We’re thrilled to be celebrating Gardens and Health Week and to announce the publication of the 5th edition of our Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health. This year our theme is ‘green medicine’ and through the various chapters the wonderfully varied and uplifting articles explore the different ways that gardens really can offer a viable and effective alternative to standard clinical responses to people’s health and wellbeing. We hope you enjoy this wonderful dose of green medicine.
There are a host of wonderful painters, sculptors, textile artists and art lovers who open their equally creative gardens, and sometimes their studios, to the visiting public. So, if you enjoy an art exhibition or buying work from local artists, this selection of National Garden Scheme gardens might be just the thing for you this year.
Tulips have caused a sensation in the horticultural world for centuries. Endlessly adaptable they are perfect in pots, urns or any other type of planter; scattered naturally through a meadow; or incorporated into a mixed border design. The National Garden Scheme has an array of wonderful tulip gardens opening this year and wonderful tulip top tips too.
There is something startlingly beautiful about bluebells en masse. These lovely plants most often thrive in the gorgeous dappled shade of woodlands full of birdsong and make a visit particularly uplifting. Here are a few gardens and woodlands with bluebells that you might like to explore this spring with the National Garden Scheme.
It is with great sadness that we announce the recent death of Richard Raworth who was a wonderful supporter of the National Garden Scheme for many years as a Trustee, as a member of the London volunteer team and, with his wife Jenny, owner of the much admired garden which they created and opened for the Scheme for decades.
From rolling hills and valleys to coastal retreats and city secrets National Garden Scheme gardens across Wales offer a diverse and magical portfolio of gardens to explore. With almost 300 gardens opening in 2025 there are plenty to enjoy including a selection of wonderful new gardens.
The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,300 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake. We can’t do this without the wonderful support of our garden owners. Find out more about opening your garden and being part of the wonderful National Garden Scheme family.
2024 was another landmark year for the National Garden Scheme with the charity donating a record £3,501,227. The impact of these donations to our major nursing and health beneficiaries means that thousands of people who live with health conditions such as cancer or Parkinson’s, who have poor mental health, or who struggle financially as unpaid carers, have been supported by our funding of the nurses, health professionals and case workers who support them. Our funding also provides support to those in the Gardens and Health sector, to community gardens and to those working in horticulture.
Sign up to hear more about gardens, events and our
activities throughout the year
£500,000
£450,000
£450,000
£450,000
£350,000
£350,000
£122,227
£90,000
£80,000
£25,000
£302,000
£232,000
