All are welcome at Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts

Almost every month on this page I feature someone who is opening their garden for the association Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts. This month is a little different. As we head towards the end of the year, as gardeners, our thoughts often turn to next year, thinking of what has flourished, what has struggled and what we would like to try differently. 

It is the same for the committee at Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts. They are all gardeners themselves, or have been. They are all taking stock and thinking about 2027. To this end, they have arranged an Open Day at ‘Head Office’. 

The home base for the association is a room at the mairie in Saint-Maurice-la-Souterraine in the Creuse. This is where committee meetings take place, though members who live outside the department can join electronically. Modern technology has meant that coordinators can be all over France and still ‘attend’ the meetings.

The Open Day, which will run from 10:00 to 15:00 on November 15, is to try to recruit people, but not just garden openers. People who might consider opening their gardens for a day are, of course, very welcome, and the committee would love to discuss the possibilities with them. The slogan you will see on the poster is ‘We don’t look for perfect gardens, we look for kind people with open hearts’, and that encapsulates the ethos of Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts. 

The association raises a lot of money every year for charities that support disabled and seriously ill children and young people in France, through a shared love and enthusiasm for gardens and gardening. It was set up in 2014 with Mick Moat as its founding President. 

It grew from four private gardens in the Creuse which opened on June 30, 2013, aping the UK’s National Garden Scheme. The money they raised went to the À Chacun son Everest charity, and the association continues to support that charity and many others. The association will soon have donated over €200,000 in total to deserving causes.

However, the Open Day is also for those who would consider other roles. You could sign up to be a Friend of Open Gardens. Friends are those who don’t have a garden to open themselves or would rather not, but are willing to assist at someone else’s Open Garden. 

Helping could include taking money at the garden gate, baking a cake or serving refreshments. 

Alternatively, it could be volunteering on a stand at a plant fair, helping at a Partner Garden event, assisting with translation or marketing/social media. If you have particular skills that could be useful, do suggest them.

There are three Partner Gardens and they are all nationally recognised as Jardins Remarquables (Remarkable Gardens). This is a French government classification, labelling important, notable gardens. They are Jardin Lacore, Arboretum du Château de Neuvic d’Ussel and Arboretum de la Sedelle. We have featured the gardens and their owners/creators on this page previously.

Alain Gribet started Jardin Lacore more than 40 years ago – in 2018, Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts members were the first to visit as Alain revealed his extraordinary garden to the public. There’s a maze, a viewing tower and life-sized sculptures in mosaic and glass enamels, created by Alain himself. Whilst he now opens independently, there is still an exclusive Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts Day every year.

Beatrix d’Ussel has opened the gates of her arboretum to members and given personally guided tours, finishing with a picnic on the terrace. At the Arboretum de la Sedelle, Nell and Philippe Wanty have been supporters for nearly a decade – they have hosted afternoon teas and concerts. And Philippe’s multilingual guided tours are wonderfully informative, according to members’ delighted feedback.

President Sue Lambert is very keen to encourage more people to become coordinators. “Currently we have coordinators in the Dordogne, the Charente, the Creuse, the Allier and the Oise,” she tells me. “Oh, and the Manche, if I ever sell my house and get there!” she adds ruefully. 

“We do have gardeners in other areas, but I look after anyone else in the country who opens for us, so new coordinators to relieve my workload would be brilliant!” She smiles. 

“We welcome people from any other department who think they could find nice gardens and encourage their owners to open them for the association. Coordinators will then keep in touch with ‘their’ garden owners by phone or email and encourage them to continue supporting us in subsequent years.”

Sue will be at the Open Day, flanked by Vice-President and postperson, Nick Sutton, Treasurer Corinne Sutton, Secretary Wendy Aldhouse, John Pullen, who does Garden Support, Julie Evans, who is the newsletter editor and does marketing, and Sylvia Emerson, the Membership Secretary. 

“We hope to have a couple of coordinators and our social media person, Sandra Johnson, there too. We have four vacancies on the committee we would love to fill,” Sue explains. 

“Attendees will need to reserve a place in advance,” she adds. “People can use the QR code on the poster or they can email me directly: president@opengardens.eu. If anyone is unable to come but is interested, I would urge them to get in touch either by email or through the website.”

Sue tells me that they are looking forward to an informal, relaxed event. 

“We will be offering tea and coffee and a buffet lunch. One of our garden openers, Christine Logan, who is also a committee member, lives just a quarter of an hour away from Saint-Maurice-la-Souterraine. She will be there for the Open Day, but she has also invited everyone to her garden afterwards, if anyone would
like to visit.”

We featured Christine and her garden in September 2025. Her loyal but gardening-averse husband Gary brings Christine’s non-stop creative ideas to life, one fabulous project after another. 

Christine was an interior designer in the 1980s, and she still practises as a watercolour artist, so she brings these skills to her garden. 

She had a vision for a garden, full of different rooms and very distinct areas. She told me how she wanted people to feel they were drawn forward through the garden. Her warmth, enthusiasm and desire to share her garden embody the spirit of Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts. If that spirit moves you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.