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The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927 to raise money for the nurses of the Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) by opening gardens of quality and interest to the public. This simple but radical idea was to ask individuals to open up their own private gardens for 'a shilling a head'. Valleys Life digs a little deeper.
BLOOMING LOVELY!
At that time, visiting gardens was
already a well established pastime,
and it's still enjoyed today. One such couple who have opened their garden to the public is Mike O'Leary and Bev Price of Blackwood.
How long have you lived at Hillcrest?
We moved here in 1986. At that time only the back garden was ours, consisting of a lawn, a willow tree which is still here, and a goat willow which fell over in 2008 and was cut up for edging material. Apart from that, only a few cherry trees and some conifers were here and the cherry trees died suddenly and were removed.
The garden appeared large enough for us at that time and we began work immediately planting trees and shrubs, including the tulip tree, which today stands at over 10m. In 1992 we designed and constructed our cedar gazebo next to the tulip tree. The tulip tree produces an abundance of unusual flowers most years.
How has the garden developed over the years?
In 1990 our neighbour made available a long narrow strip of scrubland immediately next to our original back garden and we bought it. We planted a hedge to provide protection from wind and after a few years spent removing scrub, improving the soil and building walls, we began planting small trees and perennial plants.
In 1997, we bought a further one acre plot of land from our neighbour and began, once more, the laborious process of conversion from scrubland to a garden environment. Our second tulip tree was planted in what is now the vegetable garden and the develop - ment of the garden started in earnest.
For the garden to reach its present stage of development has taken longer than other similar projects because everything planned, constructed and planted in our garden has been the result of our own personal efforts - apart from the help given by our neighbour, who was a retired stone - mason and very kindly volunteered to help with the construction of the walls.
We feel that because the garden was not designed and constructed piecemeal, we have had the advantage of having more time to consider our designs and to ensure the interlocking garden areas flow into each other as we envisaged. With the help of a range of garden machinery we are just about able to maintain the grassed areas, the hedges and the trees.
What have been your roles in the garden's development?
As the garden creators, we have uncannily complementary garden interests and roles, although we share the same ultimate vision of a peaceful and natural, unpretentious and welcoming garden. Very little design has been placed on paper as we have always been able to form our ideas together and use simple methods to mark these ideas out in the bare earth. There have been mistakes, of course, but overall we feel very happy about the ambience the garden creates and get so much pleasure sharing our garden with our friends and visitors.
When and why did you join the National Gardens Scheme?
We joined the National Gardens Scheme five years ago but for the first year opening was by appointment only. This meant, in reality, that friends were 'roped-in' to support us and give us confidence to open to the public the following year. We had been keen visitors to NGS Open Gardens for many years prior to applying to join the scheme ourselves. NGS gave us ideas and set us a standard to try to attain.
We decided to apply so that we could share the fruits of our garden labours with as many people as possible and, in the process, raise money for charity. The 'vetting' process is not the frightening experience shown on TV! You simply telephone the NGS Area Organiser for an initial chat about the garden and the visit is very friendly and constructive. You certainly do not need to have the perfect garden as they will provide the advice you need to gain entry to the scheme.
How many visitors do you get?
Our Spring Bank Holiday opening this year resulted in 264 visitors, a record for us on one weekend opening.
How much have you raised for charity at Hillcrest?
In 2009 we raised over £4,000 for NGS charities with almost 800 visitors for the season. We are told by the NGS Chairman that this amount is the highest ever raised by a single NGS garden. Not bad for a bungalow in Cefn Fforest! Since we opened in 2004 with the generosity of our supporters we have raised over £17,000.
Have you won any awards?
These are a little thin on the ground! However, we were honoured to receive a Caerphilly CBC special award for horticultural excellence as well as a Mayor's Civic Award in 2007.
What are your favourites plants?
My favourite is the Chilean Firebush, which truly lives up to its name during May, while Bev's is Cornus Kousa 'China Girl' which is a small tree producing myriads of beautiful pale yellow bracts in Spring.
What are your future plans?
Most of the larger trees have been established within the overall layout for some time now, so re-designing and replanting is only necessary when trees have been damaged, as was the case last winter. However, we have ideas which will further enhance the enjoyment the garden gives to our visitors and of course to ourselves.
We plan to 'tweak' the details of the garden design now that the major work has been done and a little more time is available. We aim to look at how we can move closer to achieving our vision of a simple and tranquil garden which provides subtle interest and inspiration.
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