Harewood shortlisted for Historic Houses' prestigious Garden of the Year title

The historic seat of the Lascelles family, Earls of Harewood, is one of eight country house gardens around the UK to have made the final shortlist for an accolade which has been awarded since 1984.

If Harewood wins the title, it would become only the third Yorkshire garden to have ever claimed it. Newby Hall, near Ripon, won in 1986 and 2019, Burton Agnes Hall in 2005 and Castle Howard in 2011. The winner is decided by a public vote.

The 100 acres of gardens at Harewood include the formal, intricately designed Italian parterre on the Terrace; the Himalayan Garden; the naturalistic planting of the lakeside woodlands; and the Walled Garden, used now to grow produce and for exhibitions.

The gardens also have a link to royalty as King George V's daughter Princess Mary, who became Countess of Harewood after she married the sixth Earl, took a keen interest in horticulture and was passionate about the grounds of her home.

Harewood House Trust director Jane Marriott said: “Visitors enthusiastically returned when the gardens were re-opened in July 2020, with the wide open spaces allowing families and friends to meet safely, and the beauty of the surroundings promoting peace and wellbeing for all. It brought a lot of joy for us at Harewood, to be able to provide a space for people to come together during such difficult times. We do hope that our wonderful gardens brought some relief, and that visitors will vote for us for Garden of the Year.”

Harewood’s gardens nod to the past whilst looking to the future. The Archery Border takes inspiration from the Victorian obsession with exotic planting, since it lies beneath the Terrace built by Sir Charles Barry in the 1840s. The Himalayan Garden grew around Princess Mary’s 1930s rock garden, with planting informed by her correspondence with the Royal Botanic Gardens; and the Walled Garden, once a kitchen garden to support the house’s role as a hospital during World War One, now again has fruits and vegetables planted in neat allotments.

The gardening team, led by head gardener Trevor Nicholson, have also pivoted to more environmentally friendly methods of working in recent years. He said: “Our vegetable plots have been converted to a ‘no-dig’ cultivation system to conserve soil ecology, save water and reduce the carbon footprint. Plants for pollinators are interspersed among organically-grown crops, to enrich the biodiversity of the garden, and plant material is recycled into compost, used throughout the gardens as mulch and soil conditioner.”

Harewood also hosts numerous gardening events and workshops, including sessions on composting, attracting wildlife and wreath-making, as well as talks about the history of the gardens.

Voting closes on September 30 and the winner will be announced in November.