By Phoebe Jobling
A pensioner has spent 27 years transforming the garden behind his bungalow into a stunning oasis which is now considered to be ‘one of the finest private gardens in Britain.’ John Massey, 76, has spent almost three decades devoted to creating his dream 10-acre garden behind his home in Dudley in the Black Country, which features 20,000 different plants, trees and shrubs. What started out as a patch of grass in 1998 is now a gorgeous garden bursting with colour in the glorious summer sun. The four-time Chelsea Flower Show gold medalist says he lovingly tends to his plot eight hours a day, seven days a week, to keep it looking beautiful all year round. Sign up to our Manchester property newsletter here He even opens up his garden to the public to raise money for charity, and has recently reached the impressive milestone of raising half a million pounds. John is considered one of the horticultural industry鈥檚 ‘most respected’ plantsmen and his tranquil garden has been hailed as one of the best private gardens in the country. The garden features UK trees and plants alongside rarer and more exotic species from Japan, South Africa and Turkey. “The garden hasn鈥檛 really been planned, it鈥檚 just evolved over 27 years,” explained John. 鈥淲e bigheadedly say we鈥檙e a garden for every day of the year and that you would hopefully find something in flower every day you came. 鈥淭here鈥檚 hundreds and thousands of different plants, we鈥檙e all plant nutters and it’s a full-time job looking after it. 鈥淚 usually get up at 7am and take the dogs out and I go around the garden all day from there. Then there鈥檚 the last walk at night to check for snails and slugs, that鈥檚 usually 10pm until 11pm. “It really is an all-day thing. I started by the house and just moved out – and just kept going and going. I absolutely love it all.” The garden is set against the backdrop of the scenic Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. Each corner is bursting with vibrant flowers and an abundance of greenery, with a range of conifers and shrubs surrounded by ornate pots. John, who has been in horticulture for 57 years, says the space has become so vast it now requires four people to help him maintain it. His inspiration came from the late Princess Greta Sturdza, a Norwegian who established one of France鈥檚 finest gardens – Le Vasterival, in Normandy. John, who was previously awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s highest honour the Victoria Medal of Honour, said: “I was privileged to meet the late princess Greta Sturdza, a Norwegian. “We became sort of friends and she invited me over and had, in my mind, the greatest garden that I’ve ever seen. “She taught me how to garden. Her big thing was transparency pruning, you prune every tree, shrub and conifer so it was its own sculpture in its own right.” John inherited his love of gardening from his grandad, but says he got into the industry by chance with no formal horticulture training at all. John prides himself on creating an all-year-round space, meaning that flowers and plants are always growing. John, who began running the family nursery which sits next door when he was just 18, said: 鈥淪ome beds are replanted twice a year. 鈥淚f we want to keep people coming back we need change. We work on three layers, the big trees we raise the canopies and lift the branches. “We lift the canopy of the shrubs so that we can work under that. “Witch-hazel鈥檚 are often considered to be most in abundance, with John鈥檚 Garden home to over 40 different varieties.” The garden comes alive in summer with blue, pink and white hydrangeas, while autumn and winter sees various cornus and spindle trees. Spring is full of hellebores, bulbs and different narcissus, anemones and viburnums. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always trying to get happy plants, I wouldn鈥檛 want to grow a plants that weren’t healthy,” he said. “There are certain plants we don鈥檛 grow as we鈥檙e a real frost pocket. We try and grow plants that are hardy in this area. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a wonderful selection of conifers, both dwarf and small. Then there鈥檚 witch hazel, we鈥檝e got 40 odd varieties. “We鈥檝e got the grass bed and the asters which look their best in September and October. “I love it all, I do love the whole garden. We had the Danish horticulture society here the other day and they said each corner there鈥檚 something different to look at. I think you should walk gardens both ways “The garden is constantly changing, with something majoring on different groups of plants right the way through the season.” John stepped away from day-to-day duties at Ashwood Nurseries next door in 2000 to focus on his garden. The site is open to the public every Saturday between February and December at just 拢8 a ticket. John and his team have won more than 50 gold medals at royal flower shows, with four of them coming from the coveted Chelsea Flower Show. They also boast four Farrer Trophies, two Williams Memorial Medals and two Gardeners鈥 World Live gold medals. He added: 鈥淚鈥檝e been in horticulture for 57 years and I’m still learning, it鈥檚 one of those subjects where the more you learn, the more you realise you don鈥檛 know. “A friend of mine described horticulture as the slowest form of art as it takes 20 years to reach its maturity. “We used to show a little alpine plant called Lewisia. What we tried to do is take a particular genus and try and get it to the highest possible level. “Then take on another family of plants and try and get them to that level. The beauty of plants is you don鈥檛 have to be monogamous and can keep building them up.” Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Since opening to the public in 2003, the garden has raised more than 拢500,000 for charity. John added: “I wouldn’t like to think how much I’ve spent on it, I wouldn’t know. It鈥檚 a passion, but it would be frightening. “The main thing is we’ve raised a lot of money for good causes in the process. “The garden is constantly changing right the way through the season, and I love it.”