Gardeners’ cuttinGs in somerset
Greenfingers at Orchard Park
Open your garden for the National Gardens Scheme and help caring charities Somerset and Bristol NGS are looking for gardens of interest, quality and character to raise money for charity. Nearly 4,000 gardens open every year in England and Wales to benefit charities including Marie Curie Cancer Care and Macmillan Cancer Support. The NGS welcomes new gardens to broaden their appeal, especially gardens with a good level of plant interest. The size of your garden is not a priority, as many NGS gardens are normal back gardens. If you think you could open your garden and raise funds, why not discuss the possibility with the Somerset County Organiser, Laura Howard, at laura. howard@ngs.org.uk If you live in the Bristol area, contact Bristol County Organiser, Su Mills on 01454 615438 or email susanlmills@gmail.com
Orchard Park will be supporting the Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day on Friday, 17th March by taking part in their 24 hour Plant-athon! Greenfingers is a national charity dedicated to creating magical gardens for children who spend time in hospices around the UK. Over a 24 hour period Orchard Park will be planting a variety of potted arrangements and hanging baskets full of colour which will all be up for sale with 50percent going to Greenfingers. The Plant-athon will start Thursday,16th March at 12pm and run through to 12pm Saint Patrick’s Day, Friday 17th March. There will also be the Easter Egg Hunt at Orchard Park in aid of Greenfingers charity from the 8th-15th April. The Easter Egg Hunt will be £1 per child. Each child will receive a chocolate along with their name entered into a prize draw to win a hamper of Easter treats! All money from this event will go to Greenfingers. www.orchardpark.biz
Seedy Saturday at Toby Buckland Garden Festival Saturday at Toby Buckland’s Garden Festival in Devon next month is to be a seed giveaway bonanza for visitors. The first 1,000 visitors who bring along the attached Country Gardener coupon will be given £10 worth of Thompson & Morgan flower and vegetable seeds FOR FREE. The popular two day Garden Festival, at Powderham Castle, in Kenton near Exeter, is now in its fourth year and has established itself as one of the most popular events in the garden calendar. It takes place on Friday, 28th and Saturday, 29th April. The highlights of this year’s festival include: • Sixty specialist plant nurseries selling rare, unusual and good value perennials, shrubs and trees. • Over 160 stall holders showcasing the widest range of garden machinery, gardening products, artisan crafts, locally produced food and gifts. • Free celebrity garden talks from BBC television and radio gardening personalities including Festival host Toby Buckland, Pippa Greenwood, Adam Frost and Jim Buttress. • Talks from experts on a wide range of garden-related topics in the Castle’s Victorian Kitchen and Toby’s Tea Tent. Tickets for the festival are priced £10 available from tobygardenfest.co.uk and the Plant Centre at Powderham Castle.
‘Seedy Saturday’ Coupon Free tHOMPsOn & MOrGan seeds WOrtH £10 Just take this coupon along to the ‘Seedy Saturday’ desk outside the Tea Tent on the Lower Lawn at Powderham Castle Terms and conditions. The offer is available only to those who have purchased a ticket to Toby Buckland Garden Festival for Saturday. One pack per coupon, photocopies not accepted. The offer is strictly Saturday only and not available for the Friday. Seeds available on a first come first served basis while stocks last.
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Country Gardener
Lady Gass’s gardens opens for the nGs The woodland gardens and grounds of historic Fairfield, the home of Somerset’s Lord Lieutenant Lady Acland Hood Gass, will be open for the National Gardens Scheme on Sunday 2nd April. Fairfield with its 18th century park and woodland garden surrounding the house that dates from the 12th century but largely rebuilt in Elizabethan times, is seven miles north of Williton and one and a half miles from the village of Stogursey on the Stringston Road. From the woodland garden with its carpets of spring flowering bulbs, shrubs and fine trees, there are views of the Quantock Hills and the sea. The many naturalised and unusual bulbs include snowdrops, crocuses, cyclamen, daffodils, fritillarias, wood anemones and bluebells among flowering shrubs and trees. Fairfield will be open from 2pm until 5pm on 2nd April, admission £4, children free, and homemade teas will be available. Fairfield, Stogursey, Bridgwater, Somerset TA5 1PU.