Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens, located between York and Selby is a wildlife-friendly garden designed to blend the beauty of a cottage garden with sustainable management. The four-acre site surrounds a traditional farmhouse and has something for every taste, from the contemporary rill garden, double herbaceous borders, wildflower meadow and a wildlife pond.

This family garden has been lovingly nurtured for over 40 years by John and Vanessa Cook. Seats are located throughout the garden so that you can enjoy the peace and tranquillity of this beautiful space. With a tea room and plant nursery it is an ideal place to relax and unwind for an afternoon.

The Gardens

Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens are managed to encourage wildlife and provide an oasis for insects, birds and mammals. Most of the plants have been selected to be attractive to butterflies and bees, which you will see as you stroll around the garden. The aim is to inspire visitors to use some of the plants back in their own gardens.

There are many other ways the garden is a haven for wildlife: seed heads are left rather than being neatly cut back, there are bird boxes, bat boxes and insect hotels, piles of logs are left undisturbed, and the wildflower meadow is managed like a traditional hay meadow. All of this creates habitat and shelter for the wildlife that lives in the gardens and provides areas of interest throughout the garden. It is a fine example of how to balance wildlife-friendly gardening with all the beauty of a cottage garden.

Each June, Stillingfleet Lodge Garden runs a Family Wildlife Day which gives visitors the opportunity to learn much more about the wildlife of the garden under the guidance of local experts.

Tea Room

Our courtyard tearoom serves locally sourced refreshments and delicious home-baked cakes. It has a small shop selling locally sourced products and is used as an exhibition space featuring different local artists each month. You are welcome to visit the tea room for free if you don’t visit the garden, making it the perfect stopping-off point for walkers and cyclists.

Plant nursery

Celebrating its 40th birthday in 2024, the Stillingfleet Lodge plant nursery specialises in unusual and lesser-known perennials that you will struggle to find at garden centres.

The nursery offers a wide choice of shade-loving plants and one of the largest ranges of hardy geraniums in the UK, many of which can be seen in the garden.

Most of the plants for sale have been grown in the garden, so you can be confident that they can thrive in the local climate and that each plant is healthy and well cared for.

Workshops

Stillingfleet Lodge Garden runs a series of workshops throughout the year. With a selection of creative courses and gardening courses, there is a wide variety of options to choose from.