\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our November talk was given by Sharka Baxter, a Cambridge \u2013 based garden designer and coach. She described her childhood growing up in Czech Republic, where her interest in gardening started, to running her own garden design company in the UK.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thriplow.org.uk\/gardening-club\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Leaves-248x300.jpg\")
As a child she spent all her holidays with relatives that had a small holding, harvesting produce, preserving, and pickling. It was hard work as she had many chores. Her grandma grew flowers, and Sharka use to cycle every week to lay some on her grandfather\u2019s grave. This left a big impression on her.<\/p>\n
When she came to the UK and started her own family, she wanted her own children to experience the beauty of nature. It was the 5 years spent as a volunteer at Wimpole Hall, that convinced her that gardening was the path to take. Her tasks were very varied, from pruning, weeding, potting up etc. The management decided that if volunteers were given responsibilities, performance would be better. Sharka was given the responsibility for the \u201cApricot Border\u201d.<\/p>\n
The experience at the Hall gave her the ability to observe how plants grow, colour mixes, growing conditions etc. A useful lesson learnt at the time was to keep your tools well maintained. She is an advocate of all environmental issues and promoting wildlife. Examples are put a pond in the garden and the frogs will eat the slugs, also to support wildlife delay cutting back perennials and shrubs in the Autumn, instead do that task in the Spring.<\/p>\n
After gaining further qualifications in horticulture related subjects, Sharka felt she still wasn\u2019t ready to venture on her own. A 2.5 year stint at Scotsdales, under the guidance of Peter Jackson, gave her more confidence, and she had the opportunity to communicate with customers, giving advice on displays, planting and even what pots to use. She helped with displays at Chelsea, Harrogate and other shows, gaining more contacts and knowledge, to eventually forming her own company \u201cUtopia\u201d.<\/p>\n
Some of her tips were: make the front garden Spring themed, as this makes it inviting and uplifting to passers-by. Her favourite plants are gauras, jasmines and salvias, as they have a long flowering season. Verbenas are also useful as they self -seed and good for wildlife. Another of her ideas was to choose 3 different varieties of clematis to group together. The large flowering type, last for only a few weeks, but have the \u201cwow\u201d factor, as opposed to the variety with small blooms, like clementis montana, which are more prolific and much longer season.<\/p>\n
When planning a garden for a customer, Sharka looks at plants and then decides where to put them, rather than planning on paper (like Charlie Dimmock or Rich brothers on Garden Rescue). Her company has a new name now \u201cDancing Gardener\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sharka\u2019s passion and enthusiasm shone throughout her talk and much enjoyed by all. Despite the inclement weather, there was a very good turnout.<\/p>\n
Hanna Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Our November talk was given by Sharka Baxter, a Cambridge \u2013 based garden designer and coach. She described her childhood growing up in Czech Republic, where her interest in gardening started, to running her own garden design company in … Continue reading