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The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to the public for charity". The scheme has raised over £60 million since it began, and normally opens thousands of gardens a year.
["Yellow Book" (2008). National Gardens Scheme.]
County organisers are responsible for vetting gardens to make sure they are of sufficient interest.
(Features)(Homefront). ''The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
''. 2002. Retrieved via HighBeam Research
HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headquar ...
(subscription required. (18 March 2013).
When the scheme began 609 private gardens were opened and £8,191 was raised. A small number of the original "pioneer" gardens still participate in the Scheme, while many more have joined. Over 3,700 gardens were due to open in 2020 but the impact of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
meant that most openings were cancelled. However, new online virtual garden tours were introduced.
Visitor information is published in a publication called ''The Garden Visitor's Handbook'' (formerly the Yellow Book). There is another Yellow Book for the separate
Scotland's Gardens scheme.
Charities supported
Originally the admission fees raised money for
district nurse
District Nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. The role requires registered nurses to take a NMC approved specialist practitioner course. Duties generally include visiting house-bound ...
s, although the creation of the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
in 1948 changed the nature of the support required.
In 1980, the National Garden Scheme Charitable Trust was launched as an independent charity with
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
as patron. The current patron is
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
.
2008 annual report
.
The Queen's Nursing Institute
The Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) is a charity that works to improve the nursing care of people in their own homes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It does not operate in Scotland, where the Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland performs ...
is still one of the charities supported, along with Perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
, Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, a ...
and others.
See also
* Scotland's Gardens
*Golf Course Allotments
The Golf Course Allotments are allotments in the Muswell Hill area of North London, United Kingdom. At over 11.5 acres they are the second largest allotment site in the London Borough of Haringey (who also owns them). As with nearly all allotme ...
is an example of a site opened each year to the public.
References
Further reading
*''The Yellow Book, 2014: ngs gardens open for charity''. London: National Gardens Scheme
External links
{{Commons category, Gardens open under the National Gardens Scheme
National Garden Scheme website
1927 establishments in England
Gardening in England
Gardening in Wales
Awards established in 1927
Charities based in Surrey
Guildford
Garden festivals in England
Garden festivals in Wales