RHS Harlow Carr Garden at Harrogate, Yorkshire, England

Thanks to Catherine Chaparro

In September of 2018 we took a Road Scholar walking tour of England’s National Parks.  Before the trip I didn’t realize that England’s countryside is pretty much thoroughly cultivated and pastured; there is little wilderness left.  Their National Parks system was established in 1949 to protect areas of natural beauty and allow access to them by the public.  They consist of privately owned land and communities that are supported in conservation efforts by the national government.
On our way from Malham in the Yorkshire Dales to Whitby in the North Yorkshire Moors, we stopped at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Harlow Carr Garden for a short visit.  Initially Harlow Carr was created by the Northern Horticultural Society as a trial garden and opened in 1950 as the Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens.  It became part of the Royal Horticultural Society when the two organizations merged in 2001.  Contrary to what you might think, Harlow Carr isn’t the name of a local squire but means “stinking bog” in Old Norse, having been built on the site of a sulphur spring and spa.  The spa also had a pleasure garden.  According to Sisley Garden Tours, “The site was chosen [by the Northern Horticultural Society] for its less than average soil, harsh climatic conditions and elevated position. If a plant survived here, it would probably survive anywhere.”

​One feature I had meant to see was the hedgehog highway, a series of small gardens with connecting paths through fence holes to show how the public could help save this endangered native species by creating highways in their own garden, routes through which hedgehogs could travel safely from garden to garden, avoiding roads.  There is a CBS news video reporting on this “save the hedgehog” movement.  Unfortunately we didn’t see any hedgehogs, which isn’t surprising since they are nocturnal.
 
Since it was late September, we obviously missed the spring flowers and the rhododendrons which are supposed to be quite spectacular.  They did have a lovely collection of Dahlias and many Rudbeckia were in bloom.  After a short tour of the grounds, they left us to our own devices and it was then that we discovered the kitchen garden which was full of the cool weather vegetables which we think as characteristic of England.

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Upon entering the kitchen garden, we were struck by the number of raised beds and the variety of fruits and vegetables that most Americans are less familiar with.  The use of natural materials in their fencing, benches, and compost bins was very inspiring and leads the gardener to think of new ways to make use of materials that might otherwise end up in the yard waste bin.

Root vegetables were quite popular and the rows of celeriac were almost too perfect to disturb.  Informational signs explained how the crops in the bed are rotated to maximize the use of nutrients and shared cultivation requirements and  also to prevent the build up of family specific soil-born pests and diseases.  Legumes, such as peas and beans, being nitrogen fixers, enrich the soil and they are followed by Brassicas, like cabbage,  broccoli, turnips and kale, which are heavy feeders.  The following year roots, alliums and potatoes are planted and then the rotation goes back to legumes.

I was particularly struck by the large plot of rhubarbs of many different varieties and the cloches or “forcers” that they use to force them into pale pink stalks.

Here is an up close view of a Rhubarb Forcer that I would have loved to take home.  Gardenista offers a wide selection of them.

The British love the fruit of their crabapples a lot more than Americans do.  Theirs are fruit-bearing trees and not just the ornamentals with minimal fruit that nurseries in the U.S. typically offer.

​An even more unusual fruit was the medlar, which I had never seen before despite the fact that it has been under cultivation for some 3000 years.  To eat it, one has to let the fruit “blet” or become overripe.

​I hate to admit it but the other area of the gardens that I found particularly exciting was the shop where they offered a wonderful array of gardening tools.  The British and the Japanese both excel in gardening hardware. There was also a section where they offered plants for sale but at this time of year, there was not much “on offer.”

​Here is a line of gardening tools and gloves that you would never lose.

​And finally, the most exciting collection in the garden shop was the Christmas ornaments in shapes of fruits and vegetables.  Unfortunately we had no room for them in our carry-on luggage!  Next time.

More information on Harlow Carr is available on the Royal Horticultural Society’s website (https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr) which is now open again, although all of the RHS garden shows have been cancelled this year.
Videos and more photographs can be seen at the Harlow Carr Gardens social media collection.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr/social-media