Open Gardens

From our Resident Expert, Nell Williams

July already, summer holidays starting soon, and the debate of do I go away and hope the plants don’t die of thirst, or beg a neighbour to do the honours, and hope for the best. Can I really ask someone to negotiate trays and pots of plants jam-packed into every available space? The outcome tends to be me deciding I’m really far too busy to go away just now, perhaps in a couple of weeks time …only there never really is a quiet time if you’re a gardener!

July is a busy time for picking (and preserving) soft fruit for me. On my plot I have strawberries, gooseberries (both red and green), black, white and red currants, blackberries, raspberries, a tayberry, a loganberry, a jostaberry and a Japanese wineberry (this recently planted in May). I also have gooseberries and raspberries at home, and can honestly say I am self sufficient in gooseberries!! The first potatoes should be ready for lifting, and garlic ready for harvest. I like this time of year best when you can start to collect in the fruits of your labours. One of my favourite jobs is pinching out and tying in the tomatoes. I love the smell from the tomato plants, and it reminds me of working both in Spain for an environmental organisation, and in an old walled kitchen garden in Essex. Both places where I had to grow, tie up and pinch out the sideshoots from vast numbers of tomatoes!

Late sowings of salad crops - lettuce, spinach, land-cress and oriental greens - can be made at the end of this month, as they should be less likely to bolt than sowings earlier in the month. My aim this year was to be self sufficient in salad, but so far I’m failing. The erratic hot and then cold periods we have suffered from have resulted in many seeds failing to germinate, and what has come up has struggled. My latest plan is a deep tray in the greenhouse, which would offer protection from the colder weather – only currently it’s too hot to test it out! Ho hum I’ll just have to shelve that plan for now and get out and enjoy the summer.

In this issue I am diverting slightly from community groups and allotments, and going to look at ‘open gardens’. Visiting private gardens, be it through an organisation such as the National Garden Scheme or Garden Organic (HDRA), or a village or community event, can help encourage everyone to get out there and get motivated.

Many people will have heard of the Yellow Book, that bible of the National Gardens Scheme, listing various gardens, throughout England and Wales, which are open during each year. Some of these are public such as National Trust properties, but the majority are privately owned. Set up in 1927, the NGS was founded to raise money for nurses through the opening of 600 gardens to the public. Nowadays around 3,500 gardens open, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Relief, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Help the Hospices and others. Last year £1.75 million was donated.

To qualify for entry into the Yellow Book, the garden is inspected, and required to provide at least 45 minutes of interest to visitors – or open with other gardens nearby. It must be well maintained, but the style is down to the individual owner.

Garden Organic run a similar scheme, encouraging organic gardeners to open their gardens throughout set weekends in the summer months, but without the time requirements or inspection.

My point? Last year I opened for Garden Organic, this year under the NGS. Both enjoyable but the main objective – to show that organic gardening can be done, that wildlife friendly, environmentally sound, sustainable gardening can be a joy, and create somewhere beautiful. Our back gardens cover a vast area of the UK, often incredibly important oasis in urban areas for wildlife. The more people who garden organically – and are vocal about it – the better for all of us!

Interested in finding out more about opening your garden? Contact for the NGS for Devon gardens – Miranda Alhusen 01647 440296, for Cornish gardens – William Croggon 01872 530372. For Garden Organic 024 7630 3517, or write to Garden Organic, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG