Gorgeous garden with own pub opens for charity this week

Award-winning Shropshire horticulturist Tom Pountney is preparing to throw open his garden gates for charity.

Tom, who studied horticulture, now works as manager of Love Plants at Shrewsbury's Salop Leisure.

His stunning garden at Offcot in Kynaston, near Oswestry, will open up to visitors on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week as part of the National Garden Scheme.

The programme gives visitors across the country unique access to more than 500 private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Since its launch in the early 1900s, more than £70 million has been donated to nursing and mental health charities thanks to the scheme - with a record £3.4m donated in 2023.

Tom has been working on the garden since 2016 and has been opening up for charity for around four years.

His traditional cottage garden of about an acre is packed full of trees and shrubs and is explored through a series of windy paths with secret areas.

"It's a proper country gem," said Tom, who spends many hours every week tending to his garden.

"It's constant. As soon as I finish work, I'm out here, there's a lot of dead-heading.

"Unfortunately if you want a garden looking like this, it's high maintenance. Very high maintenance. I love it. Any spare time I'm out here."

The most surprising part of Tom's secret garden is his very own pub shed - complete with fruit machine.

Admission is between 10am and 4pm and costs £7.

Tom's garden will also be opening on Sunday, July 28 from 10am to 5pm to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support’s Shrewsbury Fundraising Group.