Gorgeous Black Country garden opened up for charity
A garden oasis of colour and beauty aims to help raise vital funds for a tree conservation and study charity.
John Massey, owner of Ashwood Nurseries in Kingswinford, will be opening up his private garden area to the public on Saturday to help raise funds for the International Dendrology Society.
The society's aims are to promote the study and enjoyment of trees and other woody plants, to bring together dendrologists from all round the world, and to protect and conserve rare and endangered plant species worldwide.
Mr Massey is a member of the society and spoke about why he had organised the charity day to help it.
He said: "We've been opening up the garden every Saturday to allow people to wander around and see the garden, charging £6.50 per adult and well-behaved children coming in for free.
"I received a message from the society, which asked if we would be able to open to try and raise money for them, as they have been struggling for funds.
"Normally, we would do this for local charities and, at present, to keep the nursery going, but I do have the link to them and decided to do this as a special one-off for them."
Visitors to the five-acre garden, which is on the banks of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, will be able to take in a range of colourful flowers, shrubs and trees.
There will be a show of iris and Itoh peonies and a selection of hydrangea species.
Additionally, the Christopher Lloyd border will have an exotic foliage colour and the South African border will feature kniphofias, agapanthus, eucomis and diascias.
Mr Massey said the fundraiser was a way to help a society which does charitable work to help students.
He said: "The society provides bursaries for students to study dendrology, which allows them to study trees in other countries which they would not normally have the opportunity to visit.
"They do a lot to encourage horticultural students and help them get experience in the wild, so it's nice to be able to open the garden for a day and raise much needed funds for them."
John's Garden will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, June 19 at Ashwood Lower Lane, Ashwood, Kingswinford.
To find out more, go to ashwoodnurseries.com.
