What’s better on a dreary winter’s day than looking forward to summer in the garden. Pictures from Alison Agnew’s ‘open gardens’ banishes those winter blues as she takes a good look at what’s involved should you want to give it a go.
Opening your garden for charity
Looking out at my garden at this time of year, it seems highly improbable that anyone would pay real money to visit it but – surprisingly – they do.
It is a good time though to consider whether you can use your garden to raise much needed funds for a charity that you support. Thinking about it now will give you time to contact the charity, improve the garden to comply with their requirements and check on when your garden peaks to optimise your opening.
Charities that have open garden schemes
The National Garden Scheme: This is the big one – the boast of having a
‘Yellow Book’ garden is an incentive to open in the cut-throat world of competitive gardening! Its caché is maintained by the requirement to be selected for the honour and to have at least 45 minutes of engagement. Most other charities are just grateful to anyone who has a nice garden and will serve teas.
Other charities are less prescriptive:
Local Community Events
Small gardens can open as a group and I’ve often found these to be the most interesting – often quirky, very individual gardens. The best way to find ‘real’ hands-on gardeners to talk to.
There are some technical issues to resolve before you offer to open:
Parking: Depending on how many visitors you expect you’ll need parking to cope with two peak periods – usually when you first open in the morning because the early bird catches the best plants and then early afternoon for the cream tea brigade.
Safety: You do need to be covered by Public Liability Insurance – which should be provided by your charity. Even so, it’s not a good idea to kill off your visitors. Slippery steps, sudden drops, branches that could poke you in the eye should be considered. Having said that, one charity (which shall remain nameless) asked us to label every toxic and spiky plant in the garden. Imagine every foxglove and rose with a hazard warning around its neck! I filled in the form with the remark that I didn’t really expect visitors to munch my plants.
Access: Consider how accessible your garden is for different disabilities – so that you can publish the level of access for e.g. wheelchairs. Toilet facilities can be tricky.
Staffing: You will need volunteers to control the gate, man the cafe and plant stand, leaving you free to answer questions and swan about looking pleased with yourself.
Duration of opening: Lots of gardens only open for about three hours. We always open for at least six. Having done all the preparation work, it seems ridiculous to limit the opening time so tightly. It is a tiring day but the point is to get as many punters through the gate as possible and the longer they are with you the more cake they will eat.
Advertising: Again, you’ve put in the work to make your garden as perfect as you can – so put in some effort with the advertising. The charity will publish a leaflet of open gardens and will make posters for you. Make sure your posters are clear – can be read from passing cars and that they are correct (we have had some printed with the wrong date). Make sure you put them up in prominent places, roadside, farm shops, supermarket and community notice boards, garden centres. Only put them up the week before and take them down promptly afterwards or people get annoyed.
Dogs: We’ve never had a problem with visiting dogs beyond the odd yellow patch on a lawn. Our own dog is not territorial and welcomes all.
If you consider your reasons for visiting gardens then you can fulfil their needs:
In no particular order:
Simple nosiness – you’ve often wondered what its like inside those gates, down that drive, at the back of those cute cottages – now’s your chance for a nose.
Cake – there’s a good chance that you can eat great home-made cakes that you haven’t had to bake yourselves. Also, you can park your reluctant partner and children with ample tea and cake leaving you, the keen gardener to enjoy the visit.
Cheap and interesting plants – someone else has found and grown those plants that you haven’t had time to search out for yourself. You can also see them growing in real life – not pot-perfect in a garden centre and they are usually cheaper too.
Criticising other peoples taste: How could you plant that – and next to that! We all have different tastes so this is an easy one to satisfy.
Comparing your garden with theirs – does this make you smug or despair? Everyone will do one thing or another better than you – but make sure there is at least one serious failing somewhere in the garden – black spot on roses, tomato blight or an untidy greenhouse will do. And point it out – it will make your visitors happy.
Inspiration – hopefully you will find some.
Compensation – even if the visit is disappointing you can feel pleased to have supported a worthy charity.
Seriously, we love doing open garden events. It is really rewarding, the appreciation from other gardeners is payback for the hours of weeding and mowing and it is a way of making a contribution both to a charity and the community in which we live. Give it a go.
