GARDENERS at a stunning site near York have gone BIG on weeding.

The gardeners at Breezy Knees Gardens at Warthill near York have installed 10ft tall giant trowel sculpture.

Made from galvanised steel by Tom Heap at nearby Flaxton Forge, the trowel is a real talking point sited on a concrete plinth in a bed of persicaria in front of the annual meadow.

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Created from farmland over the last 25 years and are now the same size as the much better known gardens at RHS Harlow Carr and Newby Hall, the gardens are owned by Colin Parker and his wife Marylen and first opened to the public in 2008.

Colin said the trowel is already a talking point.

"You go to a lot of places and you get sculptures of women with two arms missing, but we wanted something garden orientated that was a bit of fun as well," said Colin.

"It sums us up really. We are a serious garden, but we like people to have fun.

"The whole thing started when we took a garden trowel across the road to Tom in the forge and we said - 'can you make this 10ft high?'

"We have been to Tom with various things before so he wasn't surprised."

* The gardens, where there is also a giant sculpture of a pair of wellington boots, can be visited daily, except Mondays, from 10.30am to 5pm annually from May 1 until September 30, with admission costing £10.