Two Wilmslow gardens are participating in the National Gardens Scheme this weekend, which raises money for Marie Curie, Macmillan, Help the Hospices, Crossroads and many other gardening and nursing charities.
Plant lovers Caroline and David Melliar Smith will be opening their garden at 68 South Oak Lane, Wilmslow - which they have been opening the National Gardens Scheme since 2004. With year-round colour, scent and interest, this attractive, narrow, hedged cottage garden dates from the 1890s and has evolved over the years into five natural 'rooms'.
Visitors often assume that they must spend every minute in the garden. However, Caroline is a professional actress and also a public speaker and is often busy rehearsing. David is a fully fledged Miller at Nether Alderley Mill and is also on the committee for the Cheshire Hardy Plant Society to which he & Caroline belong.
Together with family commitments and five grandchildren, the garden sometimes has to be moved down the agenda, but like a dear friend, is never neglected. Caroline & David use their tranquil, long, secluded Cottage garden, as a stress buster. Working in it provides so much pleasure, well-needed therapy and sometimes a temporary escape. It is also constantly changing, as spaces are rearranged and plants grow. So even if you have visited in previous years, you'll always find something new and interesting.
Melanie and Barry Davy will also be opening their garden at Brooke Cottage, Church Road, Handforth.
They moved to Brooke Cottage in 1995 when Barry was a science teacher, and later Head of Dept., at a school in north Manchester. Melanie was, and still is, an Office Manager for an IT company in Stockport.
At the time, the garden of Brooke Cottage was a blank canvas, overgrown with too many trees and large shrubs. "My gardening skills were very rudimentary," says Barry, "but as we worked on getting the garden into some sort of shape I discovered a great enthusiasm for gardening."
As his knowledge grew, Barry found that he was being asked by more and more people for advice and help in their gardens until he realised there was the opportunity for a career change. He went on to study (and pass!) RHS and City & Guilds qualifications in horticulture and garden design. His degree in Biology also came in useful. In 2006 he left teaching to start his own gardening and design business.
They opened for the NGS that same year for the first time and this year will be their 9th opening. Barry uses the garden both as a showroom so that visitors can see what is possible in their own gardens and as a place to experiment with new plants and combinations,
The garden is continually changing and evolving, initially by trial and error but now mainly by design. Barry does the bulk of the gardening at Brooke Cottage but Melanie is responsible for the lawns, feeding potted plants and anything else she cares to get involved with.
At least one area is redeveloped each year so that returning visitors have something new to see. "I am always pleased and surprised to discover that we have so many visitors" commented Barry. "We must be doing something right!"
Graham Beech "I'm delighted that two local gardens in the National Gardens Scheme, Brooke Cottage in Handforth and the garden at 68 South Oak Lane in Wilmslow, will be open to the public again this year" says Graham Beech, NGS local publicity officer. "I intend to visit both and to enjoy afternoon tea, as usual, at Brooke Cottage."
Visitors to NGS gardens enjoy the added benefit of contributing to wonderful causes, as approximately 80p in every pound raised at the garden gate goes to nursing and caring charities, which include Macmillan Cancer Support and Carers Trust.
68 South Oak Lane, is open Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July (11-4.30). Admission - Adult: £3.50, Children: Free.
Brook Cottage, Church Road, Handforth is open Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July (12-5pm) Admission - Adult: £3.50, Children: Free. Visitors are also welcome by arrangement May to August.
Photos: Brooke Cottage, David and Caroline Melliar Smith.
