The four-acre garden here was mostly given over to re-wilding, following the owners taking the State of Yorkshire’s Nature report from 2025 seriously. Our hostess took us around the gardens explaining their history and her approach.
By stopping the use of herbicide and pesticides, leaving fallen leaves, encouraging living paths and leaving uncut areas of grass to encourage creatures to hide and to breed, they are developing Skipwith Hall Gardens following the concept of the “woodmeadow” – as a bridging gap between the two.
While maintaining the historic formal spaces, walls, 3rd generation fruit trees and topiary, they are planting native species of flowers, shrubs and trees to encourage worms, caterpillars, ladybirds and birds, maintaining and encouraging a native habitat, with natural pest control – and a lot of hard work. However, there was still much to do to stop rabbits burrowing and destroying the vegetable garden.
On this warm, sunny day the tea and cake afterwards were welcome.