CHAIRMAN, Sally Bainbridge was pleased to welcome the speaker for the evening Mrs Sally Gregson, who had come all the way from Wookey to give her talk on “Cottage gardens for the new century” to the meeting of Minehead and District Gardeners Association. She is a regular contributor in the “Country Gardener”.

Sally began her talk by entertaining the origins of the cottage garden. In the 16th to 17th centuries cottages wouldn’t not have had land for cultivating and shared their homes with their livestock. In Elizabethan times it was the upper classes that had gardens, the cottagers perhaps just growing a few herbs. During the 18th century the grand houses landscaped their grounds rather than enclosing them, to blend in with the surroundings. Estate workers were given plots of land to grow fruit and vegetables, which until then were not part of their usual diet. Annual shows were held to encourage the workers. It was usual to have an attractive front garden with flowerbeds, whereas the back garden would be used to grow vegetables, keep the livestock and house the privy.

The romantic ideal of cottage living was influences by the 19th century poets but was closely followed by rural depression, causing cottagers to move into cities for work where they rented properties but took with them the format of the cottage garden.

Many famous garden designers incorporated the cottage garden style into parts of the large estates including Hestercombe, Sissinghurst and Great Dixter. Nowadays many large gardens and estates are reintroducing meadows to replace formal lawns. This is not the case of just letting the grass grow wild but needs a lot preparation. The soil needs to be impoverished by removing good top soil and grass can be starved of nutrients by growing yellow rattle. Research needs to be done to find out which wild flowers suit the region and soil type. The seed can then be sourced locally or from specialised seed suppliers. The meadow needs to be cut in June or July and all the mowings removed to ensure flowering for the next season, even then different plants will dominate in consecutive years.

Sally accompanied her excellent talk with some beautiful slides. The chairman gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the members.

The competition winners were Floating Hellebores – 1 B.Priddle, 2 S. Bainbridge, 3 P. Hawkins. Photo of a garden I have visited – 1 S. Bainbridge, 2 P. Hawkins, 3 B. Brady.

After consulting many exhibitors and other local gardening clubs it has been decided to keep to the original date for the “Flower Show” being August 8.

The annual outing to “Rosemoor” will be on Sunday, June 14 for which names are now being taken. Entry to the gardens is free and the coach cost will be £6.00 per head.