A very warm welcome to the web site of Reading Gardeners.

Our association was founded in 1888 and the full title is “Reading and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Association”. This indicates its original purpose, which was to benefit the many professional gardeners in Reading and the surrounding district. Today the membership is drawn principally from amateurs who range from the highly skilled and knowledgeable to the enthusiastic beginner, although we are fortunate to include members who are professional gardeners, academics from the University of Reading and botanical artists. There are currently about 125 members.

We have two principal activities.

During the Winter, we have Meetings, which take the form of a series of lectures held on alternate Thursday evenings. They are a mix of physical meetings held at Caversham Heights Methodist Church, 74 Highmoor Road, Caversham, RG4 7BG and Zoom meetings.

Meetings start at 7.45 pm with refreshments served prior to the meeting at the physical meeting.

Secondly we have Visits to gardens and nurseries, which are held principally in summer months. Two plant sales are held each year and a newsletter is issued three times per annum.

We offer voluntary horticultural help to local charitable organisations,  we do not undertake commercial or voluntary gardening work for commercial organisations or private individuals.

Reading Gardeners is a Registered Charity (no. 1034695). Our stated objective is “The Promotion and Advancement of the Science and Practice of Horticulture”. The Association is affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society. We also financially support ‘Perennial’ (the former “Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society”). Please click as appropriate, if you wish to ‘Contact Us’ or to enquire about ‘Membership’.