So money does grow on trees...

One of the best private gardens in UK has raised half a million for charity

- ADAM DUTTON News Reporter

A NURSERY owner has spent 27 years transforming the land outside his home into a spectacular oasis now considered one of the finest private gardens in Britain.

John Massey's garden bursts with glorious summer colour on the edge of the Black Country.

Mr Massey, 76, has spent almost three decades devoted to his labour of love which features 20,000 different plants, trees and shrubs across a ten-acre site.

But the four-time Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist says he needs to nurture his plot eight hours a day, seven days a week to keep it looking beautiful all year round.

He also opens up the four seasons garden near Kingswinford to the public to raise money for charity and has recently reached the incredible milestone of raising half a million pounds.

Mr Massey took control of his family's Ashwood Nurseries business next door when he was just 18.

But he stepped away from day-to-day duties in 2000 to focus on his passion.

Mr Massey is considered one of the horticultural industry’s most respected plantsmen and his tranquil oasis has been hailed as one of the best private gardens in the country.

Since it began life as a patch of grass in 1998, the garden has evolved to feature UK trees and plants alongside rarer and more exotic species from Japan, South Africa and Turkey.

Mr Massey said: “The garden hasn't really been planned, it’s just evolved over 27 years.

“We bigheadedly say we're a garden for every day of the year and that you would hopefully find something in flower every day you came.

“There's hundreds and thousands of different plants, we're all plant nutters and it’s a full-time job looking after it.