BRITAIN’S BELOVED National Gardens Scheme has announced 633 new gardens to visit this year. Even the smallest ones are gorgeous and packed with ideas to use at home.
The Scheme offers us the opportunity to visit private gardens great and small. The smallest ones are fascinating – a masterclass in how fabulous planting and good design can create an inspirational haven in even the tiniest space.
Whereas in previous years sunny days and press promotion has often left these small gardens swamped with visitors and short of cake, lockdown meant many of them were unable to open as they were simply too small. Even so, the Scheme managed to £3million for health charities last year in spite of the pandemic. This year, hopefully things will be different!
It really is a scheme close to my heart.
There are 3,586 gardens open in 2022, of which 633 are new. Among all the enormous ones are a few smaller gems – these are my particular favourites as they’re so inspiring for anyone with a smaller space like mine.
• 28 Worcester Road, Walthamstow, London: A typical terraced back garden transformed into a lush tropical oasis of foliage with a small stream and pond. Small and large leaves mix with floral accents and varying leaf textures from ferns, colocasia and bananas supported by a framework of larger established trees, jasmine, and tree ferns. A small gravel path leads you to a small seating area to reflect or sit on the patio and enjoy.
• Pest Cottage, Midhurst, West Sussex: Designed to support wildlife and biodiversity, a series of outdoor living spaces are connected with informal paths through lightly managed areas, creating a charming secret world tucked into the surrounding common land. The garden spaces have made a very small house (not open) into a hospitable family home.
• 15 Waite Davies Road, Lee, Greater London: Hidden behind a Victorian terrace is a tiny yet immaculately presented English garden. A huge Malvern Hills rambling rose gently billows over a willow-coloured shed, foxgloves spring up beneath a young crab apple and tightly clipped box hedging frames the scene.
• 8 Claremont Road, Bucks: Paintings, prints and pots to see and buy in this small town garden owned by an artist gardener. The unusual house was built in 2015. Gravel paths divide the rectangular beds filled with herbaceous perennials, grasses and ferns. A cow trough water feature and owner’s ceramics add surprise.
EMMA BRIDGEWATER SNOWDROP MUG
Emma Bridgewater is supporting the NGS Snowdrop Festival this February with a special promotion on her newly launched ‘Snowdrops In The Woods’ range. For every Snowdrops half pint mug sold in January and February, the company will donate £5 to the National Garden Scheme. For more info see www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/products/snowdrops-in-the-woods-1-2-pint-mug/
