Published 29th Apr 2023, 06:00 GMT

Head gardener Joel Dibb was almost born to the job. His father was a head gardener, his mother a gardener, while weekends as a boy were spent in the great outdoors. Now in his third year at the Himalayan Gardens, he said simply: "It's working with nature. I enjoy that.

"A lot of people can see the garden as a bit overwhelming, with lots of 'tasks'. That can take the enjoyment out of it. It's getting outside, it's listening to the birds and the water running.

"In a way, it cleanses you, you don't have to worry. And you can see the difference, with what you're doing."

Head gardener Joel Dibb spruces up the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park near Ripon ready for visitors in spring , photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Tony Johnson.

Monday marks the start of the RHS National Gardening Week, encouraging people to share their love of gardening and the benefits it brings.

It's a chance to explore some of Yorkshire's most glorious green settings, from Sledmere to Stillingfleet, Thorpe Perrow to Newby Hall. There's Brodsworth, and York Gate, and Beningbrough Hall.

And the Himalayan Gardens, near Ripon, set across some 45 acres and home to the North's largest collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias.

"This is one of the busiest times of the year," said Mr Dibb. "The grass cutting has begun, strimming and weeding.

Garden supervisor Jago Wallace paddles in a boat out to weed the lake in The Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park near Ripon, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Tony Johnson.

"There's 20,000 shrubs and trees, to feed and mulch. We try and trim the grass by every pathway, leaving the rest of it for the butterflies. Then strimming around the sculptures, keeping the foliage away so you can see them.

"So far we've had good weather. Quite a lot of rain, which helps. Well it's a nightmare for the grass cutting, but it helps everything else."

The RHS National Gardening Week, which runs until May 7, celebrates in particular the King's Coronation this year and encourages people to mark the occasion with colourful containers, from a window box to wellies or a hanging basket.

The week also raises awareness of the difference that gardens and gardening can make to people's lives, inspiring generations to grow and create beautiful green spaces.

Head gardener Joel Dibb prunes the rhododendrons in the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park near Ripon, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Tony Johnson.

Paul Cook is curator at Harrogate's RHS Harlow Carr, where 'bulb season' is in full swing, with spring tulips, daffodils, and woodland varieties like rhododendrons and camellias all blooming.

To Mr Cook, the variety in the garden is what makes it special.

"It can be small or big scale, it can be instant by sowing a seed or long term by planting a tree," he said.

"We are very good at it in this country, we have some of the finest gardens and open spaces anywhere in the world.

The Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park near Ripon, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Tony Johnson.

"We all garden in our own little world, this brings us together as a community. For us in the North, this feels a real push for a summer of abundance."

And to Mr Dibb, after the last few years, the importance of being outside and with nature has never been more important.

He said: “It’s the fresh air and the wildlife, the birds singing. It brings us back down to earth.”

Behind the scenes at some of Yorkshire's best-kept gardens to chart the busiest season of all