VISITORS from Canada and across the UK attended an open garden in Stretford on Sunday.

Part of the National Garden Scheme(NGS), the near half acre garden ,which belongs to Maureen Sawyer and Duncan Watmough, has been delighting visitors for the past 17 years and helped raised a staggering £35,000 in that time for charity.

The one day annual event attracted 450 visitors to marvel at a series of multi award winning spaces including Mediterranean, ornamental and woodland gardens, which include an organic kitchen garden, a large greenhouse and extensive herbaceous borders, hanging baskets, ponds and a water feature.

Maureen, a former lecturer in art and design, spends up to six hours a day in her garden said: "I am often called a calendar girl because I have a garden for every day of the year."

The couple who were featured on BBC's Look North last week, have also appeared on ITV's Love Your Garden and featured in the Daily Mail Weekend Magazine.

The busiest months for Maureen come during the Spring and the Summer but she believes the rewards of working outside more than make up for the additional effort.

"I absolutely love it, whether it be digging, feeding and seeing things grow from seed. I love the idea of buying a packet of seed and getting 20lb of beans from it.

"I also love the creativity. I spend a whole day arranging and I try not to have to many in pots because they are difficult to maintain and will dry out too quickly."

She adds: "I like being able to eat my own produce and not something from a supermarket, which doesn't taste of anything.

"I also think that people would be a lot less stressed out if they took up gardening. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work but you are not going to get a nice garden by it being easy. Ultimately, you get out what you put in."