National Gardening Week

This annual event started 9 years ago and has grown in popularity every year since.

It’s the nation’s biggest celebration of gardening, raising awareness of the difference that gardens and gardening can make to the lives of everyone in the UK. The aim is to inspire more people, particularly the next generation of gardeners, to experience the joy of growing things and visiting beautiful green spaces.

Under normal circumstances, National Gardening Week usually sees hundreds of events taking place around the country and thousands of people sharing their love of growing and green places on social media. This year the focus will be on ideas for things we can do while we’re all spending more time at home.

It’s the ideal time for families and new gardeners to get involved and learn about gardening, as well as for more experienced gardeners to spring back into life and find new skills and inspiration. Many families are now taking the time to grow flowers and vegetables in their own gardens, balconies or patios. This might also be a great time to try out some new projects, whether it’s creating hedgehog heaps, bird, bee and bug habitats, or building stone walls and compost heaps, planting wildlife-friendly areas, new vegetable plots, containers and window boxes – the list is endless. There are lots of online resources to help you, including articles and videos on this website.

Later in the year, when our gardens reopen, we’ll look forward to welcoming you back. Our dedicated garden teams will be on hand to provide advice and inspiration ... and much more. It will be important, too, to support your local garden centres and nurseries, who’ll need our help to bounce back so we have a vibrant nursery trade in the future.

But for the moment, keep gardening – it’s great for your physical health, as well as mental wellbeing.