/2013/07/great-work-on-beds-and-borders/