Birkheads Secret Gardens

About the garden

Owned by

Christine & Mike Liddle

Birkheads Secret Gardens is a hillside garden with open views extending across rural Durham and about 30 miles to Cleveland hills. The gardens were designed and built by the owners since 1990 to create biodiverse habitats for wildlife from an open field with all-year interest. 

There is a series of naturalistic romantic gardens for visitors to explore. There is a formal garden close to the house with tea terrace, bookable for family occasions or small groups out of hours. The cottage garden has a natural puddled clay pond and combines beehives with vegetables, cut flowers, trees and cottage garden plants. 

There's a Wildflower Meadow on wet clay wonderful with fritillaries in March, an Orchard with daffodils, bluebells and daisies, the woodland area has a small collection of interesting trees, Sorbus, Malus and Prunus flowering in spring followed by autumn fruits. The new No Dig border has many bulbs, hardy geraniums and paeonias. 

The Japanese style Meditation Garden with ponds, newts and dragonflies is spectacular in September. The circular Bee & Butterfly Garden is full of colour and food for pollinators from March to October. The Beach Garden with bulbs and grasses is quirky with another water feature for frogs. 

This is a plantaholics garden with plants collected over 30 years: shrubs, snowdrops, ferns, grasses, hostas, hemerocallis, delphiniums, primulas, roses, alliums, heucheras and many more. The unusual hardy plant nursery was established at the design stage to produce plants a few years before the garden was opened. Advice is freely given on all aspects of horticulture. 

The Coffee Shop in the walled garden overlooking the nursery serves light meals, snacks and delicious coffee and cakes, all sourced locally.