Beautiful gardens around village welcoming visitors this weekend

Hundreds of people are expected to descend on the village of Longdon, between Lichfield and Rugeley, for the open garden event which has been organised by St James Church.

Alex and Julie Mowbray, of Church Way, Longdon, are preparing to welcome visitors to their Chinese inspired garden.

It is one of around a dozen gardens in a variety of sizes which will be opening to the public.

Mr Mowbray, 59, said: "The first time we opened our garden was in 2012 and this is the fifth time we will be doing it. "Ours is quite a small garden but it's jam-packed with plants. "Julie is very into China so there's lots of statues with Chinese influence. We usually get 400-500 visitors over a weekend.

"Gardeners enjoy coming and looking to see what other people have done with their gardens and for families it's a very cheap afternoon out.

"It's a very pleasant experience as visitors come round and it's lovely."

The gardens will be open today and tomorrow from 2-6pm.

Tickets cost £5 for adults, which covers both days for all the gardens, and accompanied children are free.

Buy tickets on the day from the village hall, St James Church or any garden.

All proceeds will go to the church.

For more information visit opengardens.co.uk