Gardens

The zoo’s gardens and landscaping have once again received Gold in the prestigious Yorkshire in Bloom Awards.

The gardens and other planted areas enhance the look and feel of the zoo, and work alongside our wildlife areas to create an enriching and enjoyable visitor experience. The main formal gardens are arranged in an attractive design around a central fishpond, which are linked by gravelled and lawned paths, creating ‘garden rooms’, each with a distinct style. A gazebo, arbours, and other seating areas make the gardens a relaxing place to sit and enjoy the beautiful birds in their surrounding aviaries.

Cottage Garden

Mirroring the formal layout of the rose garden, but softened by a relaxed planting scheme full of old-fashioned favourites. Tall lupins, delphiniums and alliums rise above gentle mounds of nepeta, geraniums and lamb’s ear. Flowering throughout the summer, the colours in this garden are limited to whites, pinks, purples and blues creating a harmonious look. Bright reds, yellows and oranges are banished!

Rose Garden

Repeating the design of the overall formal garden splits the rose garden into quarters, which are further divided and planted with over 150 roses in 14 different varieties. Four colours – red, orange yellow and pink – were chosen for the quarters, and by choosing flowers with hints of the other colours, the roses were arranged so they blended through from one bed to the next. Climbing roses in matching colours were planted on the arches over the paths and nearby arbour to create a beautiful and fragrant corner.

Tropical Garden

This garden uses hardy architectural plants with large, contrasting leaf shapes to create a taste of a tropical jungle on the Yorkshire coast!  Plants include fatsias, cordylines, phormiums, bamboos, ferns, palms and hostas. With the addition of a few tender plants the tropical feel is intensified by selecting flowering plants in yellows, oranges, reds and hot pinks and the use of bark mulch and rotting logs.  The tropical garden blends into the adjacent grass garden with its wooden gazebo, with views back across them both.

Japanese Style Garden

This less-formal garden reflects the oval layout of the vibrant Tropical Garden but creates a more tranquil feel by using mounds of softer colours. Although not an authentic Japanese garden, it combines many elements that evoke this style including mossy rocks, gravel, stone sculptures and a small pond.  Planting is mostly in shades of green using bamboos, hostas, evergreen shrubs and ornamental trees, such as acers and cherry which all add to this garden’s overall calming effect.

Secret Garden

Find the secret door from the formal gardens and enter a hidden little zone shaded by pine trees and planted with ivy, hostas and ferns.  A short ramp leads you onto a sunny deck with views over the Wildlife Pond and animals beyond – it’s the perfect place ‘to stand and stare’.

Stand under the raised tunnels and watch lively chipmunks race around above your head. Follow the shorth path to a quiet corner where you can sit and relax next to our barn owl

Sensory Garden

Get in touch with your senses in the exciting, uniquely designed spiral Sensory Garden. Immerse yourself in this interactive zone and discover an array of rainbow colours, shapes and textures.  Smell the flowers, touch the leaves, and listen to the sounds around you.  Take your time to explore the many different shapes, patterns and surfaces on the walls and floor and see just how much there is to stimulate your senses. Enhance your experience with our colourful and informative interpretation boards and see what you might learn!