As I am writing it is about 27 degrees C outside, so instead of thinking about garden tasks, it’s a good time to be planning some garden visits.

July is a lovely month to visit gardens. We hope that lots of people will come along to our Open Day for the National Gardens Scheme on Sunday, July 24th from 1 – 4 pm. Admission is £4 which goes to many charities,  while lovely homemade tea and cakes are sold in support of St. John’s Hospice. So do please come along and support these worthwhile causes. There will be plenty of plants for sale, some from our friend Judy, some ours, plus some hostas from a supporter of St. John’s Hospice.

There are always plenty of NGS gardens to visit throughout the country and details can be found in the ‘Yellow Book’which gives details of all the gardens open in Britain, in county leaflets and online at http://www.ngs.org.uk/. We visited the Llanarmon yn Ial gardens a week ago and they were all of a very high standard set in a beautiful rural area. If anyone is keen to go visiting gardens this summer, Gardeners World May edition issued a two for one offer for lots of gardens throughout Britain and I think you can still access the offers online.

One place that we often visit is the Welshpool area where there are some fabulous gardens open to the public. Here are three which you might like to visit:

Glansevern Gardens, Berriew

We first visited these gardens years ago and they weren’t really all that good, with the walled garden being used to grow mainly bare rooted plants for sale. However, we thought we would give them another go, and we were glad we did because the gardens were beautiful and the walled garden is now full of flower beds and some vegetables.

There is also a Victorian cave (not to my liking but interesting) and a beautiful lake which was full of waterlilies when we went.

There is an on site café was fine (£2.50 for a cup of tea is a bit steep), but the food was nice and the staff most friendly and helpful. Even the owner of the house was out weeding when we went. It is an RHS associate garden and members can get in for free.

Highly recommended, fairly flat site, café , plant sales, quality planting

Powis Castle, Welshpool

You really can’t go to Welshpool and not visit Powys Castle as it is one of the National Trust’s premier gardens. The gardens are set below the spectacular castle and consist of a number of long terraces, valley bottom gardens, large pond area and acres of surrounding parkland (we were lucky to see the herd of deer in the grounds on this visit). The terrace borders were fantastic; full of bright colours and large scale planting. There is quite a steep climb down to the lower gardens which have rose and herbaceous borders. Luckily there is a café in the lower garden as well as in the castle courtyard. A minibus ferries people from the upper and lower gardens, but is does seem a bit random.

Highly recommended, steep gardens, castle open , two cafes and toilets, excellent terrace planting

The Dingle Gardens and Nursery, outside Guilsfield, Welshpool

I love this plant nursery which was started by a lady grower (there are lots of great lady gardeners aren’t there?) They have a very large range of shrubs, roses, herbs, perennials and trees all at reasonable prices. The gardens surround an old quarry, which is now containing small, and are densely planted with a very wide variety of planting.

The gardens are allied to the RHS and members can get in for free

Highly recommended. Fabulous nursery, steep sloping gardens, free tea and coffee in cabin, toilet