Dr. Andrew Ward was the speaker at the March meeting. ‘Sand Beds’ was his topic, covering his latest experimentation in trying to grow plants successfully. He started the project in 2018 wanting to try and grow plants which otherwise died on his clay soil or constantly needing to be watered to keep them alive during hot conditions. He found that many blossomed! It has been so successful that he is continually adding more sand beds!

Having first killed off the grass he then constructed 30cms high brick walls in a serpentine effect. He later changed to more rectangular beds to make things easier and cheaper. The beds were filled with builders’ sharp sand from the local area. Before planting all compost was washed off the plant to encourage root growth in the sand. One other advantage was that slugs do not like sand! He also added a few granules of ‘Growmore’ and ‘Mycorrhizal Fungi’ when planting. He advised planting moisture loving plants near to the edge, leaving a big enough gap for a wheelbarrow between the beds and having plant holes in the west and south walls.

Andrew provided his usual plant list of the images of his lecture which included so many gems. He covered a whole range of bulbs, corms, perennials and annuals. His innovative talk certainly left members with thoughts of how they could adapt Andrew’s ideas in their own garden.