Secret Gardens ready to bloom as popular event returns to Ludlow - here's when

But once a year, the spotlight gets turned on the town’s most impressive gardens as part of an annual fundraiser. 

Ludlow Secret Gardens invites people to go behind the gates to explore private horticultural havens that are usually hidden from view.

On Sunday, June 15, 10 gardens, some new, others firm favourites, in Corve Street, Linney, Castle Street, Mill Street and Camp Lane will be opened to the public to raise money for Ludlow Assembly Rooms.

A total of 142 different gardens have been opened since the start of the event, now in its 35th year, raising tens of thousands of pounds for the cause.

Among the keen gardeners greeting visitors this year will be Chris and Janet Tuffley, who have lived in Mill Street for 30 years.

The couple like to spend as much time in their garden as possible when they are not running their business, The Silver Pear gift shop.

Along with colourful borders and box hedging, highlights include an eye-catching pond, a Japanese garden, a vegetable garden and numerous sculptures. 

“I come from a family of gardeners and archiects from New Zealand so I think it’s in my blood,” says Janet. “My father designed the vegetable garden for me many years ago. It was all vegetables until last year when we planted perennials and grasses as well.”

The pond was added later with the most recent addition – the Japanese garden, featuring a mural created by Priscilla Kennedy, – following last year.

“We were visiting family in Japan and Chris said ‘why don’t we have a Japanese garden’ so I created one for him for his 80th birthday,” explains Janet.

Other artwork dotted around the garden includes a Totem sculpture which stands by the pond and was made by Mark Richards.

Janet enjoys spending her days off tending to the garden and is also helped by Jackie Percival who works five hours a week and keeps the garden in tip-top shape.

“Every season offers something different to look at. The spring bulbs in the vegetable garden have been very nice this year,” says Janet.

Olivia and Peter Stephens will be welcoming visitors to their multi-levelled garden at their home, Sundown, in Linney.

Along with eye-catching colourful beds, there is an area dedicated to hostas and a pond. “We have lived here for 13 years, we inherited the house from Peter’s parents. His mum was a horticulturalist,” says Olivia.

“I enjoy gardening because it’s so relaxing, I’m outside as much as I can be. I recently put in a bed of yellow roses where we took out a tree,” she adds.

Richard and Jane Harding first took part in Secret Gardens six years ago, but their garden has undergone a transformation since then.

The couple, who have lived in Corve Street for 15 years, have adapted their garden, which features numerous steps, due to the height of the trees that surround their property.

“When we came here, the garden was incredibly sunny but as the trees have grown it has steadily become a shade garden. The south border is shaded by yews in the churchyard.

“So six years ago it was a completely different garden. We have to adapt all the time and have had to replace the sun-loving plants with shade-loving plants.”

“The house was built 10 or 12 years before we bought it on the site of an old Augustinian friary,” says Richard.

“So quite a lot of the features in the garden are based on the ruins of the refectory of the friary. A lot of the walls are medieval. The shape of the garden is dominated by the ruins, hence all the steps,” he explains.

The couple have found ways to make the most of the light they do have. “We put in a gazebo last year and it catches the light between 11am and 1pm so it’s the perfect place to sit for morning coffee,” says Richard.

“We’ve raised the garden and put in posts with ropes to grow roses so we can maximise the sunlight opportunities,” adds Jane. 

To balance the hard-landscaping, the couple have added greener features such as natural bannisters for the steps created with hornbeam hedge.

Ludlow Secret Gardens, which is supported by Bill’s Kitchen, is organised by Ludlow Assembly Rooms Fundraising Events (LARFE), a small team of volunteers dedicated to raising money for the venue. 

An independent charity, it is open six days a week throughout the year offering films, live shows, music, children’s events and much more. It also houses the Visitor Information Centre, run entirely by volunteers.

“People like to see the different views of the town, the castle and chimney pots of other buildings as much as gardens because Ludlow is such an interesting town,” says Cy Jones BEM, who has been head of the event’s organising team for virtually its entire history.

The event runs from 12 noon until 6pm. Tea and homemade cakes, ice creams, Prosecco, plants and willow weaving are all available in selected gardens. There will also be a raffle.

Tickets cost £10 in advance or £12 on the day and are available from the Box Office at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, 01584 878141 or www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk

An online bookings receipt must be exchanged for a Secret Garden ticket, which includes the map, at the Box Office.

Tickets are also available at Castle Bookshop in advance and on the day, and at the garden gate, both cash only. Accompanied under 12s go free.