Interested in attracting pollinators to your garden? Having problems with the cucumber or squash beetle? Thinking of renovating your existing garden? Want to learn about organic and pesticide/herbicide-free ways to garden? Come and hear speakers with presentations on these topics and more with the Almonte & District Horticultural Society. We’ll be hosting the meetings via Zoom so you will sit comfortably and relaxed during the meetings.
Our first meeting of the year will be on January 31st, 2022 at 7:00 pm and our speaker is Scott Hortop. You will recognize Scott’s name as last fall he asked residents of Almonte and area for their bags of leaves for his bioreactors that turn leaves into a fungal dominant compost. A big bonus is that it stores carbon in the soil rather than in the atmosphere. A Zoom link will be sent to all of our members from 2021 but because this meeting is coming up so soon, anyone can go to our email address adhsmailbox@gmail.com and register their name for the link for free, just for this meeting. Membership forms can also be requested from this email.
We intend to resurrect the Yard of the Week program starting the end of May. What will we look for? A variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and groundcovers is ideal especially if they are pollinator plants or fruiting trees or shrubs. Are rain barrels utilized? Is there a welcoming entranceway? Is the hard landscaping in good condition? Is the grass mowed at a higher length setting to slow down water evaporation or is it like a golf green? You will be able to nominate your own garden or a friend’s or neighbour’s garden before the program starts by sending your nomination to the ADHS email anytime after the middle of May. A garden will be chosen once a week.
For those who aren’t familiar with our society, we hold monthly meetings except for July and December, usually the 4th Monday of the month. In addition to speakers, we have a pruning workshop, a flower show, plant sales and a year-end banquet planned. We have a wonderful beautification committee that plants the flowers in the downtown urns and barrels, the cenotaph, the veteran’s walkway and maintains the gardens at the rear of the library that the society established in 1992. For those who like to get their fingers (or gloves) dirty, it is a fun and healthy exercise and a great way to meet new friends. So sign up for the first meeting link. You can also visit our Facebook page. See you then.
Cindy Zorgel, President
Almonte & District Horticultural Society