FEBRUARY
Dear Friends of Burnley Gardens
You are invited to our 2023 Valentine’s Day event, on Sunday 12 February 2023
Dinner under the Wisteria Arbour (5.00 pm) followed by
‘Un-gardening at Heronswood’, with Bill Bampton (at 7.00 pm)
Bill writes: Late in my career I have come to really question much of the way I have gardened, not just the how but also the why. The recent Covid pandemic gave the gardeners at ‘Heronswood’ a breathing space where, in the absence of visitors, we could really tackle some thorny issues and do some extreme renovation of the garden beds. The goal was to make a more resilient, sustainable and interesting garden, to produce a garden less reliant on constant inputs of water, fertiliser and garden maintenance that was, at the same time, more diverse, floriferous and beautiful. Much of what we did seemed counterintuitive to accepted gardening norms, de-nitrifying rather than fertilising, tolerating some weeds, letting plants stress or die rather than resorting to irrigation. The experiment is still unfolding, the results get praise and critique in equal measure. This talk will be an illustrated potted history of the experiment so far.
About Bill: Bill is the head gardener at ‘Heronswood’, the Diggers Foundation’s historic garden overlooking the bay at Dromana. He has been a professional gardener for the past 20 or so years since graduating from Burnley in 1998. Starting out at the quirky Plantusforsalus Nursery in St Kilda, he has worked in revegetation at Royal Park and spent many years at the Melbourne Botanic gardens.
Place: Burnley Campus, 500 Yarra Boulevard, Richmond.
Time: 5.00 pm for dinner under the Wisteria Arbour, 7.00 pm for the talk in MB 10
Cost: Dinner: $35
Talk: $10 for Members; $20 for Non-members
Booking is essential
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/CFQBJ
Parking: available on the Boulevard
Click on the link to download the flyer Bill Bampton HERONSWOOD FLYER
Our BONANZA HORTICULTURAL BOOK SALE continues!!
Graham Purdy has bequeathed his wonderful collection of horticultural books to the FOBG for fund raising. They are in very good condition, and most are well known classics of horticultural literature, by well known authors. We are offering them at bargain prices. Committee member Cheryl has catalogued them all (which has been quite a job). Here they are, listed by category and title. Book Sale
NOTES
PARKING is available on the Yarra Boulevard (Melways Map 45 & X872) for Burnley events, or on Campus if you have a Disability Parking Permit, otherwise no car access to campus.
NON MEMBERS are welcome to attend our events and meetings.
TALKS are held in the Main Building in the Burnley Gardens, 500 Yarra Boulevard Richmond, unless otherwise noted. Follow the signs.
THE INTENTION will be for talks to be in person and also via Zoom.
GENERALLY talks are in the evening (7pm for 7.30pm start) and workshops are in the morning. Individual flyers with details will be sent out in advance.
