Ever since we became a charity, back in 2011, Stone Lane Gardens, near Chagford, has strived to create a friendly welcome and a feeling of community. We wanted to encourage our visitors to return time after time, in different seasons, and to feel they were part of the evolution of the garden. To this end we created a ‘Friends’ scheme. A yearly membership that gave unrestricted access to the garden all year round, newsletters and other benefits, for a small fee. A lot of those ‘Friends’ have been very loyal to the garden and supported us in many ways over the years.

Now we are taking the idea one step further.

I mentioned the word ‘community’ earlier. We are a charity that is very much a part of the community. We provide free trees for community planting projects. We provide a healthy and imaginative outdoor space for local schools to visit and explore. Local residents volunteer with us – and gain a tremendous amount of satisfaction and wellbeing from doing so. Our trustees are residents from the surrounding communities, who use their skills and enthusiasm to help the charity. We put on events and exhibitions for the local communities to enjoy. And we maintain an attractive outdoor space for local artists to display their work to the public.

The local communities are important to us. We want to encourage as many local residents as possible to visit the gardens and enjoy what we strive so hard to create and maintain. This year we have introduced a new season ticket that is incredibly good value for money. For just £1 extra (yes, just one extra pound) your admission ticket becomes a season ticket. Giving you free entry to the gardens for the rest of the year.

And in a year where prices seem to be going up and up, this enables anyone to enjoy the garden, whatever their income. No catches, no hidden costs, this is a genuine offer that is intended to benefit everyone in the surrounding communities. It can also be used by holidaymakers, but we see it primarily as benefitting our local residents. The only thing we ask, is that you fill in a little form when paying, that allows us to claim gift-aid from his majesty’s revenue and customs. That means the government will give us just over £2 for everyone who takes up the season ticket offer. And you get unlimited free admissions for the rest of the year for just £1 extra!

So please come along to Stone Lane Gardens and enjoy our peaceful, relaxing woodland and water garden. Dogs on leads have always been very welcome., with lots of interesting smells for them to sniff. And our wildflower meadows in the new arboretum are a lovely place to stroll and admire the stunning dartmoor views.

With our annual sculpture exhibition starting on May 30 and several events through the summer, we really hope you will return time and again to enjoy this community asset on your doorstep.

The garden is open five days a week, all year round. Tea garden open during the high season. For details, see stonelanegardens.com

Paul Bartlett is garden manager at Stone Lane Gardens