Thank you to everyone that supported the Society at our AGM last Thursday. It was lovely to have a near full house and have so many of you join us for our lecture as well. Those members present approved last year's minutes, our report and accounts for the year ending 31 July 2021 and to keep our membership fees at £10 per person for next year. In addition we welcome Sue Simper and Ruth Wilkinson as new Vice Presidents. They join Pat Lee-Brown and we are grateful for their previous commitment to the Society and the expertise that they will surely provide over the next year. We also welcome Caroline Gillespie as the Society's new Secretary! All other existing officers and committee members are carrying on for next year with the exception of Anne Herriot who is taking time to focus on personal matters. We will miss Anne's assistance but will look forward to her participating as time allows.
Our guest speaker Pippa Greenwood was an absolute delight. Who knew someone could get so excited about the 'nasty' things lurking in our gardens. Pippa's illustrated talk was a worldwind tour of those horrible fungus, diseases and common ailments that test the patience of many a gardener. These included honey fungus, club root, black spot, apple scab, powdery mildew, rust and cucumber mosaic virus (to name but a few).
Photo of honey fungus.
She provided tips on how to spot the problem and solutions to control or avoid them. Interestingly enough, it wasn't, if in doubt, get rid of the offending plant. Quite often these problems can be combatted through judicious pruning, better air flow and not getting the leaves of the plants wet (just watering at the base). I, for one, will take things to heart and not despair next year (or, at least, not as much).
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