The gates to Abbots Ripton Hall will swing open again this summer to welcome thousands of visitors to a spectacular charity garden show.

After a two-year break, the Abbots Ripton Garden Show, supported by The Hunts Post, will be back from June 27-29 with the opportunity to get gardening tips from the experts, buy specialist plants and gifts, browse the show gardens and classic cars, and help give an array of charities a huge fundraising boost. The 2012 event raised more than £65,000.

There is also the chance to take a stroll around the Abbots Ripton Hall gardens – said to be among the finest private gardens in East Anglia.

The event opens on Friday, June 27, with a Gala Evening from 6-9pm when 800 guests will enjoy wine and canapés as well as a view of the gardens and some of the other attractions. Tickets are available for a minimum donation of £15.

The two public days – on the Saturday and Sunday – run from 10am until 5pm and, as well as all of the attractions above, will feature the Huntingdon and Peterborough WI Tea Garden, 100 garden and gift stalls, a food fayre and brass bands playing throughout the weekend.

For many, however, the main attraction are the gardens of the hall, home to Lord and Lady de Ramsey.

Head gardener Gavin Smith said: “We have been restoring and improving the gardens of Abbots Ripton Hall over the past 16 years I have worked here. There are more than 1,200 species of plants numbered and named, which we are expanding all the time.

“We have many fine established trees giving the garden a good backbone and we are continually replanting trees to give the garden a future. We have also started an oak tree collection where most of our trees have been grown from acorns by myself – the acorns have been wild collected from all round the world, many of which are unavailable in England.

“There are areas of fine close mown lawns and areas of natural grass for wildlife and wild flowers. The gardens are cut in half by a managed waterway which is used to water the garden through the summer.”

INFORMATION: For an invitation to the gala event, email nigel@garden-shows.com or call 07802 282193. Tickets to the garden show are £8 with children under 15 free and will be available on the gate. For more information visit www.abbotsriptonhall.co.uk.