The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
GARDENS TO VISIT
Gardens are now opening in England in support of the National Garden Scheme. Currently, no gardens are opening in Wales. Visitors must book tickets in advance at ngs.org.uk, unless it states otherwise for a particular garden, so check individual entries.
OASIS COMMUNITY GARDENS,
2a Longfellow Drive, Kilton Estate, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S81 0DE
This weekend in Nottinghamshire you can experience the diverse variety of gardens that open in support of the NGS. Today, in urban Worksop, the Oasis Community Gardens reveal what has been achieved by members of a local community. An abandoned field has been transformed into an awardwinning garden with a host of garden enterprises, as well as an impressive array of planters, veg gardens and an orchard. Mouthwatering produce will be for sale and you can find out about the courses that happen throughout the year. Tomorrow, just off the M1 at nearby Mansfield, one of the county’s best gardens will open at Felley Priory (NG16 5FJ). Here you will find a country garden created with love and skill. Oasis Community Gardens open today 10am-6pm, £4, children free. most renowned gardens in the country, such as Hidcote and Kiftsgate. Less well known, and so a wonderful discovery, is Upton Wold, where an outstanding garden has been crafted over four decades in a setting of sensational Cotswold landscape. The distinguished landscape partnership of Brenda Colvin and Hal Moggridge have both made contributions, but the garden is primarily the work of its tireless owners, Ian and Caroline Bond. The terrain has been moulded and sculpted with great skill; there are new hedged enclosures revealing formal water or an array of seasonal planting highlights, including many rare trees and shrubs. At this time of year, with the garden bursting into spring, there is endless variety to enjoy among the flowering trees and shrubs and emerging border plants. Open tomorrow 10am-5pm, £12, children free.
Whalton, nr Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 3UT
People are surprised to find a garden with work by the illustrious Edwardian architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in Northumberland, but his daughter married into the Ridley family at Blagdon and therein lies the connection. The elegant three-acre walled gardens at Whalton Manor have many trademark Lutyens features, including typically elegant buildings, and his gardening partner, Gertrude Jekyll, advised on some original planting. Generations of the Norton family have nurtured the garden and there is a succession of seasonal delights to enjoy. At this time of year, spring bulbs are in abundance and flowering shrubs come to the fore.
Open tomorrow, 11am-3pm,
£5, children free.
To book tickets and for details of all gardens open in the coming weeks, go to ngs.org.uk