The Garden Coach A former member of the Arboretum Society’s Board of Directors, Jack draws upon his almost 40 years of gardening experience - including 12 years at Sunset Magazine - to provide this monthly feature.  Included are, of course, tips and advice, as well as anecdotes and stories about gardening and gardeners. His website is: www.jackthegardencoach.com   Copyright 2010.  All rights reserved. 101 9th Avenue | San Mateo, CA 94401-4202 Tel. (650) 579-0536 Original Web Design by Vincent Lee Design, 2009; Ongoing maintenance by Dan Alvear, SMAS by Jack McKinnon May, 2010 Starting and participating in a garden club has many benefits to us as gardeners, the community and the planet. This month’s garden tips will be about garden clubs and how to start them, keep them going and livening them up when they get lackadaisical. 1. To start a garden club is easy. All you need is a phone, a pad and a pencil. To keep one going is another story all together. There are several organizations that support new garden clubs, have guidelines and even advice on gaining non profit status as well as insurance policies that are advantageous to participate in. Here are a couple of their web sites. California Garden Clubs Inc. http://www.californiagardenclubs.org/ National Garden Clubs http://www.gardenclub.org/, Garden Clubs of America http://www.gcamerica.org/, 2. Your garden club can have a theme. There are garden clubs for specific plant lovers like Orchid growers, Gardenia lovers, Edible gardens and Native plant societies. A garden club can be a private group of friends or part of the world of gardeners. Some garden clubs travel together while others do field trips. Guest speakers are often invited to bring interesting themes and subjects to the club. 3. The San Mateo Arboretum Society puts on the Hillsborough Garden Tour each year displaying some amazing estates. There are Garden Clubs that provide fund raising functions for charity organizations. Some of these activities are really fun. One example is the Venice Garden Tour where if you have the stamina, you can visit 30 gardens in one day. The Gamble garden tour did that in Palo Alto last month with 6 gardens representing the history of this tour over the last 25 years. 4. Some clubs are more exclusive than others. Ruth Berliner started the Florets Garden Club in Palo Alto in 1965. I have spoken there twice in the last ten years and found it wonderful. In order to be a member though, you have to be sponsored in by another member. This club has only 9 members but is rich in experience and skill. 5. More people are becoming interested in growing their own food. Not only is it fresh and fresh means better tasting, but it allows for varieties that are not available in even the Farmers Market. A garden club that focuses on organic practices, resources and cultivars will tend to be more discriminating about what they are growing. They share readily what they learn and often by getting a newsletter out can share with the whole community. I learned more about potatoes in the last year than I ever thought I would know including a good source for seed potatoes, http://www.ronnigers.com/. 6. Garden clubs help understand the unique microclimates of the area they are growing in. I just joined the newly starting Pescadero Garden Club and the variations of growing environments of our 10 members range from coastal fog to mountain freeze and that is just the cold range. We are getting and giving advice as well as gathering a lot of homework to do that will help everybody grow better gardens. 7. There are several schools that I have visited as a Garden Coach that are growing their own vegetables. Children love learning about nature and a local Garden club can provide a great resource for starting and maintaining a school garden. 8. I don’t want to leave out the social values of being in a garden club. Of the 15 or so clubs that I have spoken to most members are women. This is really good news. Women love to socialize and are really good at it. For men, where else are you going to be around so many women. Who knows, you may learn a thing or two about socializing. Of course there is no reason not to start a mens garden club either. You can trade tubers, watch the game and go out and have a lawn tractor race. 9. It is still early in the summer and planting is going on all over the valley. There is no better reason to gather at someone’s home than to do a mass planting. Especially for seniors who are slowing down a bit. A potluck, sharing and trading plants and planting a flower bed make for a wonderful Saturday afternoon. And the host gets a great show for the rest of the summer. 10. I encourage you, if you are at all interested in gardening to try starting or joining a garden club. Give it a year, and if it does not work for you then move on. Who knows it may just become a life long passion. Click on month below for Garden Coach Archives: December, 2009 About Us Events Greenhouse Join Us! Home About Us Events Greenhouse Join Us! Volunteer Home January, 2010 February, 2010 March, 2010 April, 2010