Ormesby Hall garden in winter

The back of Ormesby Hall showing the trees and plants in winter with no flowers or leaves

Winter offers a different perspective in the garden, as the bright flowers sleep, the trees take centre stage, with the contrasting greens of the dark holly and the lighter shades of laurels in the formal garden. The welcome sight of snowdrops will herald the reawakening of the garden and the promise of more colour, as they are followed closely by the emergence of the yellow winter aconites.

The garden can be explored in all its winter glory in December and February, where visitors can enjoy the bare beauty of the garden, with the striking bare branches, before the spring bulbs appear in early 2020.

As you enter the formal garden you are met by the commanding greenery of the yew hedges as your senses pick up the smell of the Himalayan Sweet Box also known as Sarcococca hookeriana which is a species of evergreen shrub. Cloaking the mansion is a fetsoon of winter jasmine, which adds some welcome bright colour. The sunshine yellow of the winter jasmine is a bright compliment to the evergreen features dominating the formal garden.

A bright sunshine yellow of winter jasmine in the winter garden
A close up image of the winter jasmine and the summery yellow colour as it climbs the mansio wall
A bright sunshine yellow of winter jasmine in the winter garden

The strikingly crisp vines of the yew hedges contrasting with the bare skeletal branches of the wistreia and roses. Winter can be a magical time in the garden as the trees can truly be seen without their leafy coats and interesting marks upon the trees can be found and hidden nests.

What are our gardeners up to?

Throughout the winter, our gardeners are kept busy...

  • The gardening team begin to focus on the pruning and shaping of the evergreen shrubs.
  • Working on the 250 acre estate thinning the trees, scrub clearing and general estate upkeep.