Page 56 • The HERALD • 9th March 2023 v THE HERALD - Proud to be part of your communityv Telephone Richard 023 8084 9637 | Grass Cutting | Edges Trimmed | Hedge Trimming | PRESSURE WASHING OF DECKS, PATIOS & DRIVES | FENCE & SHEDS PAINTED QuickSmart Garden Services Professional & Reliable Smithwood Landscaping Professional Gardening & Landscaping • Garden Redesign • Astro Turf • Trees & Shrubs Carefully Pruned • Rockeries Designed • Fencing • Ground Cover • Seasonal Tidy Ups No Job Too Small as I am a Local Gardener Any advice over the phone is freely given Contact Gary (Master Landscaper) 07707 433194 • All types of trees expertly felled, topped & pruned • Stump Grinding • Hedges pruned & trimmed • Lawns Laid • Fencing & garden work • Rubbish Clearance • Patios & drives jet-washed • Patios & Drives resurfaced or replaced RegisterdWaste Carrier Licence CBDU374716 H Fully Insured H Evening: 01794 522092 Daytime Mobile: 07946 513633 Email: treefellers@gmx.com All Aspects of Garden Work Undertaken • Driveways • Paving • Artificial Grass • Turfing • Decking • Fencing • Hedge Cutting • Landscaping Hythe Garden Contractors Family company established 1977 For a free quotation please call 023 8084 3556 or 023 8084 0378 ✿ DOWN THE GARDEN PATH ✿ BLACKFIELD GARDENING CLUB by Patricia Hedley-Goddard On 14th February the Black eld Gardening Club met for their monthly meeting in the new location of the Good Shepherd Church in Holbury. e excellent and interesting presentation, given by Jill Bascombe was well attended, the subject being Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Although the Islands ‘belong’ to Ecuador, they are approximately 600 miles from the coastline of Ecuador, located in the Paci c Ocean on the Equator. ey are volcanic islands resting on a tectonic plate and are moving in a south easterly direction. Jill explained that the visit had taken place in the September/October time of 2011 when she and a friend ew out to Ecuador a few days before the tour they were joining. ey wanted a few days extra to explore Quito, the capitol of Ecuador, which had an interesting culture and architecture. Ecuador had originally been Inca, then conquered by the Spanish and in 1922 had gained its Independence. It is also one of the highest cities in the world, and when they travelled up in the cable car to 14,000 she su ered from altitude sickness. e town was set up for tourists as well as local people, the market stalls being full of highly colourful knitted and woven products, plus a huge array of spices and local food. e architecture was very in uenced by Spain, and the streets were steep and very narrow. ey joined their tour group and then took the tour yacht and sailed to the Galapagos Island. ese are a collection of volcanic islands, mostly uninhabited, and many with their own individual ora, fauna, unspoilt by predators, so many unique species survive. Each day the group would leave the hotel yacht and be taken to the island that they were visiting for the day, by dinghy. As the islands are volcanic they are mostly basalt, di cult to walk on, which de nes the type of vegetation able to survive the hot dry temperatures. ere were many ‘prickly pear’ plants, plus a lot of ground covering vegetation and some grassland. e group visited nature reserves some at coastal level and some in the mountains. e spectrum of wildlife they observed was very varied. Because the islands are ‘protected’ no predators have been allowed to be introduced and many islands have their own unique adaptation of a species as it has evolved to cope with the speci c challenges in order to survive. For example, the iconic giant tortoise has many variations in shell shape and size. On an island where the vegetation is low growing or ground covering, the legs are short and sturdy, and the shell covers the whole of the body. On another island where the vegetation is higher up, the legs of the tortoise are long, the front of the shell is shaped di erently to permit the tortoise to stretch up its neck in order to get at the food. Every island has a di erent variation. On the islands with low growing vegetation and spreading plants there are unique tail less birds who live in the under growth and can only hop or perch among the ground cover. However, these birds have the largest heart and brain of any birds of their size. ey are completely unafraid of visitors. e Galapagos Islands cover an area of roughly 3000 square miles, so the yacht would ‘island hop’ at night carrying the group to the next destination. e group saw wonderful exotic owers and orchids, many species of hummingbirds, so tiny, but with exquisite colourings. Entirely at the other end of the spectrum, land iguanas of various shapes and sizes, plus aquatic iguanas with pink markings on their skin, brown pelicans, turtles swimming in the sea and the comical blue footed booby, their legs and webbed feet are a bright blue contrasting with the white body and darker wings. Ironically, there are also Humboldt penguins on the shores. ese are carried up on a cold water current from the south enabling them to survive on the equator. Jill said it was a wonderful experience, not for the faint-hearted, and you needed good solid shoes to walk on the di erent surfaces. e diversity of wildlife, ora and fauna makes the Galapagos Islands an oasis of natural life not seen elsewhere. eir next meeting will be on Tuesday 14th March for a talk by eo Herselman titled ‘Bulbs of South Africa’. The club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm. The new location is The Good Shepherd Church, Roewood Road, (Off Renda Road), Holbury. Hythe Flower Club On ursday 9th February Hythe Flower Club were all involved in a ‘watch and do’ evening. Luckily amongst their members they have a National teacher, so were treated to an exercise in recycling. Using tins (washed and dried tomato size) they proceeded to cover them in an assortment of materials, string and wool plus various weight material cut to size. It was then time to ll these with greenery and spring owers. e results were very pretty and the tins totally transformed. ey then enjoyed delicious tea and cakes (made by their treasurer Judi). A ra e was held and it was then time to head home with their arrangements. Another fun evening. eir next meeting is on Thursday 9th March when Alison Finch will demonstrate ‘Toy Stories’. Followed on Thursday 13th April by their AGM with speaker meet on the second Thursday of the month (except August) at Hythe Parish Hall. 7pm for 7.30pm and they are always pleased to welcome visitors. Go along and visit their friendly inclusive club. Julia Baker on the history of Furzey Gardens. Hythe Flower Club Blackfield Flower Club Black eld Flower Club’s next meeting will take place on Tuesday 14th March at 2 pm. is will be a demonstration by Carolyn Vanstone entitled ‘Cartoon Capers’ and visitors will be most welcome – please call Jan Gordon on: 023 8084 4835 for more details. Meetings take place at the Royal British Legion Club, Exbury Road, Black eld, SO45 1XD. Easter is coming so why not go along to the club’s spring/Easter workshop on Saturday 25th March, 10.45am-1pm at Bethany Hall, Rollestone Road, Holbury, SO45 2HB. Cost £10 to include light refreshments. Spaces limited. For more details please call Jan Gordon on 023 8084 4835.
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