Throughout the spring and summer The Journal will be featuring show gardens open to the public, either on specific days or for longer periods. Sue Mason begins with a visit to a spectacular garden near Pickering, open this month, which contains more than 2,500 varieties of perennials and bulbs . . .

Looking down towards the East Gate, this shows the planting of limes and yellows against a darker background

On the outskirts of picturesque Sinnington, near Pickering, James Baldwin’s garden surrounds his house and is encroaching on the adjoining field. Friars Hill has been his home for 70 years so it’s natural he might have wanted to change the garden somewhat during that time. And he has.

“The garden has changed on a fairly regular basis,” says the retired pilot. “We have taken in a complete section at the back of the house from a field and produced another four beds at the front.”

Mr and Mrs Baldwin – Win is Australian, currently in Australia and referred to constantly as “Mrs B” – have been opening their garden in aid of the National Gardens Scheme for more than 20 years. Their garden will be open again on Sunday, 5th April.

The one-and-three-quarter acre garden contains several mature and impressive trees – most notably some massive chestnuts – but there are some unusual man-made structures too. One, the “Oil Rig”, is a tall, wooden object, over which clematis, honeysuck and a climbing rose scramble. There’s a baby oil rig too . . .

Some unusual plants and some extensive collections can be found at Friars Hill, including more than 100 different varieties of hosta. “I breed lilies and my wife’s thing is currently hellebores,” says James. “We also have some specialist snowdrops.

“We grow a lot from seed and we have more than 2,500 different perennials in the garden.”

The Bobby James rose over the garden room

They aim for year-round colour and have two main gardening philosophies. “Everything is double or triple-decked, so you get early spring growth that will be grown over by late spring and then maybe autumn,” he explains. “Also, we have a lot of dark background shrubs so we do lime green planting to bring it out.

“We try to have colour themes, but it is largely by experimentation. You plant things and see whether they fit. If they don’t you take them out and put them somewhere else.

“I planted some technicolour lilies in Mrs B’s white border but her white has virtually gone by the time they come through, so I get away with it.”

Shrubs and tall-growing plants form borders on either side of the drive which, in turn, create a colourful entrance to the house and the yard, decorated with planted troughs, is colourful, too. An old garden shed has been converted into a garden room where James and Win sit and have lunch in summer. Growing over it is a huge rose, Bobby James, which has yellow-white blooms.  “Look at the size of its trunk,” says James. “It’s ideal because it covers the roof, but you have to plant it with care.”

Passing a fernery, where miniature ferns and hostas are planted, and a tall yew tree through which a clematis climbs, we arrive at a white gate that leads into the garden. The first area is an old orchard, where spring bulbs are coming in to flower and fritillaries are just coming up. “We have a lot of specialist flowers in this part of the garden,” says James. “It requires you to put your head down and look rather than just walk and gaze.”

The most recent addition to the garden is a woodland walk, created from a slice of an adjoining field. As well as some enormous chestnut trees there are some newer cherry trees and a eucalyptus (for Mrs B); hollies and shrubs edge a mulched path, and the area is planted with snowdrops, hellebores and aconites which are followed by yellow and white narcissi.

“The squirrels gave us a big clue it was going to be a cold winter because they took every conker,” says James, leading me out of the woodland walk via the compost bins. “We use eight tons of farmyard muck every year,” he says, as we reach a dry stone walled acid bed. “The garden is lime, so we had to create a peat bed for the rhododendrons and azaleas.”

We arrive at two beds in the shape of commas; although the shapes mirror each other, the planting – of bulbs, aliums and grasses – doesn’t.

Snowdrops bring a welcome spring show

An old rockery area is planted with several varieties of hellebore and a range of trilliums, and a nearby path has been made quite a feature. Some fairly large conical conifers make an architectural statement, while self-seeding Stipa tenuissima has been left undisturbed in the path. “It blows in the wind and it’s beautiful,” James tells me.

There’s more grass in a circular bed, this time Zebra grass and Stipa gigantia.

A long border extends down the eastern side of the garden which James tells me changes colour depending on the season. The planting is varied and extensive, with hellebores and epimediums at one end, speciality snowdrops – including Green Point – tulips and Pacific Coast iris. “We have Hemerocallis (day lillies) from March until September and then in autumn the hotter colours come.” he says. 

We then arrive at a spot where a tree blew down; the grass has been re-seeded and new border planting includes peonies and hellebores. Trees in this long outer border include Amalanchia and an unusual weeping birch. “These were meant to be miniature conifers but they grew,” says James, at another bed. “We like them because they have a good colour range.”

Sprengerii tulips have self-sown in gravel near the south gate and in the shade of a yew tree Pacific Coast iris, hepaticas and autumn-flowering cyclamen have been planted. “We do have some spring-flowering cyclamen in the garden,” he says, leading me to Mrs B’s famous white border.

“This box hedge is at least 100-years-old,” he says. “Inside, we have roses and clematis and outside, everything seeds itself in the gravel. We have a geranium palmatum, which is allegedly tender, so we grew it in pots and carted it in in winter, but it’s as happy as a sandboy doing its own thing.”

Near the back door is a geranium bed, planted with blues, reds and purples, and there are several pots, as well as a stone trough in which a miniature lilac grows. “This is south-facing, very dry and very hot, so we grow Californicas, that need heat, just here,” says James.

With a garden like this, it’s no wonder Mr B has had to stay home and tend it rather than fly to the other side of the world with his wife, who is also a keen gardener. How much time does he spend in the garden? “I hate to think,” he says.

Friars Hill, Sinnington, four miles west of Pickering, is open under the National Gardens Scheme on Sunday, 5th April, from 1pm to 5pm; Admission £3, children free. Groups are welcome by appointment from mid-March to mid-July (tel: 01751 432179).