Stunning gardens will open to visitors for charity
Four gardens are open this month as part of the National Garden Scheme and they will delight visitors with their diverse and varied planting.
In Welshpool visitors can take a stroll round the 4½ acre woodland garden surrounding a peaceful lake at the Dingle. The gardens are planted with rhododendrons and azaleas and there is plenty of fresh new foliage on the established trees and shrubs.
One not to be missed is at 1 Church Bank. This garden created by Mel and Heather Parkes has been opening for the National Garden Scheme for 10 years and something new is added every year.
The garden featured on a Welsh-language TV programme when Mel promised a waterfall for 2019. The Dingle Garden is open from 9am to 5pm on May 11-12 and can be found at two miles north-west of Welshpool. Admission is £3.50, children free and 1 Church Bank, is in the centre of Welshpool and is open from midday until 5pm each day. Admission is £3.50, children free.
Gorsty House and Llanerch Lodge are open together from 1.30 until 5.30 pm on both the Saturday and Sunday with a combined admission of £6, children free.
Follow the signs to Hyssington from either the A488 from Bishop’s Castle or the A489 from Churchstoke and park at the village hall; Gorsty House is a short walk and there is a shuttle to Llanerch Lodge. Both gardens offer abundant cottage garden planting and wonderful views. The garden at Gorsty House is haven for wildlife with a ‘secret garden’ planted for pollinators whereas at Llanerch Lodge is a smallholding keeping Ryeland sheep and chickens and has a newly planted nuttery and fruit trees.
The National Garden Scheme is leading the way in championing the link between gardens and health as illustrated by its donations of £180,000 to the charity Horatio’s Garden who build beautiful, accessible gardens in NHS spinal injury centres across the UK.
This year, the mental health charity Mind was named as the new guest charity receiving a kick off donation of £100,000.
George Plumptre, chief executive of the National Garden Scheme, said: “Visiting a National Garden Scheme garden is probably not the first thing people think of when they’re looking to de-stress. But spending an hour or two wandering around a truly beautiful garden that has been lovingly cultivated by its owners, and enjoying a slice of homemade cake and a cup of tea, is incredibly restorative and rivals any other act of self-care that is commonly promoted.”
