Garden Open Days

I’ve often been told that I must be completely mad to open my garden to the public. Surely, they say, won’t people will be critical of all those weeds? And aren’t you just inviting burglars to come and case the joint for the price of a fiver? If anyone has come to case the joint, they have either decided that we’ve nothing to steal or that someone has beaten them to it. As for the weeds, that is actually the main reason that I do open the garden, four times a year. The days we open are the only days when the garden looks even remotely respectable and decently free of weeds. In any case people don’t come to criticise. They are invariably kind and not an Open Day goes by without someone saying ‘This is the best garden I’ve seen in my entire life’ or ‘This garden is miles better than Highgrove, or Gresgarth Hall’. Of course I know they are exaggerating, but by the end of the day you are positively beaming from all the compliments you get.

But the main reason I open my garden to the public is that it gives me the chance to renew gardening acquaintances and to meet new enthusiasts, who invariably have information to impart and knowledge to share. I learn something new and gain something valuable every time. This Sunday I hit the jackpot when the irrepressible Youtuber Alex Fowkes (otherwise known as ‘Alex the Cameraman’) came round and put his camera and drone to good use. By the end of the day he had put together an utterly charming short video, recording the day’s events, which he has given me permission to share (see above).

Ps. There is another reason to support the National Gardens Scheme by opening your garden to the public. On Sunday we raised £2,281 for the NGS good causes (mainly cancer charities), which brings our running total over the years to more then £135k.