Garden visiting around Easter has always had particular significance for me. I have vivid childhood memories of my parents opening our garden at Goodnestone in Kent over the Easter weekend in aid of the National Garden Scheme (NGS), and hundreds of visitors coming to explore. It is a time of spring’s expectation and hopefulness – where better to enjoy it than in a garden?
Easter also sees the beginning of the garden-visiting season, which for the coming months will focus on the 3,600 NGS gardens. The scheme, which organises open gardens to raise money for nursing charities, has just celebrated its 90th anniversary. It is a remarkable thought that, in the first year, 600 gardens opened and raised...