Gardening Club

The first thing you need to know is that you don’t have to be a gardening expert to join the club, just have an interest in plants and gardens. 

The gardening club meets on the first Wednesday of most months in the village hall. For a small fee of £18 per year you will receive a programme of speakers and organised visits. Our speakers are of good quality and cover a range of gardening topics, usually based upon their own extensive experience. 

Most years we hold a show which is open to everyone.  There are 7 sections -vegetables, flowers, flower arranging, fruit (including jams), cookery, crafts and a section for children. Exhibits are judged by experienced outside judges and points awarded. The entrant with the most points for each section is awarded a cup which they keep for a year. After judging, the show is open for viewing. There is always a great atmosphere and refreshments to enjoy.    

We also challenge entrants to grow a seed potato in the great Potato Challenge. The winner is the entrant with the highest weight of potatoes on the day of the show.

The club has a mix of experienced, enthusiastic members or those who just enjoy being in their garden.

Officers

Secretary: Chris Martin

Treasurer: Wendy Berry

Committee Members: Officers named above plus Fiona Pearce, Mandy Boyd, Trudy Dale, Paul Fricker, Kathy Fricker.

As can be seen from the 2026 diary of events, Sampford Brett Gardening Club is a flourishing club within the village that offers a wide and varied programme from February through to November. Unless specified otherwise, meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm in the village hall. Members and non-members are most welcome as well as those from within the village and surrounding area.

For more information, please contact Chris (01984 248618).

SAMPFORD BRETT GARDENING CLUB

2026 PROGRAMME

Wednesday, February 4th

Greencombe – Rob Schmidt will give us a talk about this wonderful garden near Porlock, which was created by his aunt, Joan Lorraine, from 1966 until her death in 2016.

Wednesday, March 4th

Weeds as allies; learning to know and love the wild plants around us.

Alice Martin is a medical herbalist based in Bridport. When she is not seeing patients, she is busy growing herbs or harvesting them from the Dorset countryside to make into medicines. As well as practising herbal medicine, she is also very knowledgeable about garden plants as she also works in Charles Chesshire’s rare and special plants nursery .

Wednesday, April 1st

Rocketgro Toby Thomas is the co-founder and managing director of Rocketgro Peat-Free Composts. The business was launched in 2021 and now boasts a range of 28 products. Based on our doorstep in Cannington, this promises to be an interesting talk.

Wednesday, May 6th

Gardening for Pollinators by Jean Vernon. Jean is an award-winning garden writer and author of the best-selling book The Secret Life of Garden Bees and Attracting Garden Pollinators. She states that she is on a mission to introduce, inspire and inform about our bumblebees and other pollinators.

June – Garden visit

Wednesday, July 1st

Poppies by Lorraine Vaun-Davis. Lorraine started her oriental poppy collection in 2020 and since then her colourful collection has grown to comprise 38 different cultivars which she grows in her Somerset Garden.

Saturday, July 11th

Flower Show

August – Open Garden

Wednesday, September 2nd

Dahlias by Bella Given. Bella was a garden designer in SW London before moving to Devon. A few years ago, she had the opportunity to create a large kitchen garden with 27 vegetable beds and 18 beds of cut flowers. She’s been obsessed with dahlias ever since and has grown about 90

different varieties!

Wednesday, October 7th

Garden Photography and a Walk on the Wild-side

Colin Higgins – otherwise known as ‘Higgy’ will give several tips as to taking better pictures as well as attracting more wildlife into our gardens. ‘Higgy’ has been featured on Springwatch and Countryfile for his expertise in moth populations and wildlife gardening.

Wednesday, November 4th, 7pm

AGM followed by a talk from Brenda Wilson entitled, ‘Across the Bering Sea, from Japan to Alaska’. We are lucky that Brenda has agreed again to entertain us with her travels and, no doubt, several interesting plant references.