ONE of the region’s most beautiful private gardens will open its gates to the public next week to raise money for worthy causes.

Trevor and Jean Crompton have spent more than 25 years tending to their three-acre plot at Woodside House in Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland.

It is very much a labour of love and has won admiration far and wide, triumphing in Bishop Auckland in Bloom and even appearing in The Sunday Telegraph.

Its many highlights include a walled garden, sweeping lawns, shrub and herbaceous island beds, ponds, a grotto, fernery, an ornamental grass bed, topiary, a small copse, a rockery and a vegetable plot.

Last year, the couple invited the public to explore the garden as part of the Nation Garden Scheme’s (NGS) Gardens to Visit campaign.

It was such a success that they plan to do it all again this year and hope to raise even more money for NGS charities, which include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie and Hospice UK.

The public can visit the garden, postcode DL14 0DU, on Sunday, July 17, from 2pm to 5pm.

Refreshments will be served and plants will be available to buy.

Admission is £4 for adults and free for children, with proceeds to NGS charities.