My Garden

One of the things Yorkshire is famed for is rhubarb growing, and the 'Rhubarb Triangle' - an area between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield - has recently been recreated in miniature at Harlow Carr. English rhubarb production has been centred on West Yorkshire since the late 19 th century and the... Read more..

Planting out French beans on the 3x3 plot today in a fairly strong wind on our open site brought home forcibly the need for good, strong supporting frames for climbing veg to grow over. The beans - a type of borlotti bean to supply beautiful red-splashed pods for eating as well as beans for drying -... Read more..

Spent the early part of the week repairing damage from Sunday's gales and heavy rain - propping up the broad beans, tying escaping peas back in, staking battered cut flowers. Last week's blog about plant supports turned out to be uncannily appropriate... We have been regularly harvesting lettuce... Read more..

A pink wig and false eyelashes….not something I usually don on a Tuesday evening, but when duty calls! The main borders were the magnificent venue for our Opera Evening, ‘Don Pasquale’ a 70’s musical romp, where Harlow Carr staff stewarding the event dressed up to get the party started – hence the costume... Read more..

The umbrellas were up and down like yo yo’s last week at Harlow Carr . It appears the autumnal chill has descended over the country and the only glimmer of warmth is our success at the Beijing Olympics! We have done so well with our swimming medals, and you could have done a fairly credible backstroke... Read more..

I think I blinked and summer has passed me by! The weather is certainly a challenge, but the Harlow Carr main herbaceous borders are looking stunning, standing up to the wind, sun and rain really well without any staking. Had a really busy week, trying to keep on top of the ever multiplying weeds, and... Read more..

After the success of the Harlow Carr Autumn Plant Fair last Sunday our grass was looking a little worse for wear on Monday morning. We had hundreds of happy plant hunters trekking across the sodden ground with their booty. So, in an unexpected window of dry sunny weather, we got our big push/pull Hayter... Read more..

Hi I’m Kath and I am Harlow Carr Garden’s latest recruit. I work on the ornamental team ‘Gardens West’ and my permanent contract has just begun on the 1 st October. This is very exciting for me as I have worked for many years in the chocolate industry. Eventually, after doing 4 years at evening classes... Read more..

Hi I’m Kath and I am Harlow Carr Garden’s latest recruit. I work on the ornamental team ‘Gardens West’ and my permanent contract has just begun on the 1 st October. This is very exciting for me as I have worked for many years in the chocolate industry. Eventually, after doing 4 years at evening classes... Read more..

It's been fascinating watching the new Alpine House developing, now the area around it is being landscaped. A network of paths is being created around newly created raised beds leading towards the site of the new kitchen garden. The idea is to incorporate some rockwork into the walling in the raised... Read more..