'I thought it would be nice to let strangers into my garden'

A keen gardener who spent 18 years of love and attention on her garden has told why she opened it up to the public.

Lesley Middleton, and her husband Mike from Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, have transformed the garden which goes all around their home on Breck Road.

Middleton, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), revealed her labour of love to the public as part of the society's National Garden Scheme, where ordinary householders are encouraged to display their gardens to the public to raise funds for charity.

"We have spent hours and hours on this garden and I thought it would be nice to show people what can be done and let strangers into my garden," she said.

"A lot of love and a lot of hard work has gone into this garden," she added.

"You need to have a real variety in the planting scheme - people seem to have like what I've done which is very rewarding."

Julie Swire, who lives close to the Middletons, had a special interest in how the garden grows.

"This house has got a lot of history for me because my mother and father-in-law used to live here before Lesley and Mike, so it holds a lot of memories for us," she said.

"The garden is absolutely lovely - it is slightly different from when they had it because there used to be a massive rockery."

Another visitor George Howarth, whose partner spotted the event in the National Garden Scheme newsletter, said viewing the "lovely" Middleton garden might encourage him to enter his own garden in neighbouring Thornton Cleveleys next year.

"I will think about it - it is certainly a possibility," he said.

The open day continues on Sunday and while Middleton is undecided on whether to take part next year, she will be back to work on her garden once the weekend's festivities have ended.

"In a garden your work is never finished and as soon as you turn round you have more weeding to do," she said.

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