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I remember back in the mid 1980s there was a scheme in Lincolnshire UK where you could just turn up at a house and go into their back garden to admire their plants - only gardens owned by people taking part in the scheme, obviously. Doesn't seem to exist anymore, and I guess I'm not surprised,

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There are also various events where you can visit historical buildings, and some include private homes. A lot of them seem to require booking these days whereas it used to be more just turn up.

Many listed here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

The National Garden Scheme is still a thing.

https://ngs.org.uk/who-we-are/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/

Thanks, but I think that is more gardens that are owned by people with professional gardeners and other caretakers. The scheme I was thinking of was more individuals. I remember looking in to a small bungalow garden, where the owner proudly showed off her border plants, and offered us some cuttings.

This was definitely also a 'thing' when I was growing up in Somerset, I think they just called it a 'garden open day' or similar, but I can distinctly remember wandering around one massive garden and nearly walking straight into the pond covered in Duckweed.

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