On Thursday 15 May, gardening volunteers Eric and Chris went to RHS Wisley (near Woking in Surrey) to a ‘Community Gardening Meet-up’ event organised by the RHS Communities Team in Wisley. It was free to attend for volunteers and themed Sustainability, Small Space Gardening and Networking.
The programme was as follows:
- Keynote talk by Martha Swales: Martha is an avid urban gardener from London who has been growing her own produce for 12 years. She has built an Instagram following of over 1 million and has recently released her first book ‘Give it a Grow’.
- Gardeners Question Time with panellists: Rob Brett – Curator RHS Garden Wisley, Cat Huckle – Clinical Lead at Dose of Nature, Clare Millington – Rosamund Community Garden, Hayley Jones – RHS Principal Entomologist, Mark Tuson – RHS Garden Manager.
- Activity sessions covering topics such as fundraising top tips and simple gardening projects.
- Marketplace of community groups showcasing their amazing work.
- Networking opportunities
- A chance to explore RHS Garden Wisley
After attending the event, Chris said:
All the speakers gave useful and practical advice. The main speaker, Martha Swales, explained her idea of seeing a garden as a living space where you learn as you go along, and to expect a few failures along the way! We picked some good ideas including intercropping, water-saving irrigation and choosing what to plant and where.
