Garden Walks
Overview |
Terrace Garden Walk |
Lakeside Walk |
Rock Garden & Walled Garden Walk
Rock Garden & Walled Garden Walk
Visit a sunken Himalayan garden with its waterfall and many unusual plants and continue to the Walled Garden to see display beds of vegetables and a huge spiral meadow of wild flowers. Open June - October. Approx. 2 hours
Originally a sunken glade planted after the creation of the Lake in the late 1770's, the Rock Garden was so named in 1936 when, after a severe storm raised the level of the lake water to the point where it threatened to breach the dam, it was decided to reinforce the dam walls using large boulders. These were carefully arranged and keyed-in by a firm of landscape gardeners to create a naturalistic outcrop along the embankment. This presented the opportunity for creating a new garden. Princess Mary was a keen collector of plants from temperate Asia and it was her influence that determined its endearing rustic-oriental character.
The rocky embankment has several established groups of herbaceous and bulbous plants including Asian lilies - Lilium spp. regale, henryi, nepalense, taliense, Morina longifolia, Roscoea purpurea, Cautleya spicata and Ginger lilies - Hedychium spp.
The damp glade has hardy and semi-hardy herbaceous plants naturalised in large drifts, including Hosta, Astilbe, Himalayan poppies -Meconopsis spp. betonicifolia, grandis, chelidonifolia, quintuplinervia, Gunnera manicata, Cobra lilies - Arisaema spp. tortuosum, griffithii, nepenthoides, candidissimum, Primula spp. pulverulenta, bulleyana, vialii, florindae, and Ostrich or Shuttlecock fern Matteuccia struthiopteris.
As well as rhododendrons and bamboos, there is a fine collection of trees and shrubs, mostly from temperate Asia and the Far East. They reflect Harewood's association with plant hunters both past and present. A select list of these is available from the Information Centre.
 A precious new addition to the Harewood landscape is the Stupa, adjacent to the Cascade in the Harewood Himalayan Garden. A common sight in the Himalayas, Stupas are Buddhist monumnets and focal points for the community. This Stupa is not a replica, but an authentic religious monument built to precise specifications, under the direct supervision of Lama Sonam Chopel, a master builder of Stupas from Bhutan.
The Walled Garden was built in stages from 1755-1780. It is characteristically remote from the House and occupies a peninsular of land jutting into the Lake. Its gentle, south facing slope makes it ideal for growing fruit and vegetables. The Harewood House Trust owns and manages 4 acres: the Frame Yard, with the main fruit-growing glasshouses, and the Kitchen Garden. In the Frame Yard there are 'double' walls once heated by an intricate network of flues, in the 18th century called 'Fire Walls'. The purpose of the hot wall was to encourage fruit to ripen earlier in the season and dampers placed at the far end of each flue controlled the temperature.
There is an account of a visit made to Harewood by the Revd. Joseph Ismay on the 13th May 1767, who reported that 'The Banana was order'd by Mr Lascelles to be thrown out as too cumbersome and luxuriant'. The head gardener showed the visitor fruit-bearing passiflora: 'it produced fruit ye last year in high perfection, the pulp is eaten with sugar and venegar, it is more delicious than a Mellon'. He also saw sugar cane, figs and eggplants (Aubergines); and 'ripe Alpine strawberries, Kidney Beans (ripe all winter), Grapes nearly ripe, Cucumbers, Oranges and Peaches.'
Walled kitchen gardens were built for the intensive production of fruit, vegetables and flowers, principally for the main house, but also for the working community on the estate. Harewood's is reasonably intact, although the original 18th century hot houses were swept away and rebuilt in 1931. Today we grow food crops in the kitchen garden, mostly for display purposes and as an education resource. We hope to give visitors a chance to see a variety of vegetables and food crops growing and developing from seedlings through to mature crops ready to be harvested and to encourage the gardening public to grow more unusual crops in their own gardens.
The crops are grown on a small scale to show examples of heritage varieties, economically important plants from around the world and vegetables grown for their attractive leaves, flowers or architectural forms. All the food crops in the Kitchen Garden are grown without the use of pesticides. Biological control is used in the Glasshouses.
There are only two 'permanent' crops in the walled garden: apples and hops. Hops are grown extensively in the southern counties, in particular, Hereford and Kent but less so in Yorkshire. Our hops can be seen growing against the wall running westwards from the Bothy. We have seven varieties, all of which are used today in the brewing process. Hops are grown for their aromatic 'cones' which are only present on female plants and are used as a flavouring agent for beer. The plants are trained up strings made of coir at an angle of 60 degress to the wall to enable maximum air to circulate around the cones, crucial in a humid September. Harvesting of the cones takes place in September. They are hand picked, dried and compressed on site and then sent to a local brewer to make a 'fresh hop brew'. The beer is called 'Greystone' after a prominent landmark on the Estate.
 The artist Diane Howse created spiral meadow in 1999. This huge spiral of native grasses and wild flowers is a dramatic feature in the landscape and provides an interactive experience for everyone, be it a hectic race to the centre and back or a meditative walk.
|
 |
|
© 1999-
Harewood House Trust Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Harewood is an independent charitable educational trust set up to maintain and develop Harewood, its collections and grounds, for the public benefit. Registered Charity No. 517753
a salvo production
|
top of page ^
|
|
|
