New NGS president Titchmarsh (who has taken over from Mary Berry) says in the foreword says he’s gardened for 70 years and the NGS champions gardening’s importance for mental and physical health, nature and wildlife.
In 2025 donations to health and garden charities reached £3.9m. There are 3,300 gardens opened. In 2027, NGS celebrates its centenary and there will be commemorative gardening products on sales.
Charities benefitting include Maggie’s (£125k), Horatio’s (£100k), English Heritage (£125k) and Perennial (£100k). Some 114 community garden projects got £288k/ Nursing charities received £2.7m.
Garden Museum, National Botanic Garden of Wales, Bankside Open Spaces Trust and Country Trust also received donations.
Bruce says he is not a skilled gardener but one of her “great pleasures” is visiting NGS gardens.
GP Claxton is skilled and specialises in designing gardens for healthcare settings. He also founded the charity Gardening4health, which operates as both a network for those providing therapeutic horticulture, and as a hub for conferences, education and sharing of best practice. This shows some of the possible direction of the charity.
He writes that gardening ticks boxes such as providing hope, purpose, routine and providing results, as well as helping reduce isolation within the community. He mentions research showing this, but expect to see more in the future.
The book itself is a hardy perennial, listing all 3,300 openings and whether they serve cake and when, as well as what’s featured on the plot. This is all online now, but it is reassuring to have the yellow book (as NGS no longer like calling it) on the shelf.
