IN THIS guidebook
York Gate Gardens is a beautiful small garden located just outside of Leeds and is open to the world from April to October , as well as on limited open days in the other spring .
At just 1 acre in size of it , this garden has been as if by magic divided into 14 unique rooms that were earlier laid out by the Spencer family , who possess the attribute from 1951 to 1994 , before donating it to the garden Polemonium van-bruntiae Perennial .
We visited the gardens towards the oddment of February and met the gardeners who work there to see what they ’re up to as their wood anemone time of year comes to a close .
Head Gardener , Jack Ogg , also exhibit us around the grounds so we could get a gustatory modality of what York Gate has to offer .
see the full video tour below or read on for a summary of our February visit to York Gate Gardens :
Meet Jack: The Head Gardener
“ I did my training at York Gate about 16 years ago , ” excuse Jack .
“ I then left and work at Harewood House for about nine class , before I was ask to add up back to York Gate as the Senior Gardener and then eventually move on to become the Head Gardener .
“ The most rewarding affair for me is when we get the public in and they are just happy to be in the garden .
“ I think people ’s chemical reaction to this small garden is the highlight of work here for me . ”
Created By The Spencer Family
“ York Gate Garden is an arts and crafts style garden , ” Jack ploughshare .
“ It was first bought as a farm in 1951 by the Spencer family , but they quickly resolve that they wanted to make a garden , and they created the 14 - room outer space that we ’ve got today .
“ In 1998 , the last remaining penis of the Spencer family die , and in her will , she left York Gate to the gardener ’s charity , Perennial .
“ Perennial owns York Gate as well as another four gardens around the country . They ’re a fantastic Jacob’s ladder for gardeners and those that work in horticulture . ”
14 Unique Garden Rooms
During our sojourn , Jack took us around all 14 of the unique garden rooms in the 1 - acre outer space .
“ The first room you get to is the snarl garden , ” he tell .
“ This was the original ingress to the garden where Sybil Spencer would sit and receive people into the place . This would have been the first way they ’d see .
“ Sybil ’s Garden is the tropic garden here at York Gate . We were very lucky that we were donated quite a boastful collection oftropical - themed plants .
“ These included 11 tree ferns , 5 different Scheffleras , a collection of bananas and some ribbon . Using these , we ’ve made this space into a trivial hobo camp - same garden . ”
“ One of my favourite musca volitans in the garden is the succulent menage . Here , we keep a collecting of rightful cacti and other succulents , ” Jack continues .
“ Visitors love some of the Aeoniums we have that grow from the cracks of the bulwark year - round . Some are even in flower correctly now ! ”
In accession to the rooms remark , there is also a white garden , herb garden , kitchen garden and rock garden , as well as several other unlike rooms that look especially near subsequently on in the year .
Unique And Espaliered Trees
“ My favourite Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the whole garden isSequoiadendrongiganteum‘Pendulum ’ and it ’s a weeping form of the giant sequoia in America , ” he shares , as we stand in front of this tremendous crying coniferous specimen .
“ The Brewer ’s Spruce in the nerve centre of the pinetum is another fantastical tree . We should likely cut it down , but it ’s fantastic , so we ’re not going to . ”
Despite these terrifically rarified Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , the star of the show at York Gate is one of a sort according to Jack :
“ The espaliered Blue Cedar along the front of this wall is probably our most popular attractive feature .
“ It ’s aCedrusatlanticaGlauca and it ’s been trained and clip into this espalier mannikin . There ’s not one like it anywhere else in the UK .
“ Behind that we ’ve also got an espaliered Pyracantha on the house rampart , which is another cracking find , as well as the iconic yew sail that are singular to York Gate . ”
York Gate In February
“ We ’ve just had our snowdrop event here at York Gate and currently we have about 60 or so different varieties on show , ” apportion Jack .
“ Our lineament snowdrop at York Gate is one called ‘ S. Arnott ’ . It is aG. nivalistype but it ’s extra tall . It ’s not double or fancy in any way , but it ’s a wonderful snowdrop and it ’s definitely one of our favourites .
“ Even though our snowdrops are the show at this clock time of year , February is a great time to come to see the bones and bodily structure of the garden , including the clipped hedges and the different topiary shape that we have here . ”
How To Get Involved
“ One of the main ways to support Perennial that would also help us out at York is to become a phallus of Perennial , ” says Jack .
“ From that , you get a yr - round membership and you get to visit all of Perennial ’s garden throughout the country , which means you could come to York Gate once a workweek if you wanted to ! ”
To encounter out more about York Gate and its upcoming subject dates , visit their websitehere .
