Gardening Group (Open)

Convenor: Linda O'Reilly - u3aopawaho@gmail.com

We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 10:30am. On a beautiful autumn day in May, after a nice lunch in the cafe, the gardener at Riccarton House took us on a walk around the property. He explained the history of the gardens especially the trees, some of which have been there since the Deans family lived in the house. A week later, several of us went to the De Luxe cinema at the Tannery to see the move 'A Time Travellers Guide to Hamilton Gardens' which we can highly recommend. We were surprised to see the huge scale and variety of the gardens and to learn more about the thoughts behind the designs. At our June meeting, we watched the movie 'Wilding' - a beautiful true account of an English estate that had been commercially over-farmed for decades. The owners overcame significant difficulties including critical neighbours in their endeavours to revert the land to its original state and to encourage flora, fauna and animals that had not been seen in England for generations. It is an amazing story, and was enjoyed by everyone.