Route: Newby Hall Gardens
Area: North Yorkshire
Date of walk: 12th June 2024
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 2.0 miles
Weather: Sunny
We’ve made regular visits to Newby Hall and its award winning gardens for the last 25 years or so, and it’s one of our favourites. There are numerous attractions here for all ages.
A garden plan is handed out at the entrance, but it’s hard to follow a particular route when there are so many areas which catch the eye, depending on the season
On arrival we made a beeline for the double herbaceous border. At 172 metres the border is one of the longest in the country. To see the border at its stunning peak a little later in the season, click here for a previous visit. We wandered up and down the border, which flows down from the hall to the River Ure. It was a spectacular sight and scent, and was buzzing with bees and other insects
There are numerous separate gardens within the garden: to name a few, the Rose Garden, the Water Garden, the Rock Garden, the White Garden and our personal favourite, Sylvia’s Garden, a place for quiet contemplation. We meandered around all of these in turn and were especially impressed by the displays of cornus (dogwood). Newby Hall Gardens are home to the national collection of these beautiful flowering shrubs. We spoke to one of the gardeners about these and apparently it’s the best display for 20 years
It was another wonderful visit to this special place
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below icon for a map showing the location of Newby Hall
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Blackboard at the entrance to Newby Hall Gardens which indicates the seasonal highlights
We head directly for the double herbaceous border
The border is 172m long and is one of the longest in the country. Facing one way is Newby Hall...
Facing the other way, the border descends gently to the banks of the River Ure...
The plants are supported by an almost invisible system - black netting is stretched along the entire length of the borders and tied in to black stakes. The plants grow through the gaps and are supported throughout the season
Even though it's early in the season, the support system can hardly be seen. Later on it will be completely obscured by the planting
We move on to one of our favourite areas - Sylvia's Garden, which can be accessed from various parts of the wider garden
The garden was named after Sylvia Farquharson, the wife of Major Compton
The garden looks at its best in May and June, and was looking magical today...
The nearby Rose Garden, with a circular pool and stone urn fountain in the centre
Rose, peony, allium and dogwood
The cornus (dogwood) were peaking and we follow the Cornus Trail
Newby Hall is home to a National Collection of Cornus, with over 100 individual specimens and 30 species represented by 76 different hybrids and forms
We now make our way over the the Water Garden, another area which is peaking at this time of the year
The primula are the highlight of the Water Garden at the moment...
The Orchard Garden
The White Garden
We make our way over to Newby Hall
The Lily Pond at the front of Newby Hall - from here we head for the exit to end another wonderful visit to the gardens
