richardfrosty – Richard Frost – Manchester

Chorlton Open Gardens returned this weekend, which meant I had a lovely few hours snooping around other people’s gardens.

It’s always fun to see how creative Chorlton’s gardeners are and how they design outside spaces that cleverly reflect their interests and passions in life. Some really went all out this year too, serving up homemade refreshments, running plant sales, arranging talks, organising treasure hunts for kids and even staging live music performances.

A growing event

The 2023 event was split over two days, with 22 gardens in south Chorlton welcoming visitors on Saturday 24 June, and a further 22 sites in north Chorlton following suit on Sunday. Incidentally, it’s great to see more and more people taking part nowadays – there weren’t nearly so many when I first went along to Chorlton Open Gardens in 2015.

It only cost £5 to get in each day (which buys you a programme containing a map and description of the gardens involved), with all the money raised going to the charities Freedom from Torture and Care UK: Refugee Aid Chorlton. I plumped for the Saturday and spent most of my time sauntering around Chorltonville.

I would’ve liked to have explored the entries around Beech Road and Chorlton Green too, but alas I was working in the afternoon, and also it would’ve been mad not to stop and try some of the sandwiches, cakes and sweet treats being sold along the way!

Gardens large and small

Anyway, here are the gardens I looked around during Chorlton Open Gardens 2023: