01 February 2002

In only three years, Shirly Clemo and her husband have raised more than £60,000 for charities by opening their 30 acre gardens to the public and selling plants from their Pine Lodge Nurseries at Cuddra near St Austell.

Furthermore, they have created local employment. Visitor demand is now so high that to keep everything in good order, in addition to working full-time themselves, they employ three full-time gardeners, another person in the nursery, and Ann who is employed while training as a Modern Apprentice.

A wide range of people visit Pine Lodge. In addition to horticulture students and professional gardeners, they receive visitors from the National Trust and other charities and groups as well as individuals.

"Bookings are tremendous," said Mrs Clemo. "Already, in January, we have received bookings for 200 coaches to visit later in the year when we are open from mid-March to the end of October."

"Pine Lodge is situated very close to the Eden Project, and a lot of people come on to us after they've been there. On average, we have about 28,000 people in a year. We're on the Gulf Stream and, consquently, the gardens are able to support a great diversity of plants."

"We are in our seventies and would like the gardens to continue, so we intend to set up a charitable trust that will take over from us eventually," said Mrs Clemo. "We propagate everything from the garden - in the last year, we have brought on about 16,000 plants. We also obtain seeds from all over the world and propagate them as well."

"Since joining us as a Modern Apprentice, Ann has progressed very well. She uses her own initiative, and she is very enthusiastic and wants to learn," said Mrs Clemo.

"We are able to leave her to get on with various jobs on her own, and that helps to reduce our workload and release us to do other things in the nursery and gardens."

"Apart from those commerical benefits, it's nice to teach Ann and be able to pass on my knowledge - it's good to see a bright young person learning skills for the future."