The Gardens of Harewood House: past, present and future

The Gardens of Harewood House: past, present and future

There are over 100 acres of gardens and pleasure grounds at Harewood, set within an ornamental parkland of over 1,000 acres created during the 18^th century. The Gardens comprise various horticultural areas, each different in style, and containing a significant plant collection throughout. 

Trevor gave a brief history of the gardens before talking about the work of the gardens team over the past three decades and provided a glimpse into the future.

The Terrace – a Victorian, Italianate formal garden, complete with C19 parterre by Sir Charles Barry, with fountains, clipped yew and box, prominent mixed flower borders and a large scale sub-tropical planting scheme.

The Himalayan Garden – a naturalistic sunken garden with waterfall and stream, rock and bog gardens containing a thematic plant collection, including trees and shrubs, rhododendrons, and herbaceous plants from Asia.

The Walled Garden – a traditional utilitarian garden, built in the 1750’s and divided into two parts, with a productive kitchen garden, flower borders, apple orchard and meadow.

Speaker biography:

Trevor Nicholson has been Head Gardener at Harewood for 28 years. His horticultural career began in 1980 at Houghall College, Durham, where he trained in Horticulture and Arboriculture. He joined the college staff in 1985, working in the glasshouses, gardens and arboretum, before taking up posts as Sole Gardener and Head Gardener at properties in Northumberland and Hampshire. At Harewood, Trevor worked closely with John Sales VMH – formerly Chief Gardens Advisor to the National Trust – who advised at Harewood between 1998 and 2004. 

Trevor’s achievements at Harewood are many. He has worked continuously on the revival, conservation and development of the gardens: introducing bold new planting schemes in the formal terrace gardens, tree & shrub planting in the park, as well as the re-development of the 1930’s rock garden as a Himalayan Garden with a significant collection of Sino-Himalayan plants. Trevor also brought the Walled Garden back into production in the 1990s after it had been closed to visitors for many years and is working with the executive team on the restoration and development of the Walled Garden.

With the help of grants from the RHS Bursaries Committee, and support from Harewood House Trust, Trevor undertook botanical study tours to Nepal, China and Bhutan to observe plants in their natural habitats – all with a view to informing the development of the Himalayan Garden at Harewood.

Trevor was named ‘Professional Gardener of the Year’ in 2008. His academic qualifications include a Foundation Science Degree in Landscape & Garden Management, a Higher National Certificate in Plantsmanship, and a Higher National Certificate in Heritage Management. He sits on the Northern Branch Committee for the Chartered Institute of Horticulture and is a former Vice Chairman of the Professional Gardeners’ Guild.

This talk was the fourth in our series of five online talks on Unforgettable Gardens on Weds @ 6pm presented in association with The Gardens Trust

In this series of talks, the speakers introduced a variety of landscapes, gardens and themes enjoyed by Yorkshire Gardens Trust members, which portray the wide diversity of designed landscapes in the three Yorkshire counties and the interests of the membership.