About Stillingfleet Lodge Garden

You can enjoy your visit to our high profile garden, with its tranquil setting in the grounds of a 18th century farmhouse. Experience the wild flower walk leading to a natural pond, our long herbaceous borders and the colour themed cottage garden style plantings surrounding the house.

See us in "The Good Gardens Guide" edited by Peter King, named as one of the best Cottage gardens in "Gardens Illustrated", 2009, "The Daily Telegraph Gardeners' Guide to Britain" by Patrick Taylor and the "Gardeners' Favourite Nurseries" by Leslie Geddes-Brown. It was also featured in "The English Garden", "Yorkshire Life", "The Garden" and many others.

York Gardens In 2006, we were especially delighted to be included in 'Castle in the Country' on BBC2 and to be one of the top ten June gardens in Great Britain according to the Independent.

Visitors to the garden in early autumn were amazed at the amount of colour and interesting foliage. Again this year the garden will be open in August and September as well as earlier in the summer.

History of the Garden

York Gardens We bought Stillingfleet Lodge in 1975; it was an unloved farmhouse that had been empty for over a year. There was very little garden, mainly a vegetable plot with no shrubs or trees. The remaining three acres was grassland. For several years we lived the good life, a house cow, pigs, sheep and poultry as well as four children.

The nursery was started in 1983, mainly to help finance my tree planting, as it grew and took more time the animals were not replaced and new areas of garden were developed. The sheep were the last to go leaving us space to let the grassland return to meadow. A wildlife pond was dug and as the garden is organic the pond and meadow support a large number of birds and insect life as well as my husband’s bees. We still have several varieties of poultry, including kin bantams that are free to wander in the garden-keeping slugs at bay.

We also have small enclosed areas of garden planted for ease of maintenance and year round interest as well as our 60ft double herbaceous borders, something to interest all our visitors.