GARDENING
GROUP
The
members of the Group share a love of gardening, plants, and socialising in
beautiful surroundings.
In
terms of get-togethers, they are a bit more spontaneous than some groups: They
do not have a fixed schedule but meet, at members’ suggestions, to share
experiences, to discuss particular issues or concerns – or to go on an outing.
Members
meet in each other’s gardens, and enjoy visits to open gardens – locally and,
sometimes, further afield.
Number of Members - 15
Meeting Dates: No specific timetable; see above.
Contact Person – Mary Gregory - mary@nandmg.me.uk
Gardening Group
Update – August 2025
The Gardening
Group has had a busy summer of visits. The first was to The Old Rectory at
Albury, near Thame, where the Lady of the Manor accompanied us on an extensive
tour of the gardens and grounds, including a sizeable lake. Afterwards we were
treated to tea and delicious home-baked cakes on the lawn. One of the dogs in
the household took a great interest in some of the visitors.
On 22nd July we were off to Heythrop, where we had a
private visit to Chivel Farm. We
received a very warm welcome from the owners, Mr and Mrs Sword; were taken on a
guided tour of the gardens which are, quite simply, stunning; and were served
tea and chocolate biscuits before heading home. A lovely afternoon.
By the lake at Albury
With our lovely hostess at Chivel Farm
Gardening Group
Update – May 2025
The Gardening Group has started its activities
for the new season.
Mary writes: “The
Group began the season with a delightful walk through Tubney Woods. Bluebells
carpeted the ground, alongside great spreads of white wood anemones. Their
presence indicates an ancient woodland, as these appear in force only
after centuries undisturbed. Yellow celandine and pink campion added to the
tapestry. The abundance of oaks and ash trees confirmed it as a traditional
English wood while an area of soaring conifers served as reminder of its brief
life as an arboretum.”
A lovely
walk through Tubney Wood
Gardening
Group Update – September 2024
The
Group has just completed 50 ‘group events’ since it started in 2016. To
celebrate, members enjoyed a garden party – what else? – on a cool but pleasant
August afternoon. The venue was Mary Gregory’s beautiful garden, with tea and
cakes, in the long established tradition of the Group’s gardening activities.
The occasion was marked by a ‘50th event’ cake and celebratory drinks.
Mary writes: “Many of the original members are
still going strong and we have also been delighted to welcome several active
new members recently. At the beginning visits were mostly to each other’s
gardens but we then became more adventurous with visits further afield. The
most popular activity is a private visit to one of the local gardens which
opens to groups by arrangement. These visits are always informative and
sociable, with the opportunity to chat to the owner and gain ideas and advice
(and sometimes plants). Over 20 of these visits have been clocked, along with
visits to the Botanic Gardens, wildflower meadows and several specialist
nurseries. With four visits already done this summer, we are on our way to the
next 50.”
A garden party – what
could be more fitting? 
There must of course be cake! Group
Outings in 2024
Members of the Group visited Mr and Mrs Urquhart’s home in Banbury Road,
Kidlington, as part of the National Gardens Scheme open days. Mary writes: “An
unexceptional house in Kidlington conceals an exceptional garden Actually, it
is two gardens, ‘his’ and ‘hers’ imaginatively intermingled. ‘His’ contains no
less than 500 ferns, ranging from tree ferns tall, thin, short and fat, through
a multitude of fans of elegant or crinkly fronds to tiny crevice-fillers. The
tender ones are cared for in their own fern house; the majority are spread out
under trees, in a rockery or cleverly interspersed in ‘her’ borders among many
unusual and colourful plants. This is a garden full of interest and surprises”.
An excellent tea on the patio in the
sunshine topped off a delightful
afternoon
In
late May, the Group had an enjoyable visit to a beautiful garden in
Bletchingdon.
Mary
writes:
“‘Let the plants make
their own way.’ That is the guiding principle recommended by noted plantswoman
Sue Bedwell to the twelve members of the Garden Club on their group visit on 21
May. Sue’s garden, Monk’s Head, is attached to a picturesque cottage in the
conservation village of Bletchingdon. It is a standard-size garden divided into
‘rooms’ of varying character by winding stone paths and unusual trees and
shrubs. The borders are an intriguing and comfortable mix of exotic varieties
of euphorbia, iris, succulents and much more, nestled in with familiar
primroses and less familiar white herb robert. The overall effect is testament to
a plantaholic’s years of work and care ‘letting the plants make their own way’.
About-to-fledge bluetit nestlings stopped us from having tea in the summerhouse
but a corner of the lawn and the garden room were delightful substitutes. As we
left the first spots of rain were falling; perfect timing for us, and a
reminder that nature shapes the garden and we do best when we go along with it.”
Gardening Group members contemplating Sue
Bedwell’s principle of “letting the plants make their own way”.
Group
Outings in 2023
In late May, the
Group went on a visit to St Hilda’s College Gardens overlooking the River
Cherwell. The tour was led by Head Gardener Deborah, a real enthusiast who has
been developing the gardens after a major building project transformed the
site.
Head Gardener Deborah impressed the Group with her
knowledge and enthusiasm.
 
 
The above 4 pictures were taken in Mary’s beautiful garden during the extremely
hot, dry spell in the summer of 2022.
The borders at
Aston Pottery, a favourite destination for a group outing
New members would be very welcome. If you would like to join the group
please get in touch with Mary.
Greening Jericho
The Gardening Group has visited Jericho at the invitation of member Joanna Donkin to see the
achievements of the ‘Greening Jericho’ community project. The terrace houses in
Jericho were built in Victorian times for workers in the canal-side factories.
There are no front gardens but the terraces, and more recent re-builds, have
left a series of small spaces, corners and lanes. In an imaginative initiative
a group of local volunteers, including Joanna, are transforming these into
little oases of greenery, planting shrubs and flowers donated by Oxford City,
local residents and some of our members. In 2021 their “greening up” of a small
canal-side plot was given a well-deserved award by Oxford Preservation Trust.
Joanna in
the Alley
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