Sites for sore eyes
Visiting gardens is one of life’s treats and there are plenty to see in Yorkshire, writes David Overend.
Covid has played havoc with one of the greatest gifts known to the gardener – the ability to visit other people’s gardens and luxuriate in the best that manicured Nature has to offer. Hopefully, 2022 will once again see the garden gates open and the crowds flock through to enjoy perfection for just a few pounds. Yorkshire is blessed with many wonderful gardens and many wonderful gardeners, each going about their business of creating something special; providing something for everyone’s individual tastes.
My own favourites (there are many more I would love to mention but space is at a premium) are those I have visited for years, content that they will remain constant, although also be quite capable of changing and improving.
The first is Newby Hall, near
Ripon, offering intimate corners and breathtaking vistas. To me, it’s a threeseason garden worthy of visiting and re-visiting, along with Harlow Carr, at
Harrogate, which can also boast a feast of colour and shape even in the deepest depths of winter.
Then there’s the delight that is an acre of carefully-crafted gardens at York Gate, at Adel, Leeds. It’s an inspiring and lovinglycreated oasis of peace in a turmoil-ridden world.
Castle Howard, near Malton, has plenty of parkland, plus lakes, but I visit to stroll the walled garden, particularly in early summer.
The same goes for Burton Agnes, on the road to the coast, where the walled gardens offer so many plants and so many ideas that I could spend an entire day breathing in the scents and sensations.
Nostell Priory, near Wakefield, is a National Trust property whose formal gardens are fine but whose magnificent trees, water features and seemingly-endless wildflower meadow make for a cheap and unforgettable day out.
Parcevall Hall, way up in the Dales, is almost a forgotten outpost of horticultural excellence and the place to go for solitude (unless, of course, everyone else has the same idea).
Scampston Hall’s walled garden is another remarkable piece of living art to visit on the way to the seaside, which usually means Bridlington, or, to be more precise, Sewerby Hall, where the parkland falls towards the sea and where the formal gardens bring back childhood memories.
Last, but not least, my own garden – a balm to me every day of every year.
And on my doorstep.