Calderstones Park
Calderstones Park

Friends of Harthill and Calderstones Park – Spring 2023

Friday 10th March at The Mansion House – 2pm 

Annual General Meeting followed by a talk by Sally Bower

About Sally Bower

“Based in Liverpool, I’ve been a landscape architect and garden designer for over 20 years. My designs aim to develop attractive low impact schemes which reconnect people with nature, support wildlife and respond to the site and its setting. I am particularly interested in what it means to make a ‘wild’ garden and brownfield gardens for biodiversity and wildlife. “

Nature Rising from the Rubble

“In October 2021 I was awarded a Royal Horticultural Society Bursary to look at brownfield and gravel gardens. My talk is about my study tour. It will look at different approaches to growing plants in aggregates and the potential for wildlife in gardens. 

Growing plants in aggregates can be easier to establish, maintain and manage long term. It is a permanent surface which is weed seed free and, with the right plant choice, is long lived without irrigation. The stressful conditions, from the low fertility environment, provides the potential for a diverse mosaic of plant communities which can be very beneficial for wildlife. My report on the study tour won the prestigious main 2022 RHS prize.”

Tuesday 25th April at the Mansion House – 2pm 

Edible Landscapes by Richard Smedley

Edible doesn’t have to mean ugly and banished to the allotment nor should it be restricted to just the vegetables found on supermarket shelves. Not only is there a whole world of food plants waiting to be discovered – but you may already have some of them in your herbaceous borders.

Richard was trained at Kew and worked at HDRA’s Ryton Organic Garden. He “owns too many books, grows too many fruit trees, and (like everyone else) now works in the computer software industry.”

These talks are free for members and £5 for non-members. This can be redeemed against membership.

Liverpool Waterfront