York Gate: Head Gardener Jack Ogg Reveals 14 Garden Rooms Across Just 1 Acre
York Gate Gardens is a beautiful small garden located just outside of Leeds and is open to the public from April to October, as well as on special open days in the early spring.
At just 1 acre in size, this garden has been magically divided into 14 unique rooms that were originally laid out by the Spencer family, who owned the property from 1951 to 1994, before donating it to the garden charity Perennial.
We visited the gardens towards the end of February and met the gardeners who work there to see what they’re up to as their snowdrop season comes to a close.
Head Gardener, Jack Ogg, also showed us around the grounds so we could get a taste of what York Gate has to offer.
Watch the full video tour below or read on for a summary of our February visit to York Gate Gardens:
- KEY FEATURES: Espaliered & unusual trees, 14 different garden rooms
- WHEN TO VISIT: Summer
- ADMISSION PRICE: £10.00 (children free)
- ADDRESS: Back Church Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 8DW, UK
- WEBSITE: York Gate Gardens
Meet Jack: The Head Gardener
“I did my training at York Gate about 16 years ago,” explains Jack.
“I then left and worked at Harewood House for about nine years, before I was asked to come back to York Gate as the Senior Gardener and then eventually moved on to become the Head Gardener.
“The most rewarding thing for me is when we get the public in and they are just happy to be in the garden.
“I think people’s reaction to this small garden is the highlight of working here for me.”
Created By The Spencer Family
“York Gate Garden is an arts and crafts style garden,” Jack shares.
“It was first bought as a farm in 1951 by the Spencer family, but they quickly decided that they wanted to make a garden, and they created the 14-room space that we’ve got today.
“In 1998, the last remaining member of the Spencer family died, and in her will, she left York Gate to the gardener’s charity, Perennial.
“Perennial owns York Gate as well as another four gardens around the country. They’re a fantastic charity for gardeners and those that work in horticulture.”
14 Unique Garden Rooms
During our visit, Jack took us around all 14 of the unique garden rooms in the 1-acre space.
“The first room you get to is the maze garden,” he says.
“This was the original entrance to the garden where Sybil Spencer would sit and welcome people into the space. This would have been the first room they’d see.
“Following on from that room is the old orchard and then the pinetum. The pinetum was planted as a collection of dwarf and unusual conifers and, as you can see, some of them are not so dwarf anymore!”
“Sybil’s Garden is the tropical garden here at York Gate. We were very lucky that we were donated quite a big collection of tropical-themed plants.
“These included 11 tree ferns, 5 different Scheffleras, a collection of bananas and some palms. Using these, we’ve made this space into a little jungle-like garden.”
“One of my favourite spots in the garden is the succulent house. Here, we keep a collection of true cacti and other succulents,” Jack continues.
“Visitors love some of the Aeoniums we have that grow from the cracks of the wall year-round. Some are even in flower right now!”
In addition to the rooms mentioned, there is also a white garden, herb garden, kitchen garden and rockery, as well as several other different rooms that look especially good later on in the year.
Unique And Espaliered Trees
“My favourite tree in the whole garden is Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’ and it’s a weeping form of the giant sequoias in America,” he shares, as we stand in front of this wonderful weeping coniferous specimen.
“The Brewer’s Spruce in the centre of the pinetum is another fantastic tree. We should probably cut it down, but it’s fantastic, so we’re not going to.”
Despite these wonderfully rare trees, the star of the show at York Gate is one of a kind according to Jack:
“The espaliered Blue Cedar along the front of this wall is probably our most popular attraction.
“It’s a Cedrus atlantica Glauca and it’s been trained and clipped into this espalier form. There’s not one like it anywhere else in the UK.
“Behind that we’ve also got an espaliered Pyracantha on the house wall, which is another great find, as well as the iconic yew sails that are unique to York Gate.”
York Gate In February
“We’ve just had our snowdrop event here at York Gate and currently we have about 60 or so different varieties on show,” shares Jack.
“Our feature snowdrop at York Gate is one called ‘S. Arnott’. It is a G. nivalis type but it’s extra tall. It’s not double or fancy in any way, but it’s a wonderful snowdrop and it’s definitely one of our favourites.
“Even though our snowdrops are the show at this time of year, February is a great time to come to see the bones and structure of the garden, including the clipped hedges and the different topiary shapes that we have here.”
How To Get Involved
“One of the main ways to support Perennial that would also help us out at York is to become a member of Perennial,” says Jack.
“From that, you get a year-round membership and you get to visit all of Perennial’s gardens throughout the country, which means you could come to York Gate once a week if you wanted to!”
To find out more about York Gate and its upcoming open dates, visit their website here.
