The lengthy and valued contribution of the Harriston and District Horticultural Society was recognized at the organization’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
The celebration, attended by about 100 people, including local members and visitors from area horticultural societies, was held at the Harriston-Minto Community Centre on Sept. 10.
The Harriston society was formed in 1952, when Mrs. Thomas Aitken, president of the Beehive Women’s Institute, invited local people interested in horticulture to a meeting. Organizers from the Ontario Horticultural Society’s District 7 attended and a local slate of officers was formed.
Over the years, the group has made many contributions to the community, including the planting of a red maple tree in a community park to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
At the annual meeting in 1955, it was reported that the Queen’s Oaks, sent from the Royal Botanical Gardens in London, England were planted. One was planted at the cenotaph park, two at the community centre, two at the veteran’s plot at the cemetery, and one at the IODE Park.
In 1961, a junior horticulture society was formed, which included 15 members.
In recent years, the group played a major role in the Town of Minto’s success in the national Communities in Bloom competition, which resulted in Minto being awarded five blooms, the highest designation, in the 5,000 to 10,000 population category, in 2005.
At the Sept. 10 celebration, Minto Mayor George Bridge commended the group on their long-standing contribution, as well as their recent involvement in designing and planting the horticultural aspects of the new Tannery Park in Harriston, which was officially opened in July.
“It just goes to show what we can do together,” said Bridge.
Deputy mayor Terry Fisk thanked the society “for the beautification of our municipality.
“We’re very fortunate. You all do this as volunteers, and you enjoy your work, we can see it in the health of the plants,” said Fisk.
Guest speaker at the anniversary celebration was radio and television gardening show host Charlie Dobbin, who also operates a horticultural design and consultation service.
Gardening with less water was the theme of her talk; one she concedes was more appropriate when she conceived it during this past summer’s drought, than during the current soggy September.
“Here we are in September and we’ve had more rain than we had all summer,” she quipped.
Among her suggestions for gardening through a drought, is training plants to have deep root systems.
“If a plant is trained to have a deep root system, it will survive through a drought better than any plant that is trained to have a shallow root system because we are always out there watering it,” she advised.
She also urged gardeners to consider “low maintenance landscapes that rely on little or no water, other than what nature provides.”
Proper plant selection is also key to drought-resistant landscaping, she noted, recommending planting grasses, shrubs and trees
Utilizing rain barrels and roof drainage systems can help maximize the benefits of what rain does fall and also sources “the best water you can provide,” for plants.
Dobbin recommends mulching to reduce evaporative loss around trees and shrubs, noting that ground cover plants make an easy and effective mulch source.
“It save us having to put the mulch down,” she stated.
Installing a proper irrigation system as part of a system of planned maintenance can also be helpful, although Dobbin conceded that approach is more common in urban settings than in rural areas like Harriston.
