The Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park – a beautiful collection of rare plants and artworks

timbarber
Apr 22
3 min read

I’d passed signs for the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park many times when driving near Ripon, Masham and Grewelthorpe but had never actually made time to stop and visit. A couple of weeks ago I finally did and what an amazing surprise.

Situated in 45 acres of woodland with acidic soils, the gardens actually host the largest collection in the North of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias. I was lucky enough that they were still in bloom when I visited and the 150 magnolia trees in particular were worth the price of admission by themselves.

I was also told that the local acidic soils were ideal for the rhododendrons and account for the fact that the garden actually has over 1400 varieties – I had no idea there were so many!

The gardens are inspired by the Himalayan regions which includes part of China, Vietnam and Northern India. As well as the huge array of plants, the garden includes three small lakes in the valley bottom and various bridges and even a pagoda to really give it the Himalayan theme.

The gardens are also important for their conservation work and they actually hold 95 species which are included in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Red List of endangered species.

The unusual microclimate in the valley bottom means that it has the perfect conditions for the rare meconopsis blue poppy. This has inspired a wonderful display of pottery poppies covering part of a valley side.

Whist the gardens would be a wonderful space to wander around no matter what, the locations is made extra special by the collection of sculptures around the grounds.

There are 90 sculptures which are permanent exhibitions, but when I visited there was an additional 60 temporary sculptures added (which were all for sale) which were part of an “Sculptures in the Landscape Exhibition”.

The gardens are an amazing space to see Sculptures in an open air gallery. There is a giant magnolia floating in one of the lakes.

As well as a mini Stonehenge. Andy many more interesting exhibits.

The owners explained that “each sculpture has been chosen and positioned within the landscape in a way that relates to everything around them; the weather, light, vegetation and the close and long-distance views. It is an active relationship, with each sculpture focusing, intensifying and animating its environment”.

The garden has an interesting history. The garden has now been donated to the Hutt’s Foundation, a charitable trust set up to secure the purpose of the park for future generations. The donation was made by Peter and Caroline Roberts who had bought the house and grounds in 1996.

The foundation was called the Hutt’s Foundation (Hutt was a Scandinavian word meaning the “head of the valley”. They even made TV’s Joanna Lumley as a Patron. She said about the location…

“I think that the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park is like a slice of paradise, and my Kashmiri-born heart jumps with joy to think of its existence. Gardens are the greatest healers on earth, and as our stressful anxious lives tie us up in knots we may turn to the sweet silence of the great green earth for solace. Paradise is the old word for a walled garden: safe from the burning sun and whipping winds, with water flowing, shady trees and the scent of flowers. The Hutts Foundation has generously given us the key to the door; just turn that key, and find happiness and peace”.

I spent a couple of hours roaming the grounds taking an ice cream break part way around. It was a real sensory overload with stunning plant collections with bright colours, visually stimulating artworks to view and plenty of bird song and wildlife to take in.

Near the entrance there is an interesting walled garden with further artworks to view.

There is also a café, shop and plant sales near the large carpark at the entrance. It is worth mentioning that due to the sites charitable status, you need to purchase tickets online before arriving as they cannot sell entrance tickets at the site. It is also worth mentioning that the site doesn’t open each year until 8th April and closes in early November.