How you can take part
Coton Manor, a classic, English country garden won in the Midlands region and, with the most votes, also became our overall winner. This year, we need you to nominate your favourite National Garden Scheme gardens again, and you can nominate any garden you enjoy or admire. Maybe it’s a hospice garden – there are 21 opening for the Scheme this year, including Horatio’s Gardens at Oswestry, Stoke Mandeville and Stanmore (brand new and designed by Tom Stuart-Smith) as well as the gardens at Maggie’s centres. Or it could be an inspirational small garden full of ideas like 152a Victoria Rise in London, which is a new garden to the Scheme this year, opening on 4 July. Perhaps it’s a grand and stately garden that offers pure escapism, like Sudeley Castle & Gardens in Gloucestershire, which is opening for the Scheme on 6 July. Or a garden that’s been created with wildlife in mind, such as Ready Token House in Gloucestershire, opening its wildlife-friendly formal garden on 28 June. There are allotments, kitchen gardens, family and dog-friendly gardens, gardens by members of the Society of Garden Designers, cottage gardens and town or urban plots. There are 627 that are new to the Scheme this year, not to mention the thousands of loyal gardens that have opened regularly for many years. Whichever style you prefer and whichever you visit, don’t forget you have until 13 July to nominate your favourites and from these nominations we’ll draw up a shortlist for you to vote for your winner. n
IMAGES NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME
Above The garden at 152a Victoria Rise has been created from scratch in just five years. Opposite The gardens at Sudeley Castle, basking in spring sunshine.
F
irst, we need you to nominate your favourite National Garden Scheme garden to visit. It can be any one of the gardens opening for the Scheme this year and you can be its owner, or simply an admiring visitor. Next, a panel of judges will review all the nominations and select a shortlist of gardens for each of the six National Garden Scheme regions: Wales and the Marches; North; Midlands; East; South East; and South West. You will then be asked to vote on
the shortlist to produce the winners – one for each region and one overall ‘champion’, as well as one overall winner from those gardens that are usually open to the public, but agree to donate their takings from a particular day to the National Garden Scheme. Every garden that opens for the National Garden Scheme can be found online at ngs.org.uk and they are all listed by county in The Garden Visitor’s Handbook 2021, also known as ‘the yellow book’. Order a copy online at ngs.org.uk/shop
HOW TO NOMINATE AND VOTE l From now until 13 July, nominate your favourite National Garden Scheme garden at theenglishgarden.co.uk/ngs l A panel of judges will choose a shortlist of gardens for each of the six National Garden Scheme regions. l From 1 August to 30 September, the public will be asked to vote for their favourite shortlisted gardens to produce the winners – one for each region and one overall winner. l
The winning gardens will be revealed in late autumn 2021.
JUNE 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 127
