Welcome to the Garden Club of Dundas
Dundas, known as The Valley Town, is a distinct community within the city of Hamilton. It was incorporated as a town in 1847 and currently has a population of just over 24,000 people. Dundas has a thriving arts community and vibrant downtown. The 19th century architecture, driving park and surrounding escarpment make Dundas a popular location for filming movies and TV shows.
The Garden Club of Dundas was founded in 1956 with the objective “to stimulate knowledge, interest and love of gardening among amateurs and to encourage civic beautification.” Over the years, the club’s mandate has expanded to include protection of the environment, encouraging club members to develop expertise in the floral arts, and doing work in the community at local seniors’ homes and events. The latter includes providing floral centrepieces for an annual fund-raising dinner for the Routes Youth Centre, which is a drop-in and counselling programme for marginalized youth/youth at risk in the community of Dundas and surrounding area. We also hold hands-on flower arranging workshops for the residents of retirement homes.
A Comment On Gardening As We Age
The millennium was approaching and I decided that this was the year to change my front garden from blah grass to sensational. The fact that I have black walnuts in my back garden meant that my planting back there was limited. I also like to leave a lot of grassy space for kids and adults to come and play without fear of wrecking plants, so my front garden was to be my beautiful space. I had called Sherry Hayes to help me and she did a wonderful design and acted as overseer for a gorgeous cottage garden with dry-stone creek and paths. For ten years or so I and my neigbours enjoyed the space, but as time passed, the plants grew and overgrew and spread so that I had to work harder and harder. I loved the work but at the same time my body decided to betray me and let me know that it was time for change. Once again, I called Sherry and explained the situation. She came through splendidly with a design that incorporated grass, rocks and stones. I am perfectly willing and able to mow, just not bend. I spent hours rescuing stones from the dry-stone creek and washing them all, and also the rocks and the little sea; we were determined to reuse everything we could. Then we called in the workers who brought the design to life. It looked very zen, clean and virtually work free. One thing remained - colour. Sherry marked out where containers should go so off I went, shopping for pots and plants. I bought tall, black, square pots plus one short one. The result was simple, elegant, somewhat zen and quite lovely. Most of all, I do not have to bend or dig, I can just put pre-planted pots in the containers or plant them up myself. The main thing is that my back is not compromised. When I first put in the Cottage Garden I couldn't imagine ever having anything else in the space. However, time marches by and our bodies change and demand compromises. Now I have a completely new look. The only effort is mowing, which I enjoy (consider it exercise), and deciding which plants to use to show off each season. I spend my time outside admiring the results and enjoying the complete lack of pain. If there is a lesson to be learned from all this, it is that we shouldn't be afraid of change. As the old adage says, 'when life serves up lemons, make lemonade'. We have the garden we can manage and thereby enjoy for as long as we can and then we change to a different garden we can still enjoy. So, good luck to all of you who are in the same place that I was two or three years ago. Change, even forced change, can be good and beautiful. Margaret Tedder Printed in the Dundas Star on June 11, 2015 The Garden Club of Dundas photo slide show of past events
The September meeting of the club was held at St. Joseph's Villa. Here are some photos.
Some of the demonstrations and tours we have enjoyed over the past few years...
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 Club Programme
Photos from our AGM on May 21, 2015 at the Dundas Gold Club
Club Presidents since 2011
Mary Johnston Sept 2015 - present Barbara Miller May 2015 to Sept 2015 ( resigned) Jeannette Gilkes May 2014 to May 2015 Ann Parker May 2012 to May 2014  A Tropical Flower arrangement  A Tropical Flower arrangment  Elaine with Prettiest Hat winner  Elaine with Funniest Hat winner  The delicious buffet lunch |
