Platinum Skies hosts gardening talk for green-fingered communities

Green-fingered homeowners enjoyed an illustrated talk about container gardening at our independent-living communities across Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset to welcome in the new spring season.

Gardening talks at Platinum Skies

Alan Down, who owned and ran a successful garden centre for 35 years, chatted to the homeowners at our Chapters, Sherborne and Quantock House communities. Alan gave each event’s attendees a host of tips for the upcoming spring season, as well as talking through some of his top recommendations for helping plants to thrive in pots.

Alan’s top tips included ‘lasagne planting’ which involves planting layers of bulbs, in a similar style to creating the popular pasta dish, with the earlier-flowering bulbs at the top, to extend the time that a pot will contain a host of colour. Alan also advised watering plants at the start and end of the day when water is less likely to evaporate off plants, as well as focusing on watering the roots of a plant rather than the leaves which wastes water.

Future gardening talks at Platinum Skies communities

Next month, Jane Moore, who has been a guest presenter on BBC Gardeners’ World and has previously won a silver medal for a small garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, will be speaking about planting for butterflies.

She will be speaking at the following communities:

• Sherborne on Monday 11 April at 2.30pm
• Esprit, Poole on Tuesday 12 April at 11am
• Vista, Poole on Tuesday 12 April at 2pm
• Chapters, Salisbury on Wednesday 13 April at 11am
• Quantock House, Taunton on Thursday 14 April at 11am

Booking in advance is essential for the free talk which has limited places available.

Becoming part of the community at Platinum Skies

Laura Warwick, Community Director at Platinum Skies, said: “We had a fantastic turn out for Alan’s talk, which just shows how popular gardening, plants and growing your own food is with our homeowners. Our Community Managers are now looking forward to hearing how they put all of Alan’s advice into action to get their balconies and gardens filled with colour for the warmer spring and summer months.”

Each Platinum Skies community has dedicated onsite Community Managers who help to organise fun activities such as wine tasting workshops, yoga, coffee mornings, quizzes, and crafts, as well as providing practical and emotional support to the community’s homeowners.

Facilities within each of the low-maintenance homes include easy to use kitchens with energy-saving appliances, bathrooms with step-free showers and automatic lighting, extra-wide walkways for wheelchair access, and secure parking.

To book a place at one of Jane’s gardening talks in our communities, call our team on 01202 040996.