October is the time of year, for me at least to reflect back on the garden year and what’s happened in the garden. I’ll look at planting and think about what’s worked and what hasn’t. I’ll think about changes that might be made and what that might entail. It’s also the time of year to… Continue Reading
A Day Trip to Helmsley Gardens from York
We don’t often have guest blog pieces but I wanted to make an exception for this one. Sophie and Adam of the website We Dream of Travel came to the garden as part of their research for things to do in York and beyond. They loved the garden and were happy for me to share… Continue Reading
September 2020 – I have a couple of plants I am really fond of
A couple of plants I’m really fond of are Dicentra formosa or Wild Bleeding Heart and Kniphofia rooperi, the red hot poker plant They are the first plants I learnt as a child in the garden I grew up in. You don’t seem to see wild bleeding heart much these days but it is a… Continue Reading
August 2020 – Weeding like crazy
One of the things about a garden being left to its own devices for three months is that everything will flourish. And by that I mean everything. Beautiful shrubs and plants flower next to and frequently intertwined with weeds. Sometimes I have found myself lifting the plant I want to stay put in order to… Continue Reading
July 2020 – Back to work
There was much celebration on my part when I got the news that I was coming off furlough early. I came back to work in early June because of the enormous generosity of everyone who donated to #OurSecretGarden appeal to raise £50,000 to help secure Helmsley Walled Garden from closure. We are within £1,000 of… Continue Reading
June 2020 – Gardening – is it good for you?
As the lockdown continues and still only Tony and myself in the garden it can sometimes seem a bit of a mammoth task to keep on top of these five acres. Fortunately for us the incredible work done by the whole team before lockdown means that great swathes of the garden continue to look marvellous.… Continue Reading
May 2020 – Planting in difficult areas
I’ve hijacked Tricia’s column this month because she and Heather are furloughed to help conserve limited garden funds. She is busy at home with her garden and I got a call from her asking a familiar garden query, ground cover for difficult areas. I’m pretty sure that if Tricia was writing this, she would have… Continue Reading
April 2020 – Difficult Times
I had already written my article for April about all the great things we were doing in the garden, the events we were running and workshops people could join. Since then, the seriousness of Coronavirus has put everything up in the air and into perspective. Helmsley Walled Garden will now not be opening on Saturday… Continue Reading
Coronavirus Update – Monday May 11th 2020
Join our Fundraising Appeal Helmsley Walled Garden is still currently closed. We are saddened to have to do this but the health of all our staff, volunteers, visitors and supporters is the most important thing to us right now. We will be watching the situation closely and will reopen when it is safe to do… Continue Reading
