Devon Cuttings
GARDENERS CUTTINGS
a look at news, events and happenings in Devon
Nursing home uses gardening to improve quality of life
Garden club member Jenny Eyre at The Check House Nursing Home in Seaton
Gardening has some great therapeutic qualities – for all ages. Cannon Care Homes, which owns The Check House Nursing Home in Seaton, Devon believes gardening can do a lot to help its residents – and has been putting their beliefs into practice. Check House began an association with Bradford University about a year ago to bring focus
on the quality of life of each of the homes residents and how their lives could be enhanced on a daily basis.
Manager, Sally Magee and her staff concentrate on discovering the residents’ previous interests and hobbies and try to explore whether these can be introduced at The Check House. This is why the Gardening Club came into being a few months ago.
Says Sally: “We organise a formal meeting once a month when a guest speaker is invited to discuss or present specific items of interest. At all other times the residents are able to enjoy growing herbs, vegetables and flowers in specially designed raised beds and window boxes. There is even a competition to see who can grow the tallest sunflower!! Moreover, Gardeners Question Time on Radio 4 on a Friday afternoon makes for very good listening with a cup of tea and a piece of homemade cake!“
Italian garden given £200,000 restoration grant
A community project based in Torbay has received a £200,000 grant from English Heritage to help restore a beautiful formal garden. The Italian garden at Lupton House, which dates back to the mid 19th century, has become derelict and overgrown.
Volunteers working for the Churston Ferrers-based Lupton Trust, which bought the property last year, have worked hard to bring the gardens back to their former glory — but the project needed a massive cash injection to reach the next stage.
Frances Lloyd, from the Trust, said: “It’s not just about the money — knowing that an organisation like English Heritage believes in what we are doing here and supports our vision means so much to each and every one of the volunteers who put in all the hard work on a day to day basis.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the local community, individuals, volunteer groups and local businesses. Thanks to them we are way ahead of schedule with our project plans.”
Volunteers have already completed the huge task of clearing the site, approaching the project with care to make sure nothing of historical or ecological interest is destroyed.
For more information about the Trust, visit
www.luptontrust.org Country Gardener
Day courses starting at Deans Court
Deans Court, Wimborne, are making the most of their walled kitchen garden and apiary by starting new day courses on Wednesdays during June and July.
Throughout the summer a programme of talks and courses together with lunch will be held on a variety of subjects such as beekeeping, growing your own vegetables, creating a herb garden, hen keeping and caring for fruit trees. The talks and courses will start at 10am with coffee and biscuits and end with a two-course lunch with wine.
For more information on individual courses visit their website on
www.deanscourt.org.uk
Gardens South West combine garden and cookery courses
Gardens South West run a selection of garden and cookery day courses at various locations in the south west. Each day includes a 2-course lunch with wine and costs £55.00 per person. This autumn Mary Ann Robb of Cothay Manor explains the traditional autumn tidy-up on Friday 8th October; Derry Watkins of Special Plants examines gravel gardening on Thursday 30th September; London chef Andy Clark inspiring us to create fabulous dishes from cheaper cuts of meat on Wednesday 24th November; Kate Hughes of Cook Academy presenting another Gourmet Fruit and Vegetables course on Tuesday 12th October and Sophie Hughes running the eternally-popular Deck the Halls floristry course on Thursday 2nd December.
All details can be found on
www.gardenssouthwest.com
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