Join in ... with the Murray Bridge Social Garden Club
Wendy Osborne invites you to become a fellow green thumb, not only for your garden, your health or the monthly raffle, but for the laughs along the way.
Whether you’re a true green thumb or someone who has killed a succulent – or two – Murray Bridge Social Club will be happy to have you.
The club was established 17 years ago to accommodate for its older members by meeting during the day, and also to create a place for plant-lovers to just chat about all things green – no competitions, no pressure.
Barely 10 minutes into a chat with Ms Osborne, it quickly becomes apparent that gardening is her life’s passion.
“After this I’m going to the council to enter my garden in the competition,” Ms Osborne said.
“Oh, I’ve just received a message from a friend to give her a hand with her fuschias.”
Murray Bridge News sat down with Ms Osborne to chat about the club and all things gardening.
When did you first get involved with the social garden club?
My husband and I moved to Murray Bridge eight years ago from Tasmania. My first meeting with the club was its AGM and I was made secretary. My husband calls me a serial committee person.
What do you spend your time doing each month?
We meet once a month. For half an hour we hold a meeting, and then we have a guest speaker come and present on a topic that is garden-related. In November, we’re going to have someone come talk to us about butterflies, and how to encourage them into your garden. In October we will have our AGM. I’m currently creating a PowerPoint about the history of the club, which I’ll show then.
Our president, Ken, gives his gardening tip of the month, to explain what people should be doing in their gardens at that time of year. Members can bring in plants that have something wrong with them, and Ken will diagnose the problem.
Every meeting people will bring a garden-related object which we’ll put on the communal table. Then we do a raffle, and everyone gets to go home with something. At the moment, everyone is bringing in lemons.
Before COVID we would have morning teas but, because we meet on council property, we have to abide by their COVID restrictions. We still occasionally go on day trips where we visit gardens in the area on mystery tours, or go somewhere outside of Murray Bridge. In November we will be visiting historical gardens in Belair and Blackwood.
What do you get out of your involvement?
I don’t think I’ve ever been on a committee where everyone is in harmony. Its the friendship, the camaraderie and the harmony. You should hear us all on the bus, we sound like school children. We’re so loud, the noise when we all catch up is horrendous. No one is just there to benefit themselves, and there’s never one person trying to take over. We’re all friends, and I’d say that’s also our club’s greatest achievement.
What is your fondest memory of your time with the club?
We like to give back to the community, and get involved with the community. For Mothers Day, we make posies for the Resthaven carers to hand out to the residents. Everyone brings in flowers and then we bunch them up and decorate them with greenery, cellophane and ribbon.
In the school holidays, we organise activities at the library with Tim for the kids. We bring all the soil and plants, and when they’re finished they can take their creation to the another table to decorate it. The kids have a ball. Recently we did terariums with fruit punnets. Another time we told the children to bring an old boot, and one of the grandmothers had a fright when she saw her boot filled with soil. Next time we’d make sure to say: bring an old boot.
I have also really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with Ken on a committee. He’s very understanding and patient, and I like that we can bounce ideas off each other.
Why should people join?
It’s a good way to meet people in the area, like I did. I know people are sometimes reluctant to come by themselves but when someone’s new, we seat them next to someone in the group a long time, to help them become familiar with the club. You don’t have to pay for the annual membership fee straight away, you can just come along for a meeting to start with.
As Sophie Thompson says, gardening is good for your health. You have to bend, stretch, lift weights, and you do all that without even realising that you’re doing it. It’s a wellbeing thing.
- More information: 0438 447 278.
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