Hidden Gardens
FRI 11 – SUN 13 JUL 2025
What is Hidden Gardens of Frome?
It’s an annual event when gardeners around Frome open their gardens to the public. Last year over 40 gardens were open and we sold more than 1,100 programmes. Some of these are large, formal gardens but most are small or medium spaces in various stages of development! The key thing is that the gardeners are keen to share their space, their plans, and their achievements.
When is Hidden Gardens of Frome happening in 2025?
It will be in its traditional slot at the last weekend of the Festival, Friday 11th to Sunday 13th July. We’ve had some discussions about the challenges of those dates, but the synergy with the Frome Festival in terms of additional visitors to Frome, extra tickets sold for Festival events and people having time that weekend to take in some of the gardens is the main factor. For many people, Hidden Gardens of Frome is the highlight of the Frome Festival!
How do I get involved?
If you are interested in opening your garden for Hidden Gardens of Frome 2025, please email FromeHiddenGardens2022@outlook.com or click the button below and the Hidden Gardens team will contact you for a chat and probably arrange a visit to make sure you understand the process. These visits are non-judgemental, we know our visitors enjoy all sorts of gardens in all states of preparation / tidiness / wildness but they do allow us to check for any hazards that need to be highlighted and talk about potential parking issues etc.
What’s expected if I choose to open?
You’ll be asked to provide a couple of sentences describing your garden, and you’ll be included in the programme. Prior to the event we distribute numbered signs to be displayed on the days you are open, as well as some directional arrow signs. Ideally we ask gardeners to open at least two of the three days so that people have flexibility about how they tour around town – and also to minimise the impact of wet days. Standard opening hours are from 10:30am to 4:30pm each day. During that time visitors will just turn up and wander around, although they do appreciate having someone on hand to answer any questions – or just to have a chat.
What about the money?
The programmes are sold to raise funds for Frome Festival, over £5,000 in 2024. Hidden Gardens of Frome is one of the biggest contributors to Festival funds. We also encourage gardeners to offer plant sales or refreshments in support of your own favourite cause.
Do I need special insurance?
No, Hidden Gardens of Frome is part of Frome Festival, and the Festival insurance provides public liability cover. You should still highlight any obvious or unusual risks to your visitors, like slippery paths, loose steps, or bee hives.
Photo credit – Fiona Humphreys / Frome Wessex Photographic (2024)
2024 Review
from Andy Jones, Hidden Gardens Coordinator
Once again this year’s Hidden Gardens event exceeded expectations! Between July 12 – 14 there were hundreds of people wandering around town, visiting some of the 45 sites that opened their garden gates to the public across those three days. One of the less obvious benefits of the event is that complete strangers recognise fellow enthusiasts just by sight of our eye-catching programme, and start chatting about where they’ve been and what they’ve enjoyed. That social interaction is of course lubricated with liberal cups of tea and slices of cake, sold by our volunteer gardeners to benefit their own favourite good causes, and this year that amounted to an additional £3,300 for groups like Fair Frome, Dorothy House, Purple Elephant amongst many others. I really do thank all those gardeners (and non-gardening partners) who worked so hard to make each visit to their garden special.
But of course the primary beneficiary, and the main reason I run this event, is to support Frome Festival. Somehow, our little town of Frome manages to stage a 10 day Festival that engages thousands of people across all age ranges, with over 200 events across more than 40 venues – and the revenue from Hidden Gardens programme sales is a major contributor to making that happen. This year you bought over 750 hard copies of the programme, with another 227 people choosing to download a copy from our website. That brought in over £4,500 towards next year’s Frome Festival. So as well as thanking Mercer Design for the design and artwork, and the Cheese and Grain, Hunting Raven, Ellenbray, Discover Frome and Victoria Park Café for selling those programmes, I really do thank everyone single one of you who bought a programme and came out to enjoy the Hidden Gardens of Frome.
It’s all happening again next year, July 11 – 13, so if you are thinking it might be fun to open your garden as part of the 2025 event please do get in touch. If you can persuade some neighbours to join in, that’s even better as we always find that local clusters of gardens get higher footfall.