Sixteen gardens in Ceredigion open to visitors through the National Garden charity scheme.

One of those belongs to Shelagh Yeomans.

“We enjoy sharing our gardens with you, especially in aid of such great causes,” Shelagh said.

“Through visits last year we raised £17,000, enabled you to enjoy a wide variety of gardens in our stunning county and enjoy delicious tea and cakes too.”

Shelagh and Steve joined the scheme in 2013, opening their six-acre smallholding (Yr Efail) near Tregaron ever since and raising over £15,700 to date.

This year’s weather conditions reduced visitor numbers but their Open Day in July brought sunshine and over 170 visitors, enabling them to contribute over £1,420 to NGS charities.

“It was such a delight to see and hear people enjoying our gardens,” said Shelagh.

“The cottage flower garden was ablaze with colour enabling visitors to engage with scents, sights and vistas as they moved through different areas. Water lilies bloomed on the pond and dragon flies emerged to delight.

“Our poly-tunnels saw people discussing the merits of growing sweetcorn undercover and comparing the performance of Toddler, Red Dragon, Alicante, Gardeners Delight, Sungold, Roma, Fandango and Honeycomb tomatoes.

In ‘Mr McGregor’s’ no-dig, sheltered garden there are vegetables in neat, organised blocks, growing prolifically in fertile beds. We are just about self-sufficient in vegetables and fruit and share a small amount of surplus at our gate.

“Eleven years ago we planted over 1,700 native trees and are now tasked with managing a beautiful mixed woodland with a variety of different areas accessed by mown paths and interspersed with wild meadow areas.

“A willow spiral and ‘coracle’ provide further interest near the brassica and root vegetable growing area where dahlias, chrysanthemums and sunflowers grow.

“The Unicorn Trail keeps children and adults searching, counting and working out the answers for a small reward. Teas are served from our conservatory by a brilliant group of volunteers who we could not manage without.

“We are open (by arrangement) until end of September and have decided that this will be our last full year of opening as we need to be a little more relaxed in our retirement.

“Do visit the Ceredigion gardens, there are four more joining the scheme in 2025 – you are guaranteed a great day out to help raise funds for charitable causes that we may all need to utilise.”

Further information can be found on the NGS website.