BRIAN MEE ASSOCIATES LTD

Our time is almost up. We found it really useful to hear direct from you and hope you did too. The forum will remain live and we will respond to issues as they come up over the next few weeks. We hope to do this again. Tell us what you think.

With thanks from,

inga, jill, gordon,sarah,dan and simon

Congratulations to Geoff and his team for the recent changes made to the website. It's much better than it used to be and having a Search facility in particular has improved things immensely.

I'm interested in hearing about what's in the pipeline.

I'm asking this on behalf of someone who can't be here today:

I've noticed in the past couple of years that the plant centre at Wisley isn't nearly as good as it used to be, in terms of carrying a wide range of varieties. For example, you used to be able to rely on Wisley to carry daffodils 'in the green' (so useful for filling gaps) and the choice might include 'Barrett Browning', or 'Thalia'. Now all they seem to offer is 'Tete a Tete' or 'Bridal Crown', which you can buy absolutely anywhere.

An attention grabbinig subject title if ever there was one and also happens to be the title of an exhibition held in the Pyramid Glasshouse at Sydney Botanic Gardens.  How could you not want to vist that even when you find out it is all to do with orchids?

By contrast the RHS sent out an email from entitled "Winter Wonder at the RHS Gardens". Totally unimaginative!!!!

Isn't it about time that the RHS 'sexed up' its image a bit more and conveyed the excitment of gardens and gardening to a wider audience?

Talking to other gardeners (members and non-members), there seems to be a disconnection between work that the RHS does and its achievements and 'getting the message out there'. I've seen this disconnection between membership and organisation eleswhere, both as a volunteer and employee in the NGS sector.

What does the RHS feel it does well in this area and what plans are there to improve? 

Other charities like the National Trust and The Royal Photographic Society have the ability for members and visitors to Gift Aid their subscriptions and entrance fees. It would appear the RHS is missing a good additional income which would be especially welcome.

What plans does the RHS have in this area? 

Hi, can you help please. How do i know when planting seeds which need covering to obscure  the light or which to leave open. These are seeds friends have given me from there gardens.

I have just spent some time filling in the Membership questionnaire and was a bit disappointed that there was no facility at the end to make suggestions; I would very much like the option of choosing between The Garden and The Plantsman. has anyone thoughtof this - is its at all possible?

I am interested in finding out what Matthew Wilson's new role encompasses - Head of Gardens Creative Development.

I read that it is to exploit new opportunities for visitor growth, but what does this mean. Campaigns? New Gardens? Education?...... 

When I first set up this net connect, three months ago, one of the first links I followed was about canker and chestnut trees.  For 15 years now we have had the chestnut scale rampant in our area.  As the chestnut scale is a living scale insect I presume it pierces, sucks and eliminates.  Now we have cankers in the trees -  cankers generally are a result of reaction to damage or toxins. Would the two be connected in any way?

Fifteen years ago, when it first occurred, the schoolkids were flogging them as magic mushrooms, did they do themselves any harm?

I welcome the RHS's intent to widen knowledge of horticulture and design by reaching out beyond its traditional boundaries. Yet I fear that in so doing the depth of knowledge embodied by the Society is being lost. This can already be seen in the changes in The Garden magazine - the subject matter is treated in less depth and the loss of the Index means the magazine is no longer a resource to be filed and treasured, but skimmed and binned with all the other glossies.

 Yes, catch all the enthusiastic beginners, but can you not give something more challenging to those of us who have thought, learned, built and gardened for several years!?

One of the main benefits of RHS membership for me is the fact that I can attend the various flower shows on members' day.  Or at least this would be a benefit if it wasn't for the fact that the Hampton Court flower show is flooded out with Daily Mail readers and presumably other non-members who the RHS have allowed to attend on this day.  In the case of Hampton Court last year it was unpleasantly overcrowded.  How does the RHS justify this and what proportion of tickets are in fact sold or given away to non-members on members' day?  Is the same true of Chelsea and the other shows members days?

Hello directors, When people join and re join the RHS wouldn't it be a good idea to offer paid up members the opportunity to buy a nice enamel RHS members badge? of course members would pay for it but at the moment we don't have an enamel badge for members, we had one for the centenary but not for a general members badge, all the other societies have enamel badges and it gives fellow members the chance to recognise one another where ever they go, I think it would be a splendid idea for us to all buy a members enamel badge, you could get them made in China very cheaply but still charge say£5 for them, this will increase revenue and it will let members be recognised and take pride in their membership, the NVS has shirts and badges and jackets and ties for members and we all recognise each other instantly at major shows, it would be nice and good for business if RHS members had the opportunity to buy personal tee shirts jackets etc.. but mainly a badge would be a good idea and if it sells well (which it will) then you could do shirts and Jackets later on?

Hello RHS directors, Just before the election of RHS officials the idea of a fifth garden was put forward, Have you decided where the new fifth garden is going to be yet? We only have Harlow Carr up here in the North, but it is on the Eastern side of the Peninnes, here in Lancashire on the Westsern side of the peninnes we have much harsher weather conditions than you do at Harrogate and we have higher rainfall, it wpould be ideal for the fifth garden to be here in Lancashire, we have an excellent motorway network all ready laid out, we have a very high population here as well, so the garden would get lots of visitors and lots of volunteers to help out at the new garden, also we have a lot of empty land going spare and common agricultural land can be bought relatively cheaply, how many acres of land do you think we will need for an ideal garden? if we get some empty land it will be the ideal opportunity for the RHS to build a purpose built visitor and research garden, it would be ideal for the schools to learn about gardening as well. It would be realistic and be a true representation of actual conditions, we here a lot about dry gardening and gardening in a drought etc.. but the fact of the matter is that in Lancashire we get up to eight feet of rain water in a year almost twice the amount you get at Harlow Carr, we get really wet weather all year round and as a consequence the dry gardening and drought tolerant plants etc.. are meaningless to people in Lancashire, I hope and pray for a dry garden but it's not going to happen, if you build the new garden in Lancashire you will get the gist of what the weather is like and your trials will have meaning for people who live on the North Western side of the Peninnes,

I can find some property for sale quite easily and cheaply as prices have now dropped, we could with  some thoughtful planning have our very own Wisley up here in Lancashire, If you come up to Lancashire I will be more than happy to show you some good places available to develop a garden and laboratory and research centre, this is the ideal chance for the RHS to develop Lancashire as the hub of northern horticulture. We could probably get some lottery money to put towards the cost as well also we could have a bio sphere like the one in Wales, and the garden could be used as a teaching resource, lots of schools need to learn how to make compost and things, of course we will need lots of volunteers to help out, but due to the high population in nearby towns and cities we will have lots of free help.

Thankyou for your time.

Each month I browse these offers and find that some of the prices asked for are to my mind;  'extortionate' and this puts me off even considering buying any off them.

Similarly I have considered gardening tours & cruises and again I find the prices quite high!

I don't think these observations can be put down to current "national financial affairs" as this situation has been with us for years!

I would imagine that the RHS receive a commission on any sales but if many of our members think as I do sales/commission I would imagine will be quite low.

Would it not be better to be make these offers more competitive with the wider world and encourage people such as me to buy from these sources?

OK perhaps lower prices will equate to lower commission but I would have thought a few pence less from a sale is better than a 'no sale' at all!

I leave these thoughts with you......TG

A number of people have told me they aren't able to join in tomorrow's forum owing to work commitments but are interested inseeing the results. How long will the Q and A discussion be available afterwards for them to view it?