Hidden behind the adjacent towering York Minster Dean’s Park is a great place for a picnic or for relaxing. The park features great views of York Minster and other adjacent historic buildings. Whilst not obviously a flower-rich site the park is covered with colourful crocus flowers in February and early March. Plentiful seating is available and street vendors sell ice-cream and drinks nearby.

Cared for by:
The Dean and Chapter of York Minster

If you are looking for a quiet place to sit down right in the city centre then North Street Gardens is a good choice. The gardens have plenty of seating, trees providing shade and there are excellent views of passing boats and The Guildhall just across the river. The gardens are unusual in that they feature a broken water pump, which commemorates the work of Dr John Snow, who in the 19th century proved that cholera was a water-borne disease by removing the water pump handle from a site in London with a high incidence of cholera. The outbreak came to an end. In 2003 Dr Snow was voted by UK doctors as the greatest physician of all time.

Cared for by:
City of York Council

A large area of flood plain with long grasses, wildflowers, well established Weeping Willows and Lombardy Poplar, and young stands of new woodland. There is a paved public cycle and footpath leading from the centre of town to Jubilee terrace, and a footpath/track following the river as far as Water End and around to the RSPCA kennels.

The Friends of Leeman Park are a newly formed group of volunteers from around the Leeman Road Area. The volunteers all have a shared vision to improve and maintain their local area. The map on this page shows the areas the group have committed to working on. The group intend to work in Back Park and the Cycle Way into town from the Leeman Road area.

Friends of Leeman Park are always looking for volunteers. As much or as little as you wish to give will be beneficial to their group and community. They’re looking for all different types of people, practical people who can help with maintenance on the ground, as well as people who are interested in taking an administrative or planning role.

Cared for by:
Friends of Leeman Park

Things to help out with here:

• cutting back overhanging branches and shrubs
• litter picking
• cleaning up graffiti
• edging footpaths
• removing weeds
• creating raised beds
• replacing worn turf
• repainting worn markings on cycle tracks
• creating edible gardens
• creating community art work
• holding celebratory events such as summer fairs

Homestead Park is a great place to visit for all the family. The park has some very colourful flowerbeds, open areas for picnics, a large children’s play area, an arboretum and a very picturesque pond which is surrounded by a rockery. The flowerbeds are usually designed to match a different theme each year. In the summer months the park also features a café, mobile library and an area selling garden plants. The park was donated to the city by Seebohm Rowntree in 1904. The park also features a good variety of local wildlife.

Cared for by:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation

A traditional park with flowerbeds, grassy areas, tennis courts and a children’s play area. A stream running along the edge of the park is being managed for wildlife by a keen group of volunteers.

Cared for by:
City of York Council

Things to help out with here:
Park management, planting flowers

Holgate Community Garden came into being in Spring 2014: a community effort to transform a neglected park into a vibrant, life-enhancing space for anyone to come enjoy and for the community to have the opportunity to grow edibles and participate in gardening.

If you were to visit the garden today you could expect to see a jubilant, pollinator-friendly garden, all organically managed, with year-round interest and a wide variety of edibles grown in 6 new raised beds; flowering climbers rambling up new pergolas with lots of bird feeders frequented by long-tailed tits, blue tits, and robins; lots of nasturtiums, giant artichokes, and sun flowers; a herb and currant bed in its seventh year of establishment; a south-west facing wall with six-year-old espaliered apples and a variety of raspberry canes; 8 young fruit trees dotted through the garden (a plum, a gage, and several heritage apple varieties); the “Babby Oak” tree planted by local school children in the heart of a very small wildflower meadow entering its third year of establishment; and lots of children playing on new play equipment or picking and eating fresh herbs and veg, often making creations to proffer at their improvised cafe “The Ginger Cat” (named after local cat Ziggy, a regular at the garden)—collection and deliveries available from the window of the stationary wooden train.

Cared for by:
Holgate Community Garden (voluntary group of local residents)

Things to help out with here:
Weeding, watering, planting, raking, litter picking, pruning, scything…

Drop in Sessions:
Last Sunday of every month 3-4pm

Over ten acres of stunning botanical gardens in the heart of the city. The York Museum Gardens are an idyllic haven with an array of plant species, wildlife, and historical features to explore.

Established in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the gardens are famed for their fantastic collection of trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs set against the stunning backdrop of the medieval ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey.

Following recent redevelopment work, the gardens now extend to the back of York Art Gallery and include an Edible Wood and an Artists Garden with outdoor changing exhibitions.

Cared for by:
York Museums Trust

West Bank Park is a 16-acre park in the middle of Holgate, about 30 minutes walk west from the centre of York. Entrances can be found on Holgate Road, New Lane, Hamilton Drive and James Backhouse Place. It boasts a mature woodland and former arboretum at the top end of the park, off Acomb Road. There are many specimen trees including a giant Redwood, one of two magnificent trees which mark the historical entrance to the Backhouse Estate. The woodland attracts many bird species, including the long tailed tit, goldcrest and greater spotted woodpecker.

Cared for by:
Friends of West Bank Park

Things to help with here:
Pruning, planting flowers, general maintenance