Garden given prestigious award

17:12:20 23rd December 2009

Garden and greenhouse fans may wish to pay a visit to the Walled Garden at Scampston after it was awarded a prestigious gong recently.

It was handed the Visitor Attraction of the Year gong at the Yorkshire Moors and Coast Tourism Awards, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) revealed.

Currently, closed for the winter, the site will re-open to the public on Good Friday - April 2nd 2010.

The site is on the RHS Recommended Garden list and beat 200 competitors to the prize, including a four-strong shortlist of local attractions in the up to 50,000 visitors category.

It has won acclaim over the past decade after renowned Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf revamped its old Victorian kitchen garden, changing it into a modern design and highly-efficient plot.

Judges in the competition said Scampston offers "an enjoyable day out which is excellent value for money".

Oudolf also installed his trademark drifts of grass using Molinia caerulea in waves across the attraction, creating a visual display similar to that seen on prairies.

Meanwhile, the RHS recently revealed that it now has 10,000 schools signed up to its Campaign for School Gardening.