Opening for the first time, the gardens on the eastern side of the Beardy valley - ‘Winter Hill’ owned by Bill and Nita Leamon, Jeff and Debbie Smith’s ‘Lynwood Park’ and ‘Lilburn’ owned by Tim Hughes and Sal Molesworth, display a diversity of age, design and planting.

At ‘Winter Hill’ on Linwood Road, the Leamons have watched a garden of their own design grow to maturity.

“We moved here in March 1989 and started the garden from scratch except for a couple of trees we kept which were only 2 years old, and the old pines and elms at the back. I began with a large sheet of graph paper and drew the garden plan to scale. When I retired from fulltime employment I started the garden in earnest. Trees were my first priority and then I interplanted with shrubs and filled in with perennials,” Mrs Leamon said.

Sweeping beds sheltered by mature trees are set off by a lawn terraced with local stone, while a naturalistic pond and formal fountain provide focal points.

Jeff and Debbie Smith began with a productive vegetable garden and orchard at Lynwood Park when their children were young and have now extended to over an acre of shrub borders and roses underplanted with perennials and bulbs. Mr Smith will give a talk on bee keeping in the home garden at 2pm each day. A display of historical photos of the area and childrens art are extra attractions at Lynwood Park.

“A lot of the plants in our garden have been grown from cuttings or are gifts from family and friends. We do not have a lot of spare time to garden, and our garden is solely maintained by us, so plants that are hardy and low maintenance and can grow in our minus 15 frosts are most welcome,” says Mrs Smith.

The garden at ‘Lilburn’, Red Range Road was created by the great-grandparents of the current owners, Tim Hughes and his wife Sal Molesworth and is currently being restored. Spiraea and privet hedges combine with bold foliage, succulents, hardy perennials and old fashioned roses.