Leisure, Entertainment & MotoringEventsGet out and about this spring with The National Gardens Scheme Get out and about this spring with The National Gardens Scheme
15/04/2008
Treat yourself to a truly blooming Spring Bank Holiday this year and visit one of the 200 gardens throwing open their gates to the public with The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) from 24th to 26th May. If you are a garden lover, then the spectacular displays of flowers will not only make a memorable day out - but you'll also be contributing to a good causes. All the money raised goes to cancer, caring and gardening charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Crossroad (Caring for Carers).
Most of the gardens in the NGS are privately owned, and some are opening as part of a group which gets the whole community involved. In the pretty Warwickshire village of Pebworth, seven gardens will be opening with home made teas available in the village hall. These varied gardens - three of which are opening for the first time - range from a small cottage garden (so small it is almost part of the living room!) to a nursery which holds the National Collection of Pelargoniums and Hederas.
A group of four very different gardens all with spectacular views are opening as part of the Tewkesbury Lodge Garden Group in South East London. Theres a sculptors mature courtyard and roof garden, crammed full of unusual plants and sculptures; a dry garden inspired by Beth Chatto; a garden designers sloping creation with winding paths and unusual plant combinations and a front and back garden with the emphasis on colour harmony.
There is plenty for children and grandchildren to do too. An annual favourite is Kempsford Manor in Gloucestershire, with outdoor games for children and jazz for the adults. Meanwhile in Cumbria the mountainous grounds of Copt Howe house a wildlife sanctuary with red squirrels, badgers, slow-worms and a hotel for birds, with stunning views across Langdale Pikes and a collection of plants from around the world.
In Worcestershire, the three-acre Whitlenge Gardens, which include over 800 varieties of trees and shrubs, will enchant children and adults alike with waterfalls and pools, the shrubbery sculpted Green Man and the Sword in the Stone, cave fernery and labyrinth. The Old Croft in Surrey is a five-acre paradise garden with a tropical bamboo maze, an amazing topiary buttress hedge, stream, lake, bog gardens, woodland, elevated hide and breathtaking scenery. While at Hallowarren in Cornwall you can enjoy a stunning walk through six acres of bluebell woods, bordering a stream, with ducks, geese and chickens in the neighbouring orchard to keep the children amused.
Another new opener this year is the Kitchen Garden in Suffolk - a must for anyone interested in the Good Life - with their vegetable, fruit, cut flower and herb gardens as well as a resident flock of Buff Orpington hens. Or why not check out the tallest cherry tree and yew tree in the British Isles at the picture postcard perfect Belvoir Castle in Grantham in Lincolnshire?
Other highlights include Old Thatch in Buckinghamshire, a listed thatch cottage, famous home of Enid Blyton and source of many of her stories with a lavender terrace, rose arbour, formal garden, water circle and Dick Turpins stables where tea is served;the Japanese Garden and Bonsai Nursery in Cornwall which has spectacular maples and azaleas, a symbolic teahouse, koi pond, bamboo grove and zen and moss gardens; Cadhay in Devon with its Elizabethan Manor house, ponds, colourful herbaceous borders and water garden; Chippins in Essex, a plantaholics paradise with decorative trees, shrubs and perennials, stream and ponds, densely planted with hostas, tree ferns and some tropical marginals, as well as irises, tree peony and alliums; a long cottage style town garden at Arundel Gardens in north London which features the National Collection of Clematis alpina.
Admission is normally free to children aged 16 years and under, and the average cost per adult is 3, making the garden openings excellent value for money. Full garden opening listings can be found in the NGSs Yellow Book 2008 (available from all good book stores priced at 7.99) or log on to the website below. Admission charges vary, but almost 80% of the money raised goes to charities.