Friday 11 May 11am-2pm Open Garden Launch, St Christopher’s Hospice, Caritas House, Tregony Road, Orpington, Kent BR6 9XA

Train: Orpington Buses: R5, R8, R10, R11, 358, 654.

Entrance £2; children free.

NEW GARDEN We are delighted to launch our Open Garden season by proudly showcasing our hospice garden. The pretty volunteer-led garden is a peaceful and calm space for patients and visitors to enjoy. The pond is teeming with fish and flower beds are planted at wheelchair height so they can be enjoyed by all. Plants will be available for sale and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions. Join us for refreshments and delicious homemade cakes.

Sunday 20 May 1-5pm

Plant Sale – 7 Langland Gardens, Shirley CR0 8DY

Train: West Wickham Buses: 119, 198

This established plant sale offers a variety of reasonably priced plants and is the perfect opportunity to stock your garden for summer. Refreshments and homemade cakes are also available to enjoy in the pretty garden, with all proceeds to St Christopher’s.

Sunday 20 May 1-6pm

Open Gardens in Forest Hill SE23 3BP: Hilltop 28 Horniman Drive, 27 Horniman Drive, 53 Ringmore Rise, 7 Canonbie Road, and The Coach House 3 The Hermitage.

Train: Forest Hill Buses: 176, 185, 197, 356, P4.

Combined Entrance £7; children free (central paypoint at 28 Horniman Drive). Open for National Garden Scheme (NGS), with a share to St Christopher’s.

Five very different gardens within a short walk of each other; help available (for a donation) for those with mobility problems. See an evolving plantswoman’s garden, with

prairie planting and a watery fern garden. Wander in an eclectic country style garden with a small meadow. Delight in an artist’s studio in an C18th courtyard filled with sculptures and plants. Unwind with delicious cakes and listen to live music amid the drifting pastel hues of the tea lady’s garden inspired by Beth Chatto – and Mary Berry!

Sunday 3 June 11am-5.30pm Open Garden at 12 The Meadows, Chelsfield, Orpington BR6 6HS

Train: Chelsfield

Entrance £4; children free. Open for NGS, cakes and refreshments in aid of St Christopher’s.

This large garden has been designed and lovingly maintained by the current owners over 22 years, and is in two parts: a semi-formal area with Japanese seating area, two ponds and a semi wooded area with mature bamboos, acers and grasses and also includes a designated children’s path with 13ft high giraffe and Sumatran tigers.

Sunday 3 June 2:30-5:30pm

Open Garden at 174 Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, SE22 9QA

Train: Peckham Rye or East Dulwich, Buses: 12, 63, 363, 197

Entrance: £3.50; children free. Open for NGS with St Christopher’s as the chosen charity.

This tranquil garden is an “oasis of calm in Peckham”, orginally designed by Judy Sharpe, and is planted with a variety of rich contrasting foliage which evolves every year. Enjoy this peaceful garden while sampling some homemade cakes and refreshments.

Sunday 3 June 2-5.30pm

Open Garden at 47 Brabourne Rise, Beckenham, BR3 6SD

Train: West Wickham Buses: 352

Entrance: £3; children free. NEW GARDEN Enter into this garden via the side entrance, opening up to a small patio which, in the summer is transformed into a Mediterranean area filled with Aloes, Agaves, Succulents and Pelargoniums. Three small steps up to a larger patio, lawn and borders filled with a variety of perennials, fragrant shrubs, roses and various bulbs. Rose swags border one side of the garden. Another three

steps lead to area with a rose arbour and crisscross triangular beds, offering a little more shade and mainly planted with Cornus, Helleborus, Euphorbias, and Hucheras.

Sunday 10 June 1-5pm

Open Garden at White Cottage, Crockenhill Road, Kevington, BR5 4ER

Train: Swanley/St Mary Cray Bus: 477 (stops outside)

Entrance: £5; children free. Open for NGS with a share to St Christopher’s. Parking is in an adjacent field and will be signposted. This beautiful informal garden surrounds a Victorian gardener’s cottage. The tranquil pond attracts newts, dragonflies and frogs. There is a beehive and a fantastic flock of “Buff Orpington” chickens. Colour themed beds contain grasses, perennials, shrubs and mature trees. The garden offers plenty of places to sit to enjoy tea and delicious cakes. Plants, honey and homemade produce are also available.

Sunday 10 June 1-5pmOpen Garden, Largan, 281 Leesons Hill, Chislehurst BR7 6QH

Train: St Mary Cray Buses: R1, 661 or 273

Entrance: £4; children free. NEW GARDEN This quirky garden is a past winner of a Bromley Environment Award. The owner uses every opportunity to reuse and upcycle everyday items into pot plants and create interesting displays. One side has a small water feature, composting area and bee hotel. The other is a more formal layout with a small lawn, flower beds and roses. The garden owner will be on hand to answer questions about giving your garden a “green” makeover

Note: No hot refreshments here, entrance fee includes a cold drink and biscuit. No parking in Leesons Hill, parking available in St Pauls Wood Hill.

Sunday 10 June 2-5pm The Norlands Community Open Gardens Festival, Norlands Crescent, Chislehurst BR7 5RN

Train: Chislehurst Buses: 162, 269 or R7

Combined Entrance: £6; children free. A chance to explore The Norlands Estate which sits on the former site of the famous Norland Institute for Nursery Nurses. Seven

very different and attractive gardens are open and many of the front gardens on the estate are also very pretty and interesting. Those open include a flower and sculpture garden, some backing onto National Trust land and gardens with terraces and ponds built on sloping sites. Others host teas, cakes, strawberries and Pimms.TM and musical entertainment, as well as a tombola, plant sale and stalls selling books and toys. Further details and a map of each open garden will be provided on entry. Please adhere to the No Parking signs in Cricket Ground Road.

Sunday 24 June 2-5pm Open Gardens at 103 & 105 Dulwich Village, Dulwich, SE21 7BJ

Train: North & West Dulwich Bus: P4

Combined Entrance: £7; children free. Two Georgian Houses with large gardens backing onto Dulwich Park. Homemade cakes and teas on the lawn with music provided by an orchestral wind band. as well as plants for sale from both gardens.

103 Dulwich Village Beautiful garden featuring plants and shrubs chosen for colour and shape throughout the year. A long, mixed border containing a wide range of herbaceous plants in front of a south-facing wall decorated with varied climbers. Spacious child/picnic-friendly lawn. Steps up to a formal lily pond teeming with fish (rudd), newts, frogs, dragonflies and other wildlife. Victorian-style greenhouse with vegetable and soft fruit area beyond with gate to 105 next door.

105 Dulwich Village A very pretty garden with blue and white planting around a formal goldfish pond. Glorious colours elsewhere to attract bees and butterflies. Lots of old-fashioned roses, fine delphiniums, many unusual perennials and planters full of jolly annuals. Waterfall and pond with newts and other wildlife including leeches (children need to be supervised).

Sunday 8 July 1-5pm

Open Garden at 28 Ridgeway, Hayes, BR2 7DE

Train: Hayes Bus: 119, 138, 246, 314, or 353

Entrance £3; children free.

NEW GARDEN Step into this attractive garden and plant lovers paradise; packed full of vibrant blooms it is a haven for bees and pollinators. The garden was redesigned by the current owners four years ago and features a patio area, a small veg area and

shady bed, a shaped lawn and meandering path set into deep well stocked borders and raised flower beds teeming with herbaceous perennials giving year round interest. Look out for the “pond in a pot” and the water feature as well as hot colour and alpine beds. There are seating areas, including a pretty arbour, and some shady spots to enjoy with tea or cake in this peaceful setting. You will be able to purchase plants from the well-stocked plant stall in the front garden.

Sunday 8 July 2-5pm

Open Garden at Howletts Meade, 48 College Road, Dulwich SE21 7BA

Train: West Dulwich Bus: P4

Entrance £5; children free.

NEW GARDEN Enjoy a magical afternoon exploring one of the most beautiful and largest gardens in Dulwich Village. Set over two acres, with a wonderful fresh water pool and lovely Monet-style bridge. Vast swathes of seasonal flowers, bulbs and shrubs give a sensational palette of colour. Large trees shade you as you wander round the garden where you can sit and have enjoy tea and cakes also find stalls selling beautiful cards and sensational cashmere from Nepal.

Sunday 22 July 2-5pm

Open Garden at 47 St John’s Road, Petts Wood, BR5 1HT

Train: Petts Wood Bus: R3 or R7

Entrance £3.50; children free. A charming garden featuring a variety of acers, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. After exploring the garden there are plenty of seating areas, some shaded, to relax and enjoy some of the available refreshments and homemade cakes. You can also purchase plants from the well-stocked plant stall.

Sunday 22 July 2-8pm Saturday 1st September 2-8pm

Open Garden with curios at 36 George Lane, Hayes, BR2 7LQ

Train: Hayes, Bus: 119 or 146

Suggested Donation £2; children free. Two opportunities to visit this unique suburban garden featuring a miniature Tardis, a G scale American garden railway including a bubble-blowing circus train and fire train. Visit the fascinating vintage telephone museum with over 90 old phones dating back to the early 1900s, switchboards and

working telephone exchanges. Arts and crafts and refreshments will be on sale. Side entrance, look for a sign saying “to the trains”.

Sunday 29 July 2-5pm

Open Garden at the Allotments 19-21 Homesdale Road, Petts Wood BR5 1JS

Train: Petts Wood Bus: R4 or 353

Entrance £3; children free. The allotments are a hive of activity producing a variety of fruits and vegetables. Some of the tenants will be available to chat about the finer points of horticulture. There will be a produce stall, plant sale and the ever popular scarecrow competition. Tea and homemade cakes can be enjoyed in an adjacent garden with an accompanying pianist.

Sunday 29 July 2-5pm

Open Garden at 52 Goodhart Way, West Wickham BR4 0ES

Train: West Wickham Bus: 352

Entrance £3.50; children free.

NEW GARDEN This charming suburban garden is full of colour, shape and interest. A previous winner of the “Bromley in Bloom” Premier Back Garden award it has a large variety of flowering and foliage plants which continue the colour into late autumn. The main garden has an informal pond area with steps to a courtyard garden with rose-covered arch, box edged central beds and borders crammed with perennials, shrubs, climbing roses and clematis. Golden bamboo hides the compost heaps! There are plenty of seating areas to relax and enjoy some of the refreshments on offer in this plant filled oasis.

Saturday 18th August 10am-2pm Saturday 8th September 12am-4pm

Open Gardens at the Selhurst and South Norwood Allotment, Alvestone Gardens Selhurst Road, SE25 6LR

Train: Norwood Junction or Selhurst Bus: 75 or 157

NEW GARDEN Two chances to visit this close knit community of growers who welcome you to explore their 160 plot allotment. There will be an opportunity to chat to the owners as well as buy home grown produce, preserves, and cakes. For more information see their website: www.ssnallotments.wordpress.com

OpenGardens

festival

Key to the events:

Wheelchair access Wheelchair access (partial) Parking in surrounding roads Specific parking information Raffle or tombola Visit www.stchristophers.org.uk/event/open-gardens-festival-2018/ Refreshments Supervised children free Plant sale Must book in advance No dogs (except guide) for more information about the beautiful gardens open this year.