New garden opened to celebrate 10th anniversary of Aylesbury Vale based charity

A new garden will be opened at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of a charity based in Aylesbury Vale.

Welfare charity, Lindengate, located in Wendover, is celebrating its 10th birthday by opening a Apothecary Garden.

Apothecaries were the forerunners to pharmacists.

An apothecary’s garden is known for having healing herbs and plants with restorative properties for people’s wellbeing and health.

People would go to an apothecary to ensure they were not selecting and consuming a highly toxic plant. Apothecary plants can be traced back to Egyptian times and earlier.

On Wednesday 13 September the charity will be celebrating its 10th birthday with an event set to be attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

This garden was designed by Andy Grant, and created by staff, volunteers, and people using the charity’s programmes.

The pond, the trees, and the pergola were donated by 2022 Hampton Court Silver winning, Macmillan Legacy Garden: Gift the Future, designed by

Sean A. Pritchard.

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust the Oxford Design Company donated trees from their 2023 RHS Malvern Spring Show award winning garden, Wilder Spaces to the project.

Lindengate gardens are open to the public between Wednesday-Fridays 11am-4pm and Saturdays 1-4pm.

On Saturday mornings between 10am-1pm Lindengate runs a volunteering group for young people aged between 13-18 called ‘Green Volunteens’.

The charity is in search of new volunteers for the programme from 14 October, for a new group which will run parallel to the current one. Students volunteering to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Award, as well as youngsters interested in nature, are encouraged to join.

All activities are nature based and focused on conservation, bushcraft, heritage skills and maintaining the gardens.

More details can be found by emailing Jenny Morris here.

Two new trustees have been appointed to the charity Dr Judy White and Brian Brady.

Lindengate runs short and longer term wellbeing and nature based sessions supporting people who are feeling socially isolated. It also assists people who may be experiencing mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress or struggling to return to work after a period of sick leave.

Its courses run from 11 October until 22 November between 9:30am-12:30pm.