Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

50 AMATEUR GARDENING24 AUGUST 2019

with Wendy Humphries

Writetous:Letters,AmateurGardeningmagazine,

Pinehurst2, PinehurstRoad,FarnboroughBusinessPark,

Farnborough,HantsGU147BF(pleaseincludeyouraddress).

Emailus:[email protected]

I

COULDnotagreemorewithEditor

GarryCoward-Williamsregarding

thetransformationof theHampton

CourtFlowerShowintoa festival

(AG, 3 August).I agreethattherubble

pileslookedlikefly-tippingandmany

of theothergardenslooked like they

neededweeding.

I havebeengoingeveryyearfor 20

years,butwillnotbegoingagain;it’stoo

expensiveandtoofaddy,followingthe

newtrendof savetheplanet,beesetc.

Whatdotheythinkwegardenershave

beendoingfora centuryormore?

TheRHSseemstohavelostitsway

fromwhatrealgardenerslookforin a

gardenshow:plants,plants,andmore

plants,andmaybeteaandcakewhen

restingtiredfeet.But again, these were

soexpensive.

It’sa realshame,butI willbevisiting

moresmallershowsin futureandgive

thenewHamptonCourtfestivala miss,

aswillmanyof mygardening friends.

AnnmarieBarnett,

East Molesey, Surrey

How about beautiful plants?

Star

letter

Theshowgardenforthecharity

Maytree:“Therubblepileslooked

likefly-tipping,” said Annmarie

A new garden in Somerset

AFTERa movelastyearfromour21-

year-oldestablishedgarden,wehad

a blankcanvastoworkon.Thesoil

is puresand,solotsof compostwas

incorporated and it’s surprising what

MYMumandI decidedtospendan

afternoonhelpingtocheerupan

uninterestingcorner.First,wepainted

somepotsthatwerelyingaboutand

plantedthemup.Thenwemadea

coupleof terracottapotpeople

Heypresto!‘Flossy’and‘Pete’joined

thefamily.Havingrecentlyacquired

somenewpots,I feeltheremaybe

somenewadditionsanyday!

C Harrison, via email

Pot people

Price checks

IWANTEDsomesnipsandsawyour

valuedcomparisons(AG, 13July).

I boughttwo15/15snips

oneformeandone

mywife.Theyreally

areexcellent.That

said,I didcheck

afterpurchaseto

seethecostfrom

Amazonandthe

manufacturer,to

findtomyhorrorth

were£3.68cheape

yourmentionedstockist.In future,I

shalltakeyouradvice,butwillcheckon

suppliers.I assumedyouwouldadvise

thestockistwhowouldgiveusthebest

deal,butthisjustisn’tthecase.

Trevor Land, via email

EditorGarrysays:Weprideourselves

onthequalityandhonestyof ourproduct

testing.Mostproductsarecheaperon

Amazon,butnotallreadershave

internetaccess,sowegivetheretail

priceaswell.Pricesareonlya guideas

they can change after we go to press.

A colourful corner

grows– roseshavebeenlovely.

Welosta coupleof smallplants,but

nothingmajorandnowhavea wildlife

areaanda rockery.Nextonthelist:

a small water feature,butin a pot

s spaceis

owlimited.

Wearefeeling

uitehappy

withourgarden

rogress,a year

n frombare

roundtoa

atisfactory

arden.Andthe

goodthingis,it

hasn’tbeenas

back-breaking

asourWest

Midlandsclay!

Christineand

AdrianShaw,

Somerset

Wendysays:

You’veworked

wonders!We

wouldloveto

see‘makeovers’

from others, too.

Before: a blank canvas and lush new lawn

After:Pathslayed, soil improved and borders

fl ourishing

BestBuy:Ergo

snips