Derbyshire man's stunning half-acre garden with extensive views up the Derwent Valley raises £7,000 for National Garden Scheme's charities

Dr David Moreton, a retired organic chemist, has welcomed visitors to see his horticultural handiwork at Chevin Brae, Milford, for the past decade.

The green-fingered grower will be presented with a trowel by the county organiser for the National Garden Scheme, Peter Gardner, in celebration of his fundraising during this weekend’s public opening day on Saturday, March 26.

David’s half-acre garden has extensive views up the Derwent Valley at the front and over The Chevin at the back. The sheltered, south-facing back garden is surrounded by woods on the north and east sides.

David, 60, said: “Visitors should see the extensive daffodil displays in the orchard and beyond, camelias and magnolias, dog tooth violets, fritillaries and wood anemones in the wild flower garden along the edge of the wood and primroses and oxlips in the herbacous borders.”

He will be opening his garden again on August 20 when the herbaceous borders will be full of late summer colour and the vegetable garden will be at its peak.

At both openings, tea and homemade cakes and pastries, featuring fruit and jam from the garden will be available. There will also be jam and plants for sale.

The formal open days will run from 1pm to 5pm, admission is £3 with proceeds going to National Garden Scheme charities.

Visitors should be aware that the front garden is steep with two flights of steps.

David moved to Chevin Brae from Yorkshire 23 years ago to take a position managing a new chemistry laboratory that had been built at the site of Lubrizol Ltd at Hazelwood.

He said: “When I arrived the landscaping around the house had been done, but most of the garden was laid to grass. Since then I have planted large numbers of flowering shrubs on the front and created large herbaceous borders front and back.

"I have also installed a new greenhouse and cold frames, built rose trellises to back the borders, installed a large soft fruit cage, created an extensive vegetable garden with cages, planted an orchard of 20 trees and planted thousands of bulbs.

For more details visit https://ngs.org.uk/