Brothers Reg and Jeff Bolton are preparing to throw open their garden gates on Saturday. SUE BRADLEY discovers how their horticultural hobby is one of the things that binds them together.

ONE year and nine months and a garden fence is all that separates brothers Reg and Jeff Bolton.

“Our mother was very precise about the age gap when people asked,” laughs Jeff, the 82-year-old younger sibling. “The only time we haven’t lived close to each other was when we were doing our National Service, with Reg going into the RAF while I was posted to the Gordon Highlanders, in which I served as a cook.”

The brothers were born and bred in Upper Stratton St Margaret and lived for several years on the edge of a four-acre market garden kept by their father, another Reg, who was well known as a blacksmith at Swindon’s railway works and a prominent member of the local Baptist chapel.

Subsequently they were each given parcels of this land in St Philip’s Road, on which they built neighbouring bungalows and created beautiful gardens, both of which will be opening on Saturday July 29 to raise money for the Thamesdown Hydrotherapy Pool.

Horticulture is a passion shared by 84-year-old Reg and his brother, although Jeff says it wasn’t always the case.

“Our father grew vegetables as a part-time business on top of his 48-hour working week at the railway works and used to joke that I didn’t know where the bottom of the garden was, because I wasn’t into gardening,” he admits.

Despite this unpromising start, Jeff went on to discover his green fingers in some style and became a renowned produce grower, winning a number of prizes in competitions run by the National Vegetable Society.

The retired railway works employee still likes to keep his hand in today, with a large section of his garden devoted to edible crops of which he produces enough to feed himself and wife Pamela, along with Reg and other members of the family — and there’s enough space for a friend to grow his own too.

Visitors to the open garden event will be sure to pick up a top tip or two from Jeff’s well-ordered plot, which he’s adapted as he’s got older to ensure he doesn’t overdo things. One of his biggest breakthroughs has been growing potatoes in large plastic pots filled with a special mix of compost, which provides bumper yields without the need to dig.

He’s also a resourceful recycler, with train carriage lampshades salvaged from the bin during his days as a railway works inspector being used to keep birds from pecking at his brassicas.

Along with his vegetables, Jeff is keen on his ornamental plants, with beds and borders filled with an assortment of shrubs, and vibrant bedding and hanging baskets.

Reg shares his brother’s fondness for colourful annuals, although his main horticultural interests have a more Oriental bias, with a small Japanese-style garden complete with authentic features such as raked gravel, standing rocks and colourful acers and an enviable collection of bonsai trees.

Over the past 19 years he has exhibited his best specimens with the British Federation of Bonsai Societies at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, netting 17 gold medals and two silver gilts.

Reg began experimenting with the time-honoured art of growing miniature trees in 1969 and really got going when he met a like-minded man while working as a psychiatric social worker in Swindon.

“My first bonsai tree came from an elm sucker growing from a felled tree,” he explains.

“Back then I didn’t know much about it but I started to develop an interest when I was working in social services and another social worker who was interested in bonsai joined the team. We chatted and it went from there.”

Reg, who was involved in setting up the Swindon and District Bonsai Society in 1977 and exhibits at Chelsea with fellow member Terry Adams, enjoys creating miniature trees from deciduous material such as maple, elm or Gingko biloba. He starts off with seedlings or training material from specialist nurseries, and he’s had a number of successes using a technique called ‘air layering’.

Reg and Jeff have been developing their gardens since 1960, around the same time that they built their bungalows, for which they carried out much of the construction work themselves and brought in friends to sort out specialist tasks such as electricity and plumbing.

Retirement has given them much more time to spend on their plots and they hope to keep going as long as their father, who was 99 when he passed away 14 years ago; nevertheless there’s always something to do in the garden and the pair will be busy putting the final touches to their beds and borders ahead of their open gardens.

Grandfather-of-three Jeff is also spending lots of time in the kitchen using his National Service training to bake cakes to serve with teas, while Reg’s partner, Roz Burrowbridge, chair of the Wroughton Floral Arts Society, is preparing to take part in a demonstration with fellow members. Swindon and District Bonsai Society will also be exhibiting during the day.

Last year the brothers raised £1,300 for the hydrotherapy pool in Jeffries Avenue, which helps people recovering from surgery and is entirely funded through public support, and they hope to equal or even beat that total at the weekend.

They’re also looking forward to seeing old friends from workplaces and clubs, who often make a special effort to go along.

“Gardening keeps us alive,” says Jeff. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my garden. I expect I’d sit down watching the television.”

Grandfather-of-two Reg says he believes it’s important to stay active.

“I’m sure gardening is one of the things that keeps me healthy,” he says.

Something else that undoubtedly enhances the quality of life for both brothers is living next door to their sibling.

“Jeff is my brother and my best friend: we do things for each other and we’ve only been separated by National Service,” says Reg.

“We’ve always lived here and seen many changes over the years. We’ve both been very fortunate and we’re pleased to be able to open our gardens to help make life better for others.”

  •  Reg and Jeff Bolton will be opening their gardens at 38 St Philip’s Road from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday, July 29. Entrance is £2 and car parking is by kind permission of the landlady of the Baker’s Arms.