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Dear Mrs Bowman,

I would like to ask for your help please - at the RHS we want to mobilise the biggest gardening army across the nation since ‘Dig for Victory’ over 80 years ago and as a valued member I hope we can count on your support. As we discussed at our new RHS Sustainability Strategy Launch in the Houses of Parliament last night, the RHS believes that the actions of each and every one of our nation’s 30 million gardeners with their 700,000 hectares of gardens can help mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis, and help solve some of the mental and physical health issues we are suffering, especially as a result of the pandemic. 

We want you to be the first to hear about our new ambitious Sustainability Strategy, which includes an exciting nationwide RHS Planet-Friendly Gardening Campaign, details of which you can see below. Within the decade the RHS aims to become net positive for nature and people and to enable and support the gardening public to do the same. This means we will improve biodiversity, as well as remove and store more carbon from the atmosphere than we produce, and that we will actively and consciously improve the health and wellbeing of as many people as possible through gardening.

We are committed to leading by example by setting sustainability targets for our own operations that provide benefits for both nature and people. These targets include eliminating all single-use plastic, being peat free by 2025 and being water neutral. We want all our activities to be truly inclusive, and to be available to all communities across the UK.

Your membership support is appreciated more than ever and will directly help us mobilise this campaign. Thank you so much, and we hope you enjoy the first ever September Chelsea, coming to you soon in person, online and on the BBC!

All the best,

Sue Biggs

 CBE, Director General

Our Planet-Friendly Gardening Campaign

This campaign includes ten easy gardening tasks which will make a real difference to the environment and biodiversity. We'd love you and all our members to share these tips with your communities, friends and family. Tasks include growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, switching to rainwater and pulling up a paving slab or two to make room for some bee-loving perennials! We need your help to spread the word about planet-friendly gardening.

My Favourite Alpines by Neil Huntley of Hartside Nursery - 9th September 2021

Mrs Carol Ridley, (Speaker Organiser for the Club), welcomed Mr Neil Huntley from Hartside Nursery Garden near Alston.

Almost 50 members enjoyed an interesting presentation by Neil, who was supported by his Sue. Neil explained that his parents had purchased the Nursery in 1972 and opened to the public three years later. Neil and Sue took over the business in 1997 and in the intervening years they have developed Hartside Nursery Garden and established it as a National leading specialist for Alpine plants.

They have frequently won accolades and medals from major British RHS Shows and the slides which he used during his talk, showed stunning and often rare pictures of beautiful Alpines which are available from their Nursery.

Situated over 1000 feet above sea level, the garden is subject to hot sunshine during summer and very cold periods during winter… therefore the plants they sell are very hardy!

During the slide show Neil impressed us with his Latin nomenclature, knowledge of plant characteristics and anecdotes. We were also shown how to make and use troughs, containers and raised beds, in which to effectively display the delicate beauty of tiny alpines.

Neil promotes the use of local company ‘Dalefoot Compost’, from Askham () , and shared how to make various compost mixes in order to promote good alpine growth. 

Over 100 slides were shown and some depicted the many and varied primula group, oxalis, tiny iris, gentiana, erythroniums, trillium, saxifage and lots of the roscoea species, to name but a few! In essence it was beauty in miniature.

We were so lucky to be able to make purchases afterwards.

Extract from article by Jude Jansen