Hello and Welcome

Hello to anyone who has arrived on this blog after reading threads on Garden Banter and Hardy Tropicals UK or community ads on Craigslist.

Coastal Gardening Society is the first gardening society in the UK which focuses on gardening by the coast and the problems and pleasures that brings. Unlike other groups, it is not dedicated to any one plant or group of plants. The population of coastal towns alone, when added up, exceeds that of Wales. That's a lot of coastal gardens, most of which won't be slap bang on the beach.

Rolling out to Kent and East Sussex first in March 2012, then Devon and Cornwall, CGS aims to drag gardening into the 21st century.

There won't be Biggest Marrow competitions in draughty WW2 tents, judged by a local vicar and dreary talks with blurry slides in village halls. CGS aims to use cool venues, be they award-winning modern buildings or quirky old ones. There will be a website (in development) and use will be made of technology and social networking to provide members the opportunity to benefit from expertise outside of the local area and get engaged in CGS even if they can't get to a meeting.

Providing some fun as well as advice and support for gardening problems is important. One idea is to go over to France to look at jardins littorals over there and see how the French do it. It's also possible to nip to London on the Javelin high speed trains and fly to Cornwall to look at the Cornish Riviera for a day or weekend. There are plenty of gardens to visit along the Kent and Sussex coast, nurseries and garden centres too. It's possible to get experts along to talk about all sorts of plants and hold plant clinics to help ailing plants.

If you have any ideas, please comment !