York Walls in Bloom: Celebrating the changing seasons

As part of the York Walls in Bloom initiative, the vibrant wildflowers across the city’s historic walls are carefully managed to reflect the natural rhythm of the seasons.

Now the summer blooms are starting to fade, City of York Council and dedicated volunteers, led by St Nicks, are coming together to care for these unique spaces. Using traditional Austrian hand scythes and rakes, they will soon be cutting back the wildflowers.

Due to the mild Autumn, flowers are still blooming, so teams are monitoring this and waiting until the plants have gone to seed so they can regrow next year. Once the summer blooms have fully faded teams will go in to scythe them. All the leftover flowers and cuttings are composted, with the resulting compost shared with residents during popular giveaway days.

In spring, the team will resow wildflower seeds and water them as needed, ensuring a colourful display for the year ahead. Meanwhile, other native wildflowers, such as yarrow and mullein, have started to appear naturally—demonstrating how the habitat has improved, even beyond what was originally planted.

Cllr Jenny Kent, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency, said: “We’ve had a great summer of colour at Station Rise and we are still seeing people stop to take pictures. To ensure another beautiful display next year, we need to manage the area slightly differently. Hand scything will help prevent grass from taking over, help support a variety of beautiful flowers to grow, and protect wildlife. Huge thanks to our council team, St Nicks, York Cares, York businesses, and all volunteers for bringing our City Walls to life and helping nature flourish”

Liam Dennis, Ancient Monuments Manager at City of York Council, added: “There’s been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes and we’re grateful to volunteers and businesses who’ve helped us. The Station Rise site is quite unique, and the success here shows what’s possible when we work together to manage these spaces sustainably.”

Jonathan Dent, Green Corridors Manager at St Nicks, said: “York’s walls are amazing, but there’s so much potential to do more in spaces like the one at the Red Tower. This is about changing how we manage green spaces to increase biodiversity without losing what people love about them. It’s about coming together as a city to make a difference—and depending on the success here, we can start to look at other areas too.”

This seasonal care ensures the walls remain a living, breathing part of York’s heritage, offering beauty and biodiversity all year round.

Find out more at www.york.gov.uk/YorkWallsInBloom