10 Downing Street is opening its doors for a one-day-only sneak peek at its gardens – and the general public are invited

London is hands down adorable, and by adorable we do mean a-door-able – namely, stacked with hundreds of seriously prestigious, legendary and usually gated doors all keeping the secrets of some of the city's most stunning and historic homes and gardens. One of the most private and prestigious is that shiny black door on Downing Street – number 10, to be exact. And thanks to London Open Gardens Festival, the hallowed halls of the PM’s pied à terre will be swinging open its doors. And you could have a good old snoop.

A handful of lucky Londoners will be able to have a good old gander around the gorgeous gardens that get slightly less coverage than its front facing patio. As part of the London Open Gardens Festival, there will be two tours taking place in early June which will allow people to have a wander through the extensive garden. There will be 48 spaces in total, with 24 spots on each tour, both taking place on 6th June and allotted by ballot.

London Open Gardens (LOG) is an annual fundraising event which gives the general public the chance to gawp at some of the most gorgeous green spaces across the city which are usually firmly off limits. There are over 120 participating gardens this year scattered across each borough, including spaces like The Floating Garden in King’s Cross, Draper’s Hall Garden, William Morris Society, and Spurgeon Estate Secret Garden to name a smattering.

Number 10’s gardens were originally constructed back in 1736, spanning half an acre over an open lawn with rose-beds (commissioned by Margaret Thatcher), statues from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth, and dozens of different horticultural species which are kept in immaculate shape, putting your dead rosemary plant in your kitchen window-box to great shame.

You won’t be going it alone at the tours either with Wikipedia and a dream, as there will be gardeners on hand to answer any questions about the gardens, spilling the details on all the wildlife, botanicals, upkeep, and probably even some tips for your own sorry state of green affairs too.

You’ll have to enter the ballot if you want to get a space on the tour, which you can do via the festival’s website. The ballot closes on Tuesday 5th May and it’s free to enter – but there aren't that many spots left so you might want to apply sooner rather than later.

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