Month: January 2025

Our Week in the North York Moors – The Gardens at Yorkgate

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 28, 2025
1 Comment on Our Week in the North York Moors – The Gardens at Yorkgate

A garden we have always wanted to visit is Yorkgate on the northern edge of Leeds. Thus on our homeward journey after our week in the North Yorks Moors we took a short detour to allow us the chance to visit. The garden is now maintained by the charity, Perennial which ensures it has a healthy future.

The planting alongside the driveway to the carpark set the scene nicely for us. Naturally our first stop was the cafe where we had coffee and breakfast.

We were handed a simple plan of the garden so after leaving the restaurant we set off to discover what the garden had to offer.

Firstly I will create a small gallery of interesting plants.

The following selection of interesting plants is all about perennials, deserving of a close up look, the only exception is the rose and the miscanthus grass below.

Yorkgate is a garden where you must keep an eye out for longer views giving interest possibly group of plants but equally unusual garden features.

The garden presented us with surprises too, such as the way this shrub was shaped in such an unusual way. Later we found a similarly shaped climbing shrub on the gable end of a building.

A selection of garden cameos which lift a garden above the normal are found here frequently as we explore.

After waiting so long to visit the garden at Yorkgate, it was as good as we had anticipated. There are so many design and plant ideas, that it doesn’t matter how experienced a gardener you are, there is plenty to look at and lots of ideas to take away with you.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, gardens, plants

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Our Week on the North York Moors – Visiting Villages – Danby

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 23, 2025

As we crossed the moors driving towards Danby we could see and smell where the heather was being burnt to encourage new green shoots for grouse to eat. I really disapprove of this practice because it must destroy habitat for lots of creatures and the grouse are encouraged so that they can be shot.

After coffee and cakes (fancy brownies) we followed a footpath out towards Danby Castle. We crossed over a river after only walking for five minutes or so and nearby we found a sculpture depicting the river bailiff.

After crossing the river over the wooden bridge we followed the footpath onwards until we met a narrow country lane. On the footpath we found plenty of wildflowers, although mostly now turned to seedheads, and rich hedgerows.

One feature of the North York Moors is the big skies and on the day we walked this path they were blue with small white clouds adding extra beauty to the landscape.

The moors also boast some beautiful single span stone-built bridges with flood river depth signs nearby. This bridge no longer carried traffic which instead had to cross by ford.

The two padlocks locked together to the metal fencing are a traditional symbol of love. They are known as ‘love locks’ and often locked to fences or bridges so this one must be double strength as it is on a fence on a bridge.

We turned back at the bridge and retraced our steps back to the centre. We decided to look for seed-heads and berries and perhaps an odd late flower or two.

We had a surprise, well two actually as we returned to the information centre as we spotted a large dragon created in metal and wood and behind that a circle of leaning posts to encourage visitors to lean back on a post and look upwards.

With those two surprises we ended our walk and made our way back to the car.

Back at the cottage I took a photo of this railway poster featuring Goathland/Aidensfield.

Tags canal, hiking, photography, travel, walking

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My Garden Journal 2024 December

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 13, 2025
1 Comment on My Garden Journal 2024 December

This will be my final visit to my Garden Journal in 2024 as I share my entries for December.

I began by writing “December is going to be a month of repairing all the damage that rough weather has caused in the garden. The worst affected plants are tall grasses and perennials, all bent flat to the ground.”

“Patches of the garden are now unrecognisable.”

Below I share eight photos of the destruction.

On the opposite page I considered hellebores especially the ones already flowering and I noted that, “Early flowering hellebores are such a special treat when they open up in December. There is a smaller range of colours now than in the new year. Some also have beautiful foliage.”

Over onto the next double page spread I featured hellebores with interesting foliage and opposite I look at gardening tasks for December.

I wrote, “The foliage of hellebores can vary so much in colour, texture and shape. Many are silver or delicately patterned.”

Delicate yellow pattern. Glaucous with jagged edges

Patterned foliage. Glaucous smooth foliage.

Palmate bright green foliage. Patterned foliage.

Most cut leaved of our hellebores. Removing old foliage.

Moving on to consider gardening tasks for the month, I wrote, “Throughout December we tried ticking jobs off our winter jobs list. This was totally in the hands of the weather.”

Bundling up clump of broken tall stems. Tidying fastigiate Yew.

Trimming ‘Buddleja lindleyana’.

The next page features our hollies. I wrote that, “When we revamped the two large terracotta pots by our front door we added a holly to each one. These new hollies called Ilex Golden King, have foliage of glossy gold and green. They sit alongside another holly called “Little Rascal”.

Little Rascal Black stemmed holly

Our native holly in our hedge. Topiary hollies

So December in the garden has come to an end and likewise the year 2024. My next report of “My Garden Journal” will be for January 2025.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, hellebores, plants

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Our Week in the North York Moors – a Seaside Town

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 6, 2025

After our walk from Danby we decided to go to a town by the sea called Saltburn which neither of us had visited before. It turned out to be a really good choice as it has a pier, colourful beach huts, a long sandy beach and a water balance cliff tramway to get from the village down to the beach. And of course a very big blue sky!

The cliff tramway is a water balanced funicular and was built in 1884. Everything to do with the tramway looks so well looked after and looks smart in its red and cream colour theme and stained glass windows.

If you take the ride down you arrive on the promenade straight opposite the pier.

We walked along the promenade until we found a row of brightly painted beach huts. The paintwork was glossy and the brightest shades of pinks, reds and many others. They were so well looked after which isn’t the case everywhere. Each one had a name sign above their door and a few were used as a beach shop and others boasted faded signs depicting their purposes.

From the beach huts we took stone steps down to the beach and wandered back towards the pier following the line where sand met pebbles. Here we found some beautiful pebbles and sea glass.