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
Coronavirus Update – Monday March 23rd 2020
Coronavirus Update – Monday March 23rd 2020 Helmsley Walled Garden will now not be opening on Saturday 28th March as planned. 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. This is a difficult time and… Continue Reading
March 2020 – Put that mower away and help bees
You’d need to have your fingers in your ears and over your eyes simultaneously, (never an easy feat) not to know that bees and other insects are having a hard time of it right now. Some pretty bleak statistics show what they are up against. One-third of the UK’s bee population has disappeared over the past decade… Continue Reading
February 2020 – More about the winter garden
I still can’t stop thinking about planning for the winter garden even though there are only a few weeks left of winter as I write. I’ve been thinking mostly about scent which is a valuable asset to a garden in any season but it seems particularly important in winter when there is less in the… Continue Reading
The Secret Garden
The latest film adaptation of The Secret Garden will be in cinemas nationwide from April 17th 2020. Helmsley Walled Garden was one of a number of locations in and around Helmsley and we are looking forward to seeing the Garden on ‘the big screen’. The Secret Garden Weekend May 29th… Continue Reading
