Crowds flock to a plot that's got it all

With its beautifully contrasting colours and carefully crafted blooms, its no surprise people flock from from all around the world to marvel at this Black Country oasis.

The fruits of more than 20 years of labour by dedicated gardeners Tony and Marie Newton are still attracting hundreds of visitors to view their fabulous flowers and features each year. The couple from Buchanan Road, Walsall, have nurtured the lawn and shrubbery in their back garden to completely transform the site. The picturesque plot includes a summer house, wooden pagoda and four water features.

There is also a cascading 17-metre stream and more than 100 metres of paths among the flowers.

This weekend the Newtons opened up their little Eden to welcome almost 300 people.

They were raising money for three causes – the Walsall & District Samaritans, the National Garden Scheme and Walsall Heart Care.

It was the last time this year that garden-loving visitors could view the spectacular garden, which is currently being filmed by BBC Gardener's World to feature in a Christmas special.

A total of £202 was collected for Walsall and District Samaritans on Saturday and a further £137 for Heart Care and £549 for the Garden Scheme which supports Macmillan and Marie Curie.

Support

Mrs Newton, aged 59, said: "We would like to thank the public for the support they have shown this year.

"Despite the considerable rain throughout the weekend we had a total of 275 visitors.

"This was our last 2008 garden charity open day and, in such adverse weather conditions, we were delighted to raise such a good amount.

"We have had people who have made special trips from Bournemouth, Paignton and as far away as California. Since we began opening our garden in 2006 we have now had more than 3,180 visitors, raising in excess of £9,180 for charity," she added.

Their fundraising efforts have become particularly poignant as they have collected money for Heart Care – the charity which has also helped their 23-year-old son Richard.

Last year he underwent open heart surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a second time – which saw him miss large chunks of his applied social sciences degree course.

When the couple first moved into their new detached home the garden was completely overgrown and required a major overhaul.

It has been completely transformed by them without any outside help.

As well as having overgrown plants, the lawn was square, shaded and worn out and the ground was solid hard clay.

The garden won the Daily Mail National Garden Competition last year and has also had success in the Walsall in Bloom competition.

Backing on to Walsall Arboretum, it has described as the Midland version of the Eden Project, the world's largest greenhouse.