Around 40 members of the club, which boasts a total membership of over 90, attended the lunch, which was provided by the committee.

Secretary of the club, Jane Moore, says the membership remains high because people like gardens and gardening. “A lot of us are retirees,” she said, “and when new people move into town, joining a club is a good way of meeting people.”

The club holds a monthly event on the second Thursday of the month, sometimes a trip to view local gardens and other times a guest speaker. Last month the guest speaker was an expert in preserves and preserving. 

This year, former President of the club, Sue Murray, stepped down and John Tuckwell was elected as the new President. Sue will remain on the committee as Vice President.

The incoming President said that he is really looking forward to this new role and would like to encourage more to share in the joys of garden remarking that, “I truly believe that gardening improves your wellbeing and happiness. 

“Looking forward, the main short-term challenge is of course the drought and keeping our gardens going, let alone persuading people to open their gardens for the club to come and visit.  The drought will break sometime, and in the meantime I think it is best for gardeners to focus on their specimen plants and where possible not to forget to make use of any waste water on their plants.”

Some background information provided by the club’s unofficial archivist, Margaret Royds, an original founding member of the club, shows that the Braidwood Garden Club was established in 1980, with its constitution adopted in 1981 stating that the aims of the club were “to encourage friendship through gardening, increase knowledge of gardening in all aspects, protect the environment and encourage civic beauty and roadside development.”

While the ongoing dry weather may be hindering people’s efforts in the garden, the club has some interesting diversions planned while they wait for the rain.

Mr Tuckwell said “I am excited about the events the club will be holding for the remainder of 2018. Visits to local gardens are always well attended as we like to see how others deal with our local climate, and we have planned a visit to two gardens at Charleys Forest on 13 September and then three gardens on Nerriga Rd on 8 November.  We have a bus trip planned to visit three gardens in Bundanoon and Robertson on 9 November and our ever-popular Christmas lunch on 13 December which includes games and quizzes as well as a delicious lunch.”