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This summer 3500 gardens, most of them private, will open across the country to help raise money for charity. Celebrating its 80th birthday, The National Gardens Scheme has been an overwhelming triumph; raising over £30 million (£15 million in the last 10 years) since it began in 1927.

Not only does the scheme play an invaluable fundraising role for the charities they support (including Macmillan Cancer Support for whom they are the biggest single donor) but it is also a wonderful way of encouraging people out into the garden.

Supported by their Patron HRH the Prince of Wales, the scheme has a reputation for opening gardens of 'quality, character and interest'. And not just anyone can throw open their flower beds; all potential new gardens are inspected by volunteer teams before being accepted, or not, into the inimitable 'Yellow Book' the essential guide for the NGS enthusiast.

Louise McClary and her husband Matt Robinson have been Yellow Book members for the past six years. Their garden, Caervallack, is a wonderful and intriguing combination of Louise's flowering herbaceous borders and Matt's architectural creations. Tucked away on the sheltered banks of the Helford River it is an unusual and delicious discovery.

Gardening became a passion for Louise when she stopped painting in the 1990's. At the time she had all she ever imagined; sell out shows, critical acclaim and a fabulous space in the revered Porthmeor studios in St Ives. The ideal however was not all it seemed. Louse reflects on what was a difficult time:

"I felt the art world had become ungenerous...concerned more with ego than the work itself. I felt my soul was dying and began to realise I needed a new direction. Letting go of the studio at Porthmeor and all the kudos attached was so liberating. It allowed me a freedom to find my true story."

'Kingfisher's Dream' and 'This is the Day' by Louise McClary

Suddenly stopping painting when it had been all she ever wanted to do left Louise feeling bereft of direction. It wasn't until she and her husband moved into a wonderful 500 year old house on The Helford in 1995 that she found a new focus for her creative impulses. Surrounded by an acre of field, she began creating a garden that would occupy her completely for the next five years.

Discovering similarities between painting and gardening, the undulating lines that flow through her garden are suggestive of the shapes that now fill her haunting canvases. Borders are filled with perennials, more reminiscent of quintessential English gardens such as Hidcote than the spiky subtropical Trebah on her doorstep. The soft frothy shapes of the plants she loves...old fashioned roses, regal wisteria and rambling geraniums all inadvertently inform the paintings that now divert most of her time.

Finding her 'true story' has had its battles and hardships and Louise acknowledges the time she spent creating her garden as one of the most healing experiences in her return to painting:

"I became immersed in the garden, having my hands in the soil was so healing. In many ways I was dealing with the same language as I had been with my painting...colour, texture, space. I have allowed the garden to develop in much the same way as a painting, making changes along the way rather than settling for the first layer that you put down. It is an ongoing creative project"

Walking through the romantic seclusion and heady scents of Caervallack is a perfect example of the joy of the NGS scheme. These are treasured glimpses of some special and ultimately private garden spaces that we are privileged to be invited into.

Chloe Wild
Photographs of paintings - Steve Tanner
Photographs of Louise in her garden - Bob Berry
Illustrations - Matt Johnson

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