Buderim Garden Club

Buderim Garden Club

The Birdbath Workshop was repeated on 5th Ocotober 2020

Steve and Maureen demonstrated how to create another Birdbath, with Elizabeth Hales inspiring some people to take up the creation of mosaics.
30 members enjoyed the day, and the committee decided this bath should go into Steve's garden as a reward for his work.
Photo shows the finished product with the addition of some succulents.

An Elizabeth Hales mosaic - a lazy susan

Buderim Garden Club held their first workshop for 2020 on 26/8/20,
(after being postponed from Wednesday 25th March)

 Co-Ordinator, Steve Wikman reports: 

At our Workshop on 26 August, 2020, 30  enthusiastic gardeners including our guest facilitators, Maureen  & Les Sheargold gathered to participate in making a concrete birdbath on a pedestal.  Our ‘creative’ theme also included a practical demonstration and assessment of what members have been doing in ‘Covid-19’ lock-down earlier this year. How have we all been coping with our restrictive lifestyle?  Of course, restrictions are still in play. 
I assure you that many of us have not been idle.

 

As the winter westerlies blew, we snuggled into our warm coats (some borrowed) but our enthusiasm was not dampened.  With Les at the cement mixer and Maureen at the work bench, we took our seats (social distancing of course) at 8am sharp.  Beside the ‘level’ bench, there was a finished product filled with water, camellias and nasturtiums skated across the top (due to the wind).

 

A Facts Sheet was given out on arrival so that members could follow the process and make personal notes.  Maureen shared her experiences, including faults and failures as we progressed. Her stories were entertaining in her ‘apprenticeship stage’, as she called it. 


The sand was mounded within the marked perimeters on the work bench.  It wasn’t long before the wheelbarrow arrived with the concrete mix and it was full steam ahead.  With gloves on, a few of us under Maureen’s direction, scooped up the concrete mix and moulded it over the sand dome.  We now have another use for dishwashing liquid, it stops the concrete sticking to the concrete mouldings.  We continued to fashion the concrete into the desired shape.

As the morning had a creative theme, Eunice showed us how to create a ‘Succulent Wreath” and her updated terracotta pot with succulents etc. John L gave us an overview in making small wheelbarrows including spoked wheels.  Cathy brought along 3 mosaic spheres, 2 terracotta and 1 polystyrene.  She had covered the balls with glass beads and broken china.  Impressive to say the least.

 

Time passed very quickly but the concrete masterpiece was taking time to cure.  The winter chill was not helping so patience was required. Maureen continued to scrape and shape the bowl while I gave tips and hints on gardening practises.  Using some inspiration and recycled materials from the Tip Shop, we discovered we all had some Art/Craft qualities hidden within.

 

Spring is not far off and the weather has been warming up to accommodate potted colour in the garden.  We discussed the use of the colour wheel to give our gardens, pots, hanging baskets that extra bit of ‘wow’. Together we shared seedlings, cuttings and ideas, to try when we returned home.  To conclude the chilly morning, we had a cuppa and a walk around Monica & Ricks garden including their productive wicking beds.

 

Maureen continued to attend to our masterpiece in our absence as we made our way home. A birdbath has been donated by Maureen & Les to the Buderim Garden Club, which is to be raffled in the near future.

Those members who were not able to attend on this occasion due to the restricted numbers at gatherings enjoyed a similar
workshop on 5th October.

Monica, our Secretary,  hosted this event at her home in Buderim, where Maureen and Les Sheargold  demonstrated how to make a concrete bird bath from raw materials, and co-ordinator Steve showed off many garden ceramic pieces and art forms.  The finished birdbath has been donated by the Sheargolds to BGC for a raffle prize at the AGM.  Many thanks to all who made this a memorable experience.
Monika's chooks and magnificent orchids were also on display.
***Merryn Jooste attended the Workshop on Wednesday 25th March, and says...............
I attended the Bird Bath Workshop yesterday - it was absolutely WONDERFUL!  I took many photos of the cement making process as well as photos of the crafty projects that people have been busy with that Steve discussed - also a couple of quirky ones!  Monika's chickens were the backdrop of the workshop - so cute! and Monika had to provide warmth to attendees who were chilly - so she brought out a huge basket of woolly jumpers and scarves to share around!
Just the most beautiful surroundings, lorikeets chattering in the background, fantastic group of people, delightful morning tea (scrumptious pineapple cake from Eunice), fascinating informative workshop 😀🌺❤

BUDERIM GARDEN CLUB WORKSHOP – 18th June 2019

BUDERIM GARDEN CLUB WORKSHOP – JUNE 2019

On Tuesday, 18 June 2019, members and visitors gathered at 32 Panorama Crescent, Buderim (off Mooloolaba Road) at Jim & Elizabeth Hales home.

It was a most successful sunny morning.  Co-ordinator Steve Wikman again excelled in his entertaining talk, and showed many examples of plants, (many grown from seeds) and even cut up and shared his yellow gerbera with us.   He'll write a report soon, but meanwhile. many thanks to the Hales and to Steve for a wonderful morning.

Photos can be viewed under the Albums heading above.

A Garden workshop was held at Caryll Beck's property on Wed. 24th April 2019


Co-Ordinator, Steve Wikman reported on this most successful event.

BUDERIM GARDEN CLUB WORKSHOP 24 APRIL 2019

 

Garden Club members/visitors gathered at Caryll Beck’s home at Chevallum on Wednesday 24 April 2019. Although there were a number of apologies due to the wet weather, 25 members attended.

 

Last year Caryll had just started her garden when we visited in April 2018.  We were all amazed at the progress made in 1 year.  The volume of citrus fruit of many varieties was a sight to behold. Robin, one of the club’s Three Amigos offered some valuable advice on how to manage her young fruit trees.

 

Caryll’s positive attitude is to push forward whether you are confronted with hot and dry weather, restricted water supply (tanks) or very wet conditions as we had on the day.  Gardening in Australia is very different to gardening in England (Caryll’s home country).

 

We have to say thank-you to Caryll’s daughter, Sarah and her husband, Paul who allowed us to set up under their alfresco covered area next door. Of course, the sun came out for the most of the morning which made everyone excited.

 

I gave some practical but simple tips on how to prepare pots and plants for our October Festival Plant Stall.  The focus here was on quality presentation including hygiene when donating plants and cuttings for sale.  A demonstration on how to manage a root bound potted plant, preparing cuttings for propagation from various plant materials including milky sap varieties, how to manage dahlia tubers and what to look for when purchasing these tubers. I shared my practical experience in raising new gladioli and hippeastrums from seed. We also discussed propagation medium including striking cuttings in water and maintenance of your garden tools. The product, Lanox (heavy duty, anti-corrosion with lanolin) is a good choice for prolonging the life of your tool as it doesn’t dry out or wash off with water.

 

There were many giveaways and with the interaction and practical advice offered during the morning, members returned home after morning tea with an increased enthusiasm for gardening.

Steve 0439 362 828