Blog
A Fascination with Insects
Rosemary Winnall MBE, from Wyre Forest Study Group, gave a fascinating talk in April, all about her fascination with insects! The group is dedicated to surveying, studying and recording the wildlife and ecology of the Wyre Forest, including its insect life. What are...
Pruning and grafting workshop
On a very cold, grey and windy Sunday morning on 1 March 2026, six hardy members of Cleobury Gardeners gathered at Billy Auger’s Fruit Farm, Augernik, in Hopton Wafers for a practical session on pruning soft fruits, coupled with a demonstration of grafting fruit...
Wildlife Gardening
Emma Tipton, from Emma Tipton Gardening, presented her tips for wildlife gardening at our March 2026 meeting. UK gardens cover 3 x the area of nature reserves and are critical for biodiversity. The more species of plants, microorganisms, fungi and animals that we...
Learning to grow food competition brief 2026
Competition for pre-school settings and primary schools Competition brief: Plant a rainbow of carrots! There are three main objectives for this year’s competition: to continue to develop the concept of seed varieties for a fruit or vegetable; to continue to develop...
Gardeners’ Question Time
A panel of experts convened for Question Time at Cleobury Gardeners in February. Jackie Percival from The Creative Garden, Emma Tipton from Emma Tipton Gardening and Wade Muggleton (author and contributor to Permaculture magazine) answered members’ questions on a...
English Roses
Liam Bedall, Head Rosarian at David Austin Roses Liam began his presentation from a historical perspective, describing how David Austin Senior released his first new rose in 1961, driven specifically by developing roses with three principal characteristics – beauty,...
Cool Season Hardy Annuals
Lou Archer has been raising Alpacas near Farlow for many years (and collecting their famous “Lou’s poo”). Cleobury Gardeners visited Lou back in June: we loved the alpacas which we got to feed and hang out with! Post Covid Lou also established a cut flower business...
No-Dig and Organic Gardening
Rachel Shrivens, Chair of Shropshire Organic Gardeners, gave us a great presentation in October on no-dig and organic gardening. Here is a summary of Rachel’s talk along with useful information from her handouts (see also useful links at the end). Added compost:...
Cleobury Gardeners’ visit to Coddington Vineyard and Garden
Coddington Vineyard and Garden, not the easiest place to find, but well worth the effort which a number of members made on a very very windy day in October: this was also an Open Day for the National Garden Scheme. This is a lovely site to visit and is set in a...
Learning to grow food competition 2025 – results and outcomes
This year, our competition was funded by a Community Grant of £300 from Midcounties Coop and compost was provided by Farlow Farm Nursery. Thank you to both. Learning to Grow food has made a huge impact on all the nurseries and schools that enter, which includes almost...