Weekend of garden delights

The event is set to be the largest of its kind, with 800 openings planned over the two days.

The festival is being organised by the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) and aims to raise £500,000 for nursing and caring charities.

The hard work of garden owners and the enduring enthusiasm of visitors has allowed the NGS to donate £25m to nursing and caring charities over the past 10 years and is Macmillan Cancer Support’s biggest ever donor. More than half-a-million people visited gardens opened in support of the NGS last year.

All gardens opening – including many in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire - are listed in the 2013 edition of The Yellow Book, amongst more than 3,800 gardens open on behalf of the NGS throughout the year (with details online at www.ngs.org.uk).

At Stillingfleet Lodge, near York, the garden opens for the NGS on Sunday June 16 only. There’s also a wildlife day when, if you are batty about bats, bowled over by bees, or bonkers for birds, you can enjoy a close-up of the work of various wildlife charities. From 10am to 5pm, a wide range of events will include BTO bird ringing, butterfly conservation moth trapping and even bumblebee and dragonfly walks.

Visitors can also see gardening for wildlife in action around the garden, which in summer is always humming with wildlife.

Stillingfleet Lodge, the home of inspirational gardener Vanessa Cook, boasts beautiful perennial borders, a formal rill garden, woodland walk, wildflower meadow and a vegetable plot.

Each garden is packed with texture and foliage densely planted for ease of maintenance based on cottage garden principles.

Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens are open to the public from April until the end of September (every Wednesday and Friday and the first and third Saturday and Sunday of every month from 1-5pm).

Throughout the year, Vanessa also organises a programme of horticulture and craft workshops which are open to the public.

Entry to the garden is £4.50 or 50p for children aged 5-16. The garden is free to RHS members on Wednesdays. www.stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk or phone 01904 728506.