Wildlife-friendly Open Gardens

Sunday 4th May

• The Hayloft, 12 Holburns Croft, York, YO10 5DP - 12pm-4pm 

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 ranging 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.

On street parking is available nearby. Booking essential.

Book your place

Monday 5th May

• Fossgyl, Huntington Road, York, YO32 9PY - 12pm-4pm

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.

On street parking nearby on the Burn Estate. Well behaved dogs are welcome, and the garden is accessible for wheelchairs. Booking essential.

Book your place

• 25 Harlow Avenue, Harrogate, HG2 0AS - 1pm-4pm

A charming small garden in Harrogate where nature is encouraged to thrive, grass is allowed to grow long, and a variety of shrubs and wildlife-friendly planting provide food for the many species which call this garden home.

There is on-street parking available nearby and the garden is accessible for wheelchairs. Well behaved dogs are welcome.

• The Street Community Garden, The Street, 12 Lower Clark St, Scarborough, YO12 7PW - 9am-3pm

This fabulous community growing space has a variety of wildlife-friendly features with raised beds for growing food, pollinator-friendly planting, a container pond, wild areas of brambles, bird feeders, a dead hedge, and native trees and shrubs.

Public car park & on-street parking. The garden is accessible for wheelchairs and well-behaved dogs are welcome.

Sunday 11th May

• Hazelgrove Court Care Home, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, TS12 1LN - 10am-12pm & 2pm-4pm 

Please come along and visit our quirky garden at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, in Saltburn. Our residents were extremely proud to win a wildlife garden award and work hard providing safe havens for our wildlife, including a hedgehog house, butterfly house, squirrel cafe and much more.

Car park on site. The garden is accessible for wheelchairs. Well behaved dogs are welcome.

Sunday 4th May

• Front Garden, 142 Cardigan Rd, Bridlington, YO15 3LR - 11am-4pm

​​​​​​This coastal front garden has only been established during the last year and a half. Repurposed whisky barrels have been used to add height, and improved areas for growing, as the front garden is all gravel on hardcore. The ground level areas have been intensely planted, in pockets of peat free compost, with a mix of wild and cultivated flowers, bushes and small trees with the aim of providing a safe and enticing habitat for wildlife. The front (and back) garden was on the ‘Yorkshire in Bloom’ judges route as part of our Gold-winning ‘Bridlington in Bloom’ coastal town entry in July 2024.

There is on-street parking available nearby and the garden is accessible for wheelchairs. Well behaved dogs are welcome.

Sunday 11th May           

• North Ferriby, HU14 3LB (for full address please phone/text 07519 130333) - 10am-4pm

‘We achieved our Wildlife Garden award in 2023 having ticked all the boxes in our 100 metre long ‘eco garden’. It certainly is more a ‘working garden’ rather than a Chelsea ‘show garden’ but it has everything our local wildlife needs. The four distinct areas of our back garden are; Entertaining, Playing, Formal and Fruit but they are left largely untouched, so we don’t disturb our residents and visitors."

We look forward to welcoming you. Unfortunately, we do not have parking on site.

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th May

• 39 The Oval, Tickhill, Doncaster, DN11 9HF - 11am-3pm

"My front lawn was a real mess, so I decided to make it into a wildlife area with flowering plants throughout the whole year. It also provides habitat for creepy crawlies and in the first year a hedgehog made its home under our front window."

Limited parking. The garden is accessible for wheelchairs and well-behaved dogs are welcome.

Saturday 3rd - Sunday 11th May

• Kippax Wildlife Corridor, Bickerdike Terrace and Bickerdike Allotments, Kippax, LS25 7JY - Open daily, 1pm-5pm

Kippax Wildlife Corridor is a fabulous space for wildlife which incorporates an allotment, car park garden, and a shared green space which runs behind the houses, connecting gardens with the allotment and footpath beyond. The whole area is lovingly cared for by local residents who have worked hard to increase the biodiversity of their site.

The car park garden only is accessible by wheelchair and well-behaved dogs are welcome. On street parking is available outside the allotment car park on Hollins Park.

Tuesday 6th May & Thursday 8th May

• North Hill Well Wood, North Grange Mount, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 2ER - 9am-5pm

The North Hill Well Wood is located behind one of the University of Leeds residential sites. The project is a partnership between Groundwork Yorkshire, Unite Students, and the University of Leeds. The site comprises of a woodland habitat with log piles for invertebrates and a broad range of tree species, a native hedgerow, many ferns and raised beds of pollinator-friendly woodland wildflowers. Bird, bug and hedgehog nesting boxes provide shelter for a variety of species and water features add interest and provide much needed water for wildlife.  

On street parking is available on North Grange Mount.

Wednesday 7th May

• Abbey House Museum Walled Garden, Abbey Walk, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3EH - 12pm-4pm

The Kirkstall Abbey community garden group is run by Hyde Park Source environmental charity and based in the walled garden area of the beautiful grounds of Abbey House Museum opposite the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds. Volunteers tend several large perennial and annual ornamental flowerbeds within the hidden sunny walled garden area with a big focus on creating both drought resistant and wildlife / pollinator friendly habitats.

In just 5 years they have redesigned the beds to contain a diverse mix of small fruit tree species such as quince, apricot, plum and pear combined with freeform planting of perennial flowers such as cardoons, scabious, verbascum - mixed with self-seeding annuals like sunflowers, ammi, phacelia and cosmos.

Free car park on Abbey Walk. Well behaved dogs are welcome.