Discover Gardens Bursting with Wildlife
You are invited to join us for the exclusive opportunity to explore five stunning open gardens bursting with wildlife around York - hosted by Peter Williams, Deidre Falcon, Professor Alastair Fitter, Dr Geoff Oxford and Professor Sir John Lawton.
About the gardens
Find out more about the five wildlife-friendly gardens being opened exclusively to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust members...
Sunday 5th May
Weathervane House, Seaton Ross
Peter William’s large woodland garden with acid loving plants including rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and other interesting shrubs. Flowering trees and shade tolerant herbaceous perennials including Trilliums, Camassias, Ferns. Meadow area and woodland managed for wildlife and home to owls, goldcrests and sparrow hawks.
Tregonning, Ellerton
‘Tregonning’ is Deirdre Falcon’s 1½ acre, fully organic family garden bursting with wildlife and contained within old ‘Enclosure Award’ hedges full of tree sparrows. Over many years, composts and mulches have been extensively used to feed and condition the sandy loam. Fruit and vegetables are grown for family use together with a ¾ acre wildlife meadow, several wildlife ponds and two wells. Separate garden areas, each with herbaceous borders feature a collection of old roses combined with hardy perennials.
Monday 6th May
Fossgyl
Professor Alastair Fitter’s long 1 acre garden stretches from Huntington Road to the River Foss. There are perennial borders, an alpine bed and alpine house, a peat-free ‘peat’ bed, a woodland garden, a traditional orchard with apple trees that are nearly 100 years old mixed with more recently planted specimen trees and shrubs, a meadow with fritillaries in spring and orchids in summer, wet woodland by the river with oxlips in spring, and a large wildlife pond fringed with native wetland plants. There are over 1200 species of plant in the garden, including over 250 natives.
519 Huntington Road
519 Huntington Road belongs to Roma and Dr Geoff Oxford. A small, triangular corner plot with 'tooth' flower beds, shrubs/perennials, pond and a 30 sq. m meadow in the larger front garden, and wide borders, pond and gravel area at the back.
The Hayloft, 12 Holburns Croft
Dot and Professor Sir John Lawton welcome you to explore their formal(ish) front garden, more informal back garden, orchard and a new ‘wilding’ area. There are a good variety of interesting plants in beds range from hot and dry to cool and damp, plus a small open meadow, a larger orchard meadow, and a two ponds. The whole garden is managed to be wildlife-friendly.
The gardens will be open between 12pm and 4:30pm with last admission at 4:00pm. Advance booking is essential using the links above - please note that you will be required to select a timeslot for arrival at your first garden to help us manage visitor flow.
Refreshments and plants sales will be available in some gardens for a small cash donation.
![Wildlife Gardening Award Plaque 2024](/sites/default/files/styles/spotlight_default/public/2024-03/240219_Wildlife%20Gardening%20Award_Social%202024.jpg?h=7315fc86&itok=aNNW6OdF)
Apply for our Wildlife Gardening Award
Feeling inspired to go wild for wildlife in your garden this year?
Whether you have a large garden or a small balcony, your outside space can provide a vital stepping-stone across the landscape for wildlife, and form part of a network of natural havens linking urban green spaces with the countryside.
With an estimated 24 million gardens in the UK, the way we care for our outdoor space can make a BIG difference to the natural world.