Winning garden visits
I've had a busy couple of days helping to launch the 2009 Yellow Book for the National Garden Scheme (NGS). I do hope you've all heard of it, but it sometimes worries me how many haven't.
It may still be one of Britain's best kept secrets so help me spread the word. This is how it works: people open their private gardens to the public who pay a small amount of money to look around. After snooping around, getting ideas and talking to like-minded folk, the visitors then buy a cup of tea and slice of cake (this is very important and some say the best bit!My favourite's lemon drizzle). There may be some plants on sale too and most of the proceeds raised (at least 80p in the pound) go to charity.
I see it as a win, win, win situation. The garden owner gets some satisfaction by letting others in to experience their garden (not in a show off way, but in an unselfish 'I-don't-just-do-all-this-work-just-for-myself-and-it'd-be-nice-for-others-to-see-it' kind of way). The visitors have a good morning or afternoon out for a few quid (extremely good value and hopefully it's recession proof), and ultimately everyone's doing the right thing by raising money for charity. Win, Win, Win! Brilliant.
There are gardens of all types and sizes, urban, suburban and rural totalling 3,600 with 600 new ones this year, and I'm pleased to say there are more and more community gardens and allotments too. Over the year all those £2 and £3 really add up - in fact in the last 10 years over £2.5 million has been raised. You can find out more on thehttp://www.ngs.org.uk website and start planning your gardening year nice and early.
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Well said Joe - I was lucky enough to be at the press launch the other day, and seeing you present two cheques for £500,000 to Macmillan and Marie-Curie was a good reminder of what it's all about.
As well as writing about the NGS from time to time (hence why I was at the launch) I've got a vested interest this year as I'm opening my garden for the first time. It's a bit daunting but everyone tells me it's good fun and the visitors make it all worthwhile.
I've only been gardening for four years and can honestly say I've learned what I know from (a) watching Gardener's World, (b) reading the GW magazine and (c) visiting other people's gardens through the Yellow Book. It's a real privilege to now find myself in there alongside some of the country's top gardeners!
Blatant plug coming up - I'm opening on Saturday 11th July in Brighton - full details on www.roundhillgardens.co.uk. We'll be doing tea & cake so if you're near the South Coast in the Summer, Joe, we'll make sure we keep a piece of Lemon Drizzle for you!
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