In sitcom-land, Tom and Barbara turned their suburban home into an organic, self-sufficient farm (much to the exasperation of Margo). It was comedy gold for the BBC, but its enduring appeal reveals an urge many of us dream of: to live The Good Life.
Vanessa Cook did just that in 1974 when she and her husband, John, bought a derelict house in grass fields in the picturesque village of Stillingfleet, six miles south of York.
Vanessa explained: 'For the first year, we lived in a caravan, did up the house, and planted a shelter belt, which we now grandly call the Woodland Walk, which protects us from the strong west winds and allowed us to have a garden.'
They made their own butter, yoghurt, and milk, and grew their own vegetables, while bringing up four children.
'We had a cow, sheep, chickens, and geese. We wanted to bring up our children to realise how important it was to be organic. For the 50 years we have been here, the garden has been totally organic.'
Vanessa has created a wildlife haven. Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens is now a quintessential four-acre country garden, buzzing with insects, and overflowing with plants and floral scents.
'I’m proud to say we were one of the first organic gardens, and there are even now very few, which is why so many conservation charities and organisations use it for their research.'
The gardens host annual Wildlife Days that see dozens of charities gather, such as Bumble Bee Conservation, Butterfly Conservation, British Dragonfly Society, East Yorkshire Bat Group, and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
'Visitors ask, how can you be organic when all your Hostas don’t have any holes in them? It’s because slugs are managed by natural predators; we have Guineafowl roaming the garden.'
The garden’s charming residents include white doves, a flock of ‘cheeky’ pekin bantams, noisy Guineafowl, hens, and their resident cat, Donald, who has become famous on Instagram for his friendly welcome to visitors.
The journey from an empty grass field to a flourishing garden oasis is a testament to a lifetime of dedication and love by Vanessa, who is now 80.
This year, Vanessa celebrated her golden wedding anniversary with her husband John, who worked in the finance sector in Leeds after studying Engineering at Cambridge University.
'My husband is 83 now and fit as a fiddle. He’ll be fixing things on the roof! We’ve restored the house, which dates pre-1740, with little outside help, as well as creating the gardens from scratch. I plan to keep on going.”
She puts her rude health down to the garden.
She said: 'I’m proud to be 80, and still pouring my heart and soul into the gardens every day. I hope to inspire others to find the secret to youthful vitality – gardening! It’s my natural Pilates, and a source of strength and joy. Gardening is all about having a 'can-do' attitude, and the results are a testament of the work you put in.'
The gardens (complete with tearooms offering homemade cake) are open to the public until the end of September, and feature a nursery that sells 800 herbaceous plants. The gardens once housed a National Collection of Pulmonarias, and are famed for its hardy Geraniums.
'If you see a plant in the garden, you can go to the nursery and buy it,' Vanessa says.
Her ambition was to be able to pick flowers every week of the year with a love of gardening rooted in childhood: 'I’ve been mad about flowers all my life,' she said.
Vanessa comes from a family of garden-lovers, and is very proud to have been born in Yorkshire and to have two sisters, who opened their gardens for the National Gardens scheme.
As a child, Vanessa went to Queen Mary’s school in Helmsley where she learnt the names of all the local wild flowers, and were tested on a hundred of them once a year. She then went to Westonbirt School, where she was able to study A-Level Botany in the Arboretum. After moving to Stillingfleet, she studied Horticulture at Askham Bryan college.
Despite this, and even creating new breeds of flowers, such as Stillingfleet Meg, named after her oldest daughter, she insists she’s not an expert. But she is critical of gardeners who rely on Google for answers: 'You don’t learn from Google, you need to speak to the gardeners, and ask questions. Knowledge comes from years and years of looking. I think people have forgotten how to look. It’s all become superficial. They should pick gardeners’ brains, find out how they solved problems.'
The garden is also a haven for artists. Vanessa hosts monthly art exhibitions, showcasing the works of local artists inspired by nature.
The wire sculptor Chris Moss hosts regular workshops at Stillingfleet on how to make her distinctive sculptures, visible throughout the gardens, that reflect her interest in the natural world, in particular animals and birds. Each month, Vanessa exhibits a local artist’s work in the tearooms, such as Fiona Calder, whose work celebrates her passion for flowers and foliage. Outside the tearooms, an elegant sculpture of a lady reading a book sits on the bench; a beautiful piece Vanessa bought in memory of her mum.
These personal touches make the gardens sing.
Gardens that inspire Vanessa, she says, are those with ‘soul’ not those manicured, and run by organisations, but planted and revealing the individuality of the owner.
She explained: 'A garden is part of your soul. It’s totally personal. I can’t paint, but I take an artistic approach and use textures and paint with flowers and foliage. It’s not a loud, gaudy garden but a gentle, tranquil one.'
Vanessa still works in the garden and nursery till 8pm in the summer months. She hopes more visitors will come to help ensure the gardens remain open for years to come.
She believes anyone with a patch of land can do incredible things with a little know-how and love: 'I host workshops and give talks with practical advice, like the best types of trees to plant in small gardens, or good plants for shady spots, or vegetables for beginners.
'There are trees I planted as saplings here that are now towering giants. There’s a joy from being so connected to the land, and seeing a seed grow.
Vanessa adds: 'I hope to inspire others in what can be achieved; anyone who dreams of a garden can create one with a little patch of land.'
Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens is open during fixed times until September.
stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk
