TWO Inkberrow residents are giving people the chance to take a look around their garden this month and raise some money for charity.

The garden is being opened to the public through the National Gardens Scheme, which charges entry to raise money for various charities, including Macmillan Nurses and Marie Curie Cancer Trust.

The two acres at White Cottage, near Inkberrow, have been opened to the public for more than 22 years.

Owners Malcolm and Jan Bates have been running a nursery on the site for years and when they finished working on their own garden design, it seemed like the natural next stage.

Jan said: "I think we thought, well we've made our garden, it was more or less a field when we came here and friends said we should open it, so we thought it would be best to let a charity benefit."

The garden, which showcases herbaceous and shrub beds, a stream and spring wild flower area, a rose garden, raised woodland bed and a large specialist collection of hardy geraniums, still attracts a steady flow of visitors even after two decades of viewings.

Jan said: "Over the recent bank holiday, we had more than 100 visitors.

"But I was listening to the history of Gardener's World recently and apparently Percy Thrower mentioned once on air that his garden was open and the next day he had 9,500 people through it.

"We aren't quite that popular!"