At the May meeting, club members enjoyed a most interesting talk with slides on 'Gardening without Soil' by Alan Clarke, of Llanelli, and everyone left with all sorts of new ideas for planting and caring for their pots and tubs. The next meeting will be on June 21 when Richard Cain will be talking about shade-loving plants, an area of the garden that can be a problem to so many people. Following the club's success in receiving a grant from Awards for all Wales, a day-trip has been arranged to go to Dewstow Gardens, near Chepstow, on Thursday, July 5, which will be free to all members. There will be a charge of £10 to anyone else who wishes to join the outing, which will also entitle him or her to membership of the club. The coach will be leaving Whitland at 8.30 am and returning at about 7 pm. For further details and to reserve your place, ring the chairman, Margaret Hadlow, on (01834) 831800. Dewstow Gardens were the vision of Henry Oakley, who in 1895 employed the family firm of Pulham (one of the great names in garden construction and famous for artificial rockwork) to lay out and construct his seven-acre garden. When Henry Oakley died in 1940, the property was sold and during the next few years the above- ground parts of the garden and ponds were largely filled in, being seen as uneconomic in post-war Britain - the forgotten cavern system was blocked with soil. In the 1980s, local farmer John Harris acquired the estate. He knew that there had been extravagant gardens around Dewstow, as he had lived his whole life on and around the estate, so he decided that the garden had to be recovered. Since 2000, extraordinary discoveries have been made and huge repairs undertaken. Pools have been excavated and relined, new pumping systems installed, even for the fountains down in the caverns. Walls, balustrades, paths, rockwork and stalactites have been repaired, as have the fern caverns. Oakley's vast tropical house, supported by beautiful cast-iron pillars, has been excavated and reconnected to its underground tunnels. Most of the repairs have now been completed during this massive restoration operation. This is a great opportunity to see the restoration of this remarkable garden for yourself. The annual subscription for the gardening club is £10, which covers 12 meetings and outings in the summer too, so it's really good value. Club meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month at 7.30 pm at Whitland Town Hall, where there is easy parking. New members are always welcome, so why not go along and join them. If you need more information, contact the secretary, Elfrida Jones, on (01834) 869080.
