WHAT a contrast with last year! At the beginning of July this year Powys is well watered and lush with summer growth, so it is time to get out and enjoy the stunning gardens open for the National Garden Scheme this weekend. Remember taking time out to visit gardens is good for you and helps you recharge ready to face the week ahead... and it is good for the Nursing and Health charities we support.

This weekend the garden at Ceunant in Llanidloes is open on Sunday, July 7, from 1pm until 5pm. In a unique location the garden includes a shady walk alongside the infant River Severn.

Rescued from brambles and nettles, the borders are beginning to mature as the herbaceous plants expand to fill the spaces. Hundreds of trees and hedging plants and a pond provide habitats for wildlife. So much to see and worth returning to time and time again as new areas and features are being added all the time. Ceunant is at Old Hall, Llanidloes, SY18 6PW. Admission is £4 for adults, children free.

Featured in ‘Gardens to Visit’ in the July edition of The English Garden Magazine, Hurdley Hall, at Churchstoke not only offers you a wonderful garden with far reaching views across to Roundton Hill National Nature Reserve but on Sunday afternoon there is live music from the Bishops Castle Swing Band.

You can follow paths round the garden passing herbaceous and mixed borders, ponds and a kitchen garden and then on into a 5-acre Coronation Meadow, newly planted orchard and woodland and then enjoy the music whilst relaxing with tea and home-made cake.

The garden is open from 10.30am until 5pm on Sunday, July 7, admission is £5 for adults, children free. Hurdley Hall is 2 miles from Churchstoke off the A489, postcode SY15 6DY.

On Monday, July 8, we have a special treat when one of our ‘grand gardens’, Garthmyl Hall, is open from midday until 5pm. The wonderfully restored walled garden is a delight with circular flower beds, firepits and gazebo. The five-acre garden also boasts three magnificent Cedar of Lebanon and a giant redwood as well as a long (100 metres) herbaceous border. The garden is on the A483 halfway between Newtown and Welshpool. Admission £4 adults, children free.

There are also gardens which will open by arrangement providing visitors with an exclusive opportunity to explore wonderful gardens set in stunning locations, all you need to do is contact the owner and arrange a time to suit you.

Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors the National Garden Scheme are donating £3 million to nursing and health charities in 2019. These charities include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Horatio’s Garden and our new guest charity Mind.

Gardens open by arrangement:

Apr-Aug: ABERNANT, Garthmyl, SY15 6RZ Mrs BM Gleave: 01686 640494, john.gleave@mac.com

Apr-Nov: HEBRON, Knighton, LD7 1HP Kevin Collins & Anita Lewis

01547 529576 kd.collins@hotmail.co.uk

All Year: LLYSDINAM, Newbridge-on-Wye, LD1 6NB

Mary Elster: 01597 860190 llethr@outlook.com

Apr-Nov: PLAS DINAM, Llandinam, SY17 5DQ

Eldrydd Lamp, 07415 503554, eldrydd@plasdinam.co.uk

Apr-Sep: PONT FAEN HOUSE, Farrington Lane, Knighton, LD7 1LA

Mr John & Mrs Brenda Morgan, 01547 520847

May-Sep: 1 CHURCH BANK, Welshpool, SY21 7DR Mel & Heather Parkes

01938 559112, melandheather@live.co.uk

May-Sep: TRANQUILLITY HAVEN, Whitton, LD7 1NJ Val Brown

01547 560070 valerie.brown1502@gmail.com

May-Sep: WHITE HOPTON FARM, Sarn SY16 4EN Claire Austin

01686 670342 enquiries@claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk

Jun-Jul: HURDLEY HALL, Churchstoke, SY15 6DY Simon Cain & Simon Quin

07958915115 simon.cain@westbourneconsulting.com

Jun-Jul: THE HYMNS, Presteigne, LD8 2RA E Passey

07958 762362 thehymns@hotmail.com

Jun-Sep: 1 YSTRAD HOUSE, Knighton, LD7 1EB John & Margaret Davis

01547 528154 jamdavis@ystradhouse.plus.com

Jun-Aug: TYN Y CWM, Beulah, LD5 4TS Steve & Christine Carrow

01591 620461 stevetynycwm@hotmail.co.uk

Jun-Sep: THE NEUADD, Llanbedr, NP8 1SP Robin & Philippa Herbert

01873 812164 philippahherbert@gmail.com

Jul: BRONIARTH HALL, Guilsfield, SY21 9DW Mrs Janet Powell

01938 500639 janet09br@hotmail.co.uk

Ends

For more information, high resolution images or to interview a spokesperson, please contact Helen Anthony (Publicity Officer) by emailing powys.ngs.publicity@gmail.com or calling 01686 941795

NOTES TO EDITOR

About National Garden Scheme

The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England and Wales, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake.

Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we have donated a total of £58 million to nursing and health charities, and made donations of £3.1 million in 2018. Founded in 1927 to support district nurses, we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK and our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. We fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, we launched our annual Gardens and Health Week to raise awareness of the topic.

To find your perfect garden, visit ngs.org.uk, download the National Garden Scheme app or purchase the National Garden Scheme’s Garden Visitor’s Handbook, which is published annually and available via ngs.org.uk/shop and at all good book retailers.