gardening
garden visitors
Andrew Fisher Tomlin says support your local open gardens and get great ideas too!
Work in the garden has started apace. I can’t remember having to water the plants so early before and was even out there watering my Hostas in March. Keeping the garden blooming and thriving when conditions are like this is no mean feat so spare a thought for all the owners of gardens who open them for us to
visit over the coming months. I’ve exhibited gardens at Chelsea and around the world but the thought of laying bare my own garden soul to anyone who wants to turn up is a step too far. So I really admire those who take the plunge and open their gardens to inspection through the National Gardens Scheme (NGS).
This year there will be as many as 3,700 gardens opening for the NGS in England and Wales. Most are privately owned and will be open just a few times each year when the gardens are in their prime. This means that over the year you can almost always find a weekend when there’s a garden open. I’ve already visited a few this spring that specialised in Rhododendrons and Camellias but May is when the season really kicks off and by June you can organise a whole weekend in London and into Surrey and Sussex, touring anything from small urban gardens to large country estates. Of course, the great thing is that these gardens are enthusiastically managed and developed by their owners to
show their best side to the public. This often means it’s a great place to see some of the more unusual varieties of plants on offer because, almost without exception, the owners are great plant hunters! For me it’s the trees that turn up where you least expect them. Persian ironwoods, Mulberries and rare forms of Sophora are all trees that I have come across in the unlikeliest places.
Unfortunately, I also start getting the plant hunting bug when I see all these great specimens and I haven’t got the room. But you can take home lots of really good ideas for designing your own garden, not just plants but ideas for pots, garden buildings and structuring your garden to get the best from it - and all for a very low price. Yes, you do get charged for the privilege, but so far I’ve never paid more than £3.50. In return, you get a great glimpse of other people’s gardens and your money goes to a great cause such as paying for Macmillan Cancer Support nurses, helping hospices and supporting two great garden charities: The Royal Fund for Gardeners’ Children and Perennial.
There is a local dimension as well and I’ve often seen local charities supported alongside the NGS national charities. Opening a garden also becomes quite a community event because you need lots of people to help out, manning the gate, guiding the visitors and making the afternoon teas. Ah, the cake! I would be lying if that wasn’t one of my main motives to visit these gardens. There are many other reasons such as getting inspiration (aka stealing ideas), supporting a local cause or buying some plants lovingly grown by the owner. But a prime reason has to be that you will come across some of the best afternoon teas there are to be had. A slice of coffee cake and a cuppa while you enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labour in the sun - what could be better?
Andrew Fisher Tomlin designs and constructs gardens:
www.fishertomlin.com For more details of gardens open through the National Gardens Scheme buy a copy of The Yellow Book 2011 from all good bookshops or visit
www.timeandleisure.co.uk for a selection of local garden openings.
timeandleisure.co.uk . june 2011 . 27
TOP JOBS FOR JUNE
For jobs to do in the garden this month visit
www.timeandleisure
.co.uk/garden
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