Roehampton Garden Society

Category Archives: News

General news


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The latest about manure

Shan K writes:

As you will know we have been unable to source unbagged deliveries of horse manure for some time now. Carriers are understandably reluctant to use their ( relatively new )  ULEZ compliant trucks to transport fresh horse manure.  However, we have found a riding stable off the Kingston Road with a plentiful supply for those willing to go and help themselves.  All the stable ask in return in a voluntary contribution to a charity they support. Take your own bags / trugs and spades and help yourselves ! 

in addition, a local lady has offered a supply of guinea pig bedding on a weekly basis.  The guinea pigs are fed only vegetables ( no meat derivatives ) and the bedding material is either hay or flax.  As such it would be suitable for mixing as “brown” into compost bins on site and balancing out the mainly green material we generate on our plots. Please contact Shan K ( plot 127a ) karwatowski@gmail.com if interested in this material. 


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Composting workshop with the Urban Gardeners

Katy on site 3 enjoyed the composting workshop from South London Urban Growers: she writes…

I thought the composting workshop was very interesting and definitely worthwhile, despite the 4 hours on a cold, windy rainy day….I am still warming up.
Alice, the trainer knew her stuff and described it as a sharing not a lecturing format as she was keen for everyone to contribute their own experience, which we all did. And learned a lot from hearing about the involvement and roles others had in helping out or running garden communities.
It was very valuable to be given the chance to build a hot compost from scratch, all of us chipped in to build the basics for the new compost to take off once more brown and green is added.
The attendees were really keen and interesting people, some with a lot of experience in gardening projects thanks to council grants – created a very warm and friendly vibe. Age range was anything from 30 to over 70….
Read more about the workshops

S.L.U.G plan more of these workshops – keep up with them on Instagram… Here


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Tool Sharpening Day – Saturday April 25th

Our volunteers are manning another sharpening day. Bring your blunt gardening and kitchen tools to Site 2 (the Pleasance) from 9am on April 25th.
PLEASE NOTE CASH payments ONLY.

This is how the day will work:

Click to view full size

  • Adam’s price list will be displayed on gates on both sites and available on site on the day.
  • Gardening and Kitchen tools can be brought to Site 2 from 9am on that morning. 
  • Volunteers will be on site to manage the sharpening queue and answer your queries. 
  • Please report first to an allotment volunteer when you bring your tools. They will ensure you are given your correct position in the queue.   
  • Tools will be sharpened in the order that they are brought. 
  • Customers must pay Adam, IN CASH, on leaving their tools. 
  • Adam will try to give customers an approximate time for collection. 
  • Tools can be collected until 5 pm on the day. 
  • Any uncollected tools will be held in the Store for collection until the following day.


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The Start of Spring…

Spring is here – we all love to notice signs of renewal of the season – but when exactly is the start of Spring?


There are three different measures we can use:

Meteorological – fixed every year to ensure statistics are consistent throughout time. Spring in the northern hemisphere starts on 1 March and autumn on 1 September. Dates have been decided using temperature data.

Astronomical – follows the equinox and can vary slightly each year. Spring falls between 19-23 March and autumn 22-24 September. In 2025 astronomical Spring begins on the 20th March

Phenological – follows biological events and their response to weather and climate. This is a fascinating study which shows how nature reacts to changes in climate.  Nature’s Calendar uses public sightings of plants, animals and fungi to track the effects of weather and climate on nature. This is a Citizen Science project from the Woodland Trust.


To see how this works see the BBC article here . Find out more about the Nature’s Calendar project here


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Peat Free growing is here to stay…

Peat Free compost is here and ever improving – but it’s a challenge to get to grips with the changes in growing. To help, the RHS has started a ‘Peat Free’ advice service and it’s open to all, not just members. To ask your question, just send an email to Nikki Barker at peatfree@rhs.org.uk

It seems that we need to be more careful with watering – it’s not true that it doesn’t hold water well – but the top dries quickly and gives the impression of dryness. If we then water without checking further down, the waterlogged plant may die. 

How to use Peat Free Compost for seeds and cuttings

RHS Science reveals Peat Free doesn’t need more water

Peat Free Compost Choices

We all need to know more here. The RHS itself will be completely peat free by the end of this year.

Here’s more Peat Free advice for Gardeners – including helping out with your own compost….


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History of the RGS

At our AGM in November, author Michael Gilson, spoke about the early days of the Dover House Estate, created on ‘Garden City’ principles as part of the house building initiative after the first world war. ‘Homes for Heroes’ were declared by prime minister Lloyd-George – which would include the right to green space to grow food. Each house would have it’s own green space and allotment plots would be part of the design.

Of course, many who rented the houses were not naturally green fingered, and had never owned a garden before, so Richard Sudell, a Quaker and political firebrand as well as a well known plantsman and garden writer took on the challenge of helping. He set up training allotments and gave lessons, forming the Roehampton Estate Garden Society. It seems that meetings of the committee took place in the basement at St. Margaret’s church, just below where we have our AGM. Roehampton became one of the leading garden estates in Britain as the country became the ‘nation of gardeners’./

Our centenary exhibition featured boards about this history – which are now in PDF form. We hope you will read and enjoy them.


READ about the building of the Dover House Estate

READ here about Richard Sudell and the founding of the RGS

READ about Living on the Dover House Estate

1914-1939-Board5-DoverHouse-Living

In 1955 the two Roehampton horticultural societies merged together to become Roehampton Garden Society.

Michael Gilson’s fascinating book, Behind the Privet Hedge, is now available from booksellers.


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Our NGS Open Day – a great success

Our 100 plus visitors to our Nation Garden’s Scheme open day were delighted with their allotment walk, commented on the many beautiful things that there were to see – in particular two lovely clematis covered arches, and the tea space by the potting shed! Many of them stopped and asked questions on the plots – some shared this year’s gardening challenges.


Most enjoyed the magnificent array of cakes and tea, with outside service provided by our younger helpers – thanks to you all! Many bought plants from the plant stall.


The event was very well organised by the committee, and our sincere thanks to them and to the many who came to help and participated . A huge effort, but very much rewarded.

More than £1000 was raised for the NGS charities.

View an online photo gallery of the occasion here. Photos by Vivienne Fowler and Bella Stebbings


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Growing potatoes -in a cardboard box

In an experiment for the Spinal Injuries Association, who are keen to make gardening easier for those with mobility issues, Bill Young (54A) grew new potatoes (Duke of York) in a series of carboard wine boxes.

This method of growing potatoes within carboard boxes, is common in Australia and some parts of the USA.

Bill writes

It is ideal for wheelchair users, especially in conjunction with raised beds. Just pop the remains of the carboard box off, hey-presto, the new potatoes are in front of you. I lifted the first two plants today Saturday 8th. of June, and was very pleasantly surprised by the results.  It was by far the best results I’ve had, nearly 5 lbs. of perfectly formed tubers.  This method works, and I can only say – try it!

Method – I folded down the carboard lid, then folded up the bottom, it in effect created a double-walled tube of carboard.  Placed the box on top of the soil.
I added three or four inches of soil, then placed two chitting potatoes within the box, then covered with a mixture of compost and soil up to the brim.
I watered them regularly, unfortunately they came under a sustained attack from slugs and snails.  My effective remedy was to pick the slugs and snails off the plants, to be fed to the newts within Alberts pond.
The potatoes grew very well, this I believe was due to the insulating properties of the cardboard. It in effect raised the plants off the colder ground. It insulated them from the colder wet soil and also the colder weather of this awful spring.
The result speaks for itself – one excellent crop of new potatoes.  It did however make my allotment look rather untidy, that is, until the potato shaw’s softened outlines and then covered the boxes. 


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RGS Plant Sale raises £400 for charity

The RGS plant sale held last week raised £400 which been donated to the Royal Hospital for Neuro- Disability. Thanks to all those who supported the event, bringing in many lovely plants for sale which sold more quickly that we anticipated!


Special thanks to all those who manned the stalls and so generously donated the plants. And thanks to everyone who sent in the pictures including Mark Sutcliffe and Jackie Savage.


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Purple Sprouting Broccoli – the winter marvel..

Nothing much will grow in the cold of winter – after the brussels sprouts have vanished we are firmly in the ‘hunger gap’. But purple sprouting broccoli is extremely hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -12°C. It responds to even a slight warmth and produces flowering shoots or ‘sprouts’ from February to April when there’s very little else around. Two or three large plants can feed your family. Well worth while planting some now for next year….

Here’s a summary of how to do it, but the best advice can be found from the RHS here

Sprouting Broccoli Site 3

Sow from April to mid-June for harvesting from January to May. Begin in a 9cm pot. Don’t sow too many – just enough to give you 3 or 4 plants securely.

When about 10 cm tall transplant. If you have the space free this can be their final growing spot. However, these plants will take up a lot of space. If you don’t have the space free until the autumn, you can transplant into a large, tall pot and plant out finally as late as September.

Like other brassicas, purple-sprouting broccoli thrives in a fairly heavy, alkaline soil. Avoid an exposed site, where the wind will buffet the stems and loosen the soil around the roots. Fork the soil over, removing stones and perennial weeds. Add some organic matter to improve moisture retention and texture. You may need to add lime if your soil is acidic. Brassicas dislike loose soil, so firm lightly with your foot.

Harvest each flowering shoot carefully – others should grow to replace them. Cut carefully and your crop will last for weeks.


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Wisley Trip Roundup 2024

A group of allotmenteers enjoyed a trip to RHS Wisley on 24th April.

It was a tad chilly but thankfully dry and the cold weather ensured the rhododendrons and tulips were still looking magnificent.


The trial beds of tulips were stunning as were the swathes of Camassias rolling down the hill from the World Food Garden. It was interesting to see that, as on our own plots, planting out here had been delayed by the cold wet spring. I’m sure that they, like us , are eagerly awaiting some warmer days and nights and the chance to get those veggies in the ground.


We elected to join a volunteer walk which proved very informative and took us to an area of garden none of us had explored before. We discovered a woodland walk with the most beautiful rhododendrons,  a stumpery with ferns unfurling and around the corner a TRex lurking in amongst the tree ferns!


We rounded off the day with a visit to the plant shop … who could resist… arriving back in Roehampton with arms full of goodies. It was great fun … come and join us in 2025!

Many thanks to organiser Shan Karwatowska

Pictures by Shan Karwatowska and Jane Powell


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Behind the Privet Hedge

A book by Michael Gilson

This book is about one of the main founders of the RGS, Richard Sudell.
Sudell was a pioneer of suburban gardening who has now had a book written about him and his considerable (and often overlooked) influence on one of the ways our nation revitalised itself after the terrors and destruction of the First World War.
As we showed in our Centenary Exhibition at Putney Library in June 2022, Richard Sudell not only lived on the Roehampton (now Dover House) Estate, but he also encouraged the tenants of the new houses to convert their scrappy garden patches (and the allotments) to create open spaces to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers.
“Behind the Privet Hedge” is published by Reaktion Books in May, priced £16.95. It is available to preorder: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/behind-the-privet-hedge
There is also an interesting article in the April edition of “Garden Answers” about the book and our famous pioneering founder.

Jackie Savage.