BOLTON School old girl and celebrity gardener Carol Klein is asking the public to dig deep and help raise the final £4.8 million for a new Royal Horticultural Society Garden.

Carol, who grew up in Walkden, will be an ambassador for the new £30 million RHS Garden Bridgewater.

This week she teamed up Nick Knowles, another RHS Ambassador, to launch the final fundraising push to the country's fifth RHS garden can open its gates next summer.

The appeal comes as it the creation of a ‘Mother Orchard’ for the North West was announced. The latest of many spectacular gardens in the pipeline is a traditional orchard garden on a three-and-a-half-acre plot which will wrap around the original 1834 Garden Cottage.

Carol said: ““RHS Bridgewater is a dream come true not just for the UK but especially for the North West. It’s a vital project for the advancement of horticulture, for local employment and to engage local communities in gardening. So good for body, soul and spirit. That’s why it’s imperative to do whatever we can to help the RHS bring it to life.”

She added: "One of the most important elements of RHS Garden Bridgewater is The Orchard Garden where endangered varieties, especially those local to the North West will be propagated and protected for future generations.”

Nick said: “At 154 acres, RHS Garden Bridgewater will bring a sizeable patch of world class horticulture to within an hour’s drive of 8.2m people in the region, delivering significant benefits to people and the environment. This heritage orchard, which will save rare varieties of pear and apple for future generations, is just one example. We want everyone to help us make this exciting project happen.”

The Orchard Garden will be the largest of the 11 gardens within the majestic eleven acre Weston Walled Garden, one of the biggest walled gardens in the country. It will be created on the site of the original orchard which existed at Worsley New Hall in the 1840

The orchard will feature a mix of apple, pear, plum, cherry and damson trees, as well as soft fruits, echoing traditional orchards with trees grouped naturalistically around the garden rather than in regimented rows. The mixed planting will encourage wildlife biodiversity and the old-fashioned rootstock selection will also add greatly to the lifespan of the trees.

It will include 37 varieties of heritage apple trees, keeping rare cultivars alive for future generations and becoming the first ‘mother orchard’ for the North West

The orchard will also include 14 varieties of heritage pear, first grown at Bridgewater over 170 years ago.

The focal point of the garden will be the Garden Cottage, the distinctive Gothic-style cottage built for Worsley New Hall’s head gardener in 1834.

Donations to the garden will help to create hundreds of jobs, from tree surgeons to therapists, as well as apprenticeships and learning opportunities, with up to 7000 local school children set to benefit free-of-charge each year from having this abundant, green resource on their doorstep. More info on supporting the project donating to the project can be found on the RHS website at www.rhs.org.uk.