Kinver & District Horticultural Society

At the last meeting, chairman, Geraldine Wooddisse, announced there are still places available for our coach trips to Highclere Castle and Chastleton House - these are now open to the public. She then welcomed Caroline Corsie who is the manager at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust's 'Lower Smite Farm' that has been set up to demonstrate how to manage land to restore wildlife - the answer, says Caroline, is in the soil. Much of what she said could apply equally to our gardens and allotments. For example, Caroline doesn't like to see bare earth. She is an enthusiastic advocate of green manures to enrich the soil and also to help pollinating insects by providing a beneficial nectar source. She recommends multi-species cover crops such as mixes of crimson, white and Persian clover, Lucerne and Meadow Fescue. She said pollination is depending more and more on intensively farmed bees which has masked the overall decline in other pollinating insects and has also led to an increase in disease amongst honey bees. There are new species of insects coming into the country all the time and she asks people to send in photos of any unusual insects you might see for identification.

To help pollinators, she suggests gardeners provide a nectar source all year round. Try looking in the garden centres at which plants have the most hover flies around them and purchasing them.

Caroline ended her talk with an invitation to visit Lower Smite.

Competition winners this month.

The flower of the month Geraldine Wooddisse

Small vase of Spring Flowers Rosemary Pope

Meetings are held at 7.30 on the last Thursday of the month at St Peter's Church Hall, Vicarage Drive, Kinver. Details of meetings and trips on our website www.kinverhorti.org.uk