Mendip Gardening Club’s speaker last month, Diana Walker, gave a beautifully illustrated talk on making a garden attractive to wildlife.

Diana took us on her ten year journey, transforming her garden, building a pond and planting flowers and shrubs to attract insects, birds and mammals. It was surprising to hear how quickly the new pond became inhabited with newts. On one evening, Diana counted over ninety of these creatures. This led on to her needing to raise tadpoles in a separate tank to prevent them being eaten by the newts!

At the other end of the size scale, the garden has been visited by hedgehogs, foxes and badgers. As a very skilled photographer, Diana showed many beautiful pictures of the huge array of birds and butterflies caught on camera in her garden. One particular time lapse sequence showed the emergence of a new dragonfly from its case. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as we watched this miracle unfold.

After her presentation, Diana was bombarded with questions from an audience very keen to improve their own gardens, to help form a natural corridor to help restore the precarious balance of nature.

Our speaker this month is David Usher on Herbaceous Plants for your Garden. David was formerly the head gardener at Hestercombe House Gardens and with his years of experience will help us transform our borders and pots into things of beauty.

Come and meet David at Ston Easton Village Hall, Green Street, Ston Easton BA3 4DA on Wednesday, 19th October.The hall is open from 7pm ready for a 7.30pm start, refreshments are available. A warm welcome awaits members and visitors alike. See you on the 19th.

Gillian Hipwood