Keeping It Local For The Replanting Of York Museum Gardens

Two Yorkshire horticultural businesses have teamed up to supply and beautify the 12.5-acre botanical garden at York Museum Gardens.

Commercial plant suppliers Johnsons of Whixley, located just 11 miles from York Museum Gardens, partnered with Boroughbridge-headquartered landscaping contractor ATM Ltd to supply thousands of plants to refresh and update some of the beds within the Gardens as part of the recent Environment Agency flood defence improvements project. The planting design was developed by Steve Williams, Garden Manager at York Museum Trust; and consultants AECOM.

York Museum Gardens are located along the north bank of the River Ouse and are a listed botanical garden, containing many varieties of trees, deciduous and evergreen, native and exotic.

The Gardens were first established in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and The Yorkshire Museum, situated onsite, was one of the first purpose-built museums in the country.

The gardens and museum were given in trust to the City of York Council in 1960 and have been managed by the York Museums Trust since 2002.

ATM Ltd, one of the UK’s leading landscaping, highway and maintenance contractors is located 18 miles down the road from the Gardens and was tasked with providing the soft landscaping for the project, following engineering works to raise an existing flood bank. Some planting had to be removed, whilst other areas along a woodland path were in need of rejuvenation.

Johnsons plants used in the project include Astilbe, Astrantia, Bergenia, Brunnera, Carex, Digitalis, Euonymus, Helleborus, Hosta, Hydrangea, Pulmonaria, Viburnum, Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ and Clerodendrum trichotomum. They were carefully selected to ensure there would be a range of flowering plants throughout the year to help pollinators thrive.

Eleanor Richardson, Marketing Manager at Johnsons, said: “It’s an honour to join forces with ATM, one of our long-standing customers, to supply and beautify these local botanic gardens."

“York Museum Gardens is on our doorstep, so it has been great to visit the site and see the hard work ATM have completed and see the plants thriving. We hope the new planting will be enjoyed by visitors to York for many years to come.”

Daniel McClaren, Contracts Manager at ATM Ltd, said: “ ATM has been proud to complete the soft landscaping of this project. It was a pleasure to work with York Museum Gardens, AECOM and Johnsons of Whixley to refresh and update some of the beds within the gardens as part of the recent flood defence improvements. The plants were carefully selected with wildlife and seasons in mind. The gardens will be enjoyed all year round. ”

York Museum Trust Garden Manager, Steve Williams said: "We are committed to improving the biodiversity of our city-centre gardens which welcomes over 1.3 million visitors a year. The plants have helped us to implement a new biodiverse scheme for our Riverside walk in an area which has recently undergone flood scheme alleviation. We selected plants that would flower at different times of the year, including pollinator and butterfly-friendly flowers which will help insects to thrive and also support the lifecycles of wider wildlife in the area."