A GARDENER hopes to bring “joy” to people’s lives when she opens her garden to raise money for charity.

Penny Gluckstein, of Highwood Hill, Mill Hill, built her garden from scratch when she moved there in 1960 and has been working on cultivating it ever since.

The 73-year-old is inviting people to tour it during an open garden weekend, for the North London Hospice, in Finchley.

She said: “I hope people get a lot of joy from coming to my garden, I’m very proud of it.

“It’s quite a good garden these days and we’ve developed it from scratch. I love showing it off because I’m extremely proud of it.

“People love it when they come, they walk in and say ‘hey have lived around here for years and never realised it was here. They say it’s wonderful.”

Earlier this month, it was featured as garden of the week in Garden News, a feat she is extremely proud of.

She praised her gardener, Matt Leader, who has been working with her for six years. Mrs Gluckstein has made a number of changes to her garden over the years, but she is proudest of the way she created a lake and a woodland in 1987.

She also converted what had been a rose garden into a gravel garden.

She added: “The gravel garden is interesting, it’s a dry garden, with Mediterranean plants and South African bulbs, which you couldn’t grow in a normal border.

“The lake has koi fish which people love to feed.

“We’ve also got the blossom out in the garden now, the rhododendrons and the camellias are out too, that’s why we open in May.”

Tea and plants will also be on sale during the event, at her house in Highwood Ash, Highwood Hill, from 2pm to 5pm on May 14.

For more information, email pennygluckstein@gmail.com or call 020 8959 1183.