Latest News from the Garden
This month is one of the sunniest and the time when we all hope that our gardens will be full of butterflies and bumblebees, if you feel your garden has not as many as you would like, now is the time to plan for a more wildlife friendly environment. There are basic ingredients that help to encourage more wildlife. At Stillingfleet we have several areas especially designed to protect insect life. The garden and meadow have been planted to give diverse habitats for invertebrates, mammals and birds. Many plants are grown for their pollen or nectar output and even the smallest space can be improved with a little thought. It is good to remember that ladybirds, lacewings, Tits and Warblers keep greenfly and black fly under control, saving time spraying and helping protect the environment. Our meadow is ancient grassland and after fifteen years of care is now full of…
This is an important month for seed sowing, the soil is warming up and it is an ideal time to start the vegetable and annual seed sowing. Time for my runner beans in pots or you can use plug trays, I grow Lady Diana which I find one of the best and does not go stringy. I love french beans cooked or cold in a salad I grow Cosse Violette which I find does well, the beans are dark purple and go green when cooked, taste delicious and freeze well. Sow them now under cover and then they can go into the garden at the end of May when there is no risk of frost. Read more seed sowing tips here. Vegetables in Pots If you do not have a dedicated vegetable garden they are attractive so easy to make a wigwam of hazel or bamboo poles in the flower…
The flowering cherries and crab apples are at their very best now. It is an ideal time to see the wide range of small flowering trees available, too many gardens have unsuitably large trees planted resulting in ugly pruning having to take place. Garden centres have limited ranges of trees available so now is the time to visit gardens that are open to the public to see the trees in full flower and then order bare root trees to plant in the autumn, cheaper and much better range from specialist nurseries. Check the National Gardens Scheme website, interesting gardens, great cake and you are supporting a wide range of charities. I am not a fan of Prunus Kanzan with its blowsy over the top pink flowers, happy to see it in other places but would rather have Prunus sargentii with soft pink flowers and wonderful autumn colour, or the fastigiate…
We are very honoured to be hosting the AGM of the Hardy Plant Society’s Hardy Geranium Group on Saturday 11th June. Bookings are now open to the general public and this will be a wonderful opportunity for you to meet with some of the country’s hardy geranium experts and buy some unusual varieties. To book please print off the booking form here and return it to Tricia Newton of the Hardy Geranium Group. For just £7 you can attend this full-day event, which includes admission to presentations and plant sale in the village hall in the morning and the garden in the afternoon. We offer one of the widest ranges of hardy geraniums in the UK, with over 100 varieties on sale in the plant nursery for 2022. Most of these can also be seen in the garden. To celebrate this event and to help you choose a hardy geranium…
For the first time ever, we are delighted that we will have an artist in residence for 2022. Jeremy Ford is an artist, illustrator, demonstrator and teacher who was the course tutor for our popular watercolour art courses in 2021. He will be visiting the garden throughout 2022 to capture the changing seasons in watercolours. The work he does this year will culminate in an art exhibition in our tea room in 2023. He commenced this project last autumn and the paintings attached were painted in the garden. Jeremy has been a professional Artist and Illustrator since studying graphic design at Southport College of Art and illustration at Harrow College of Art in the 1970s, working on a wide variety of books, magazines, and greeting cards. RHS Commission His commissions have included work for The Royal Horticultural Society, Bradford Exchange Limited Edition Plates, RCA Records, The British Tourist Authority and…
As an RHS Partner Garden, Stillingfleet Lodge Garden is joining with the Royal Horticultural Society, Britain’s biggest gardening charity, in asking the nation to choose the RHS Partner Garden of the year. We are looking for votes to get us recognised as the Northern Partner Garden of the year. Feel Good Garden Exercise and connection with nature have been shown to have very positive effects on health and wellbeing and that’s why the RHS has made Feel Good gardens its theme for 2021. Voting is now open and you have until the 30th September to place your vote at rhs.org.uk/pgoty Whether you’re a plant expert or just love getting out in the fresh air and experiencing nature – a walk in a garden is one of life’s great pleasures. It is a great way to brighten up the day and get you feeling good. Here at Stillingfleet Lodge Garden, there…
We encourage birds into our garden and are delighted to have recorded over 50 species as listed below. Many of our visitors love being able to sit in the garden in spring and listen to the bird song or walk through the gardens and see garden birds on the feeders. Barn Owl Mallard Blackbird Marsh Tit Blackcap Mistle Thrush Blue Tit Moorhen Bullfinch Partridge Buzzard Pheasant Chaffinch Pied Flycatcher Chiffchaff Redwing Coal Tit Reed Bunting Collared Dove Robin Crow Siskin Curlew Song Thrush Dunnock Sparrowhawk Fieldfare Spotted Flycatcher Garden Warbler Starling Goldcrest Swallow Goldfinch Swift Great Tit Tawny Owl Great Spotted Woodpecker Treecreeper Greenfinch Tree Sparrow Heron Willow Warbler House Martin Wood Pigeon House Sparrow Wren Jackdaw Jay Kestrel Long Tailed Tit Magpie Bird-ringing demonstration Once again we were able to have a bird-ringing demonstration at our Wildlife Day in 2021 and we are grateful for the…
As an RHS partner garden we are delighted to be opening for National Gardening Week on Wednesday 28th April, Friday 30th April, Saturday 1st May and Sunday 2nd May from 1pm to 5pm. Ours is the perfect garden to connect with nature – our organic garden management and sustainable ethos are all about encouraging wildlife to the garden. In spring it is full of birds and the many seats around the garden give you the chance to sit down and be surrounded by birdsong. Venture a bit further and you will see our wildlife pond and traditional wildflower meadow, where many wildflowers are beginning to bloom. Entry for adults is £6 and there is no need to book in advance. The tea room will be open for light take-away refreshments on each of the four days. Over the last year the UK has come to appreciate and rely on its…
Thank you so much Catherine Turnbull for writing this lovely article for Living: Yorkshire and Harrogate edition for May. Really sums up what you can expect to see when you visit the garden in spring. The May issue is a gardens special. You can collect the magazine from various outlets or read it online here
I am very happy this week Stillingfleet Lodge Nursery is a recommended pulmonaria supplier in this in the Amateur Gardening magazine. You can read the feature here. I have supplied a number of photos for the article and our very own P.’Stillingfleet Meg’ is one of the varieties in focus. This is a really good feature as it highlights the range of colours, variety of leaves and plants that complement it, illustrating just why pulmonarias are such a good choice for spring colour. I recently shared a blog on my favourite 10 pulmonarias – it was really hard to chose my selection and I am sure Anne Swithinbank had a similar problem chosing her favourites for this article. We have 29 varieties of Pulmonaria for sale in the plant nursery – if you would like to buy some please contact us here to make your order and arrange a time…
