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The Paradise Garden

Drawing inspiration from the earliest gardens, the Paradise Garden spectacularly blends Mediterranean, Asiatic and American planting

Interesting facts...

  • Designer World-renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith designed the ‘masterplan’ for RHS Garden Bridgewater
  • Origins Paradise gardens originated during the Achaemenid Empire and were peaceful enclosed places featuring water 
  • Pushing boundaries The microclimate of the walled garden extends what will successfully grow in the North West
Naturalistic planting schemes flow through the Paradise Garden

Contemporary meets traditional

The walls of the contemporary Paradise Garden, designed by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, create a microclimate in which a wide range of plants from all over the world flourish. This garden style traces its origins to those of the earliest civilisations and cleverly blends Mediterranean and Asiatic species.
Water is a defining feature of paradise gardens

Water is a key feature

At the heart of the garden is a 70-sq metre Lily Pond, fed by two rills running east to west along the central spine. There are 89 individual planting beds surrounding it containing 27,000 plants and enveloping visitors in a tranquil oasis.

The Lily Pond is flanked by yorkstone paving and sculptural beech columns. Bespoke wooden benches offer places to pause, reflect and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the lush planting.
Vibrant and showy iris blooms add intense tones

East meets west

Gravel has been added as a mulch to the beds on the east of this garden to help replicate the soils of the Mediterranean. This not only impoverishes the soil and aids drainage, it also creates more aridity and ambient heat. These borders feature plants that have adapted to dry climates, including tall bearded iris cultivars Iris ‘Stellar Lights’, I. ‘Jane Phillips’ AGM, I. ‘Mer du Sud’ AGM and I. ‘Superstition’ AGM.
Generous planting on a vast scale creates an immersive experience

Asian inspiration

Lush Asian flora takes centre stage on the west side of the garden, with a central square enclosed by pleached Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood) trees. Key Asiatic plants include Ficus carica ‘Brown Turkey’ (fig), Tecoma capensis AGM (cape honeysuckle), Punica granatum (dwarf pomegranate), Plumbago auriculata AGM (cape leadwort), Schefflera macrophylla (umbrella tree), Enkianthus quinqueflorus (Chinese new year flower and Bletilla striata AGM (hyacinth orchid).
Tender plants are grown year-round in the Victorian-style glasshouses

Growing exotics

The garden features two new Victorian-style glasshouses built along the south-facing wall where tender plants can be grown throughout the year, including peaches, grapes and figs as well as bulbs and succulents.

In parallel with Worsley New Hall’s heyday, the Paradise Garden glasshouses are filled with exotic and familiar plants. They are heated by a sustainable biomass boiler, the 21st-century equivalent of the original coal-fired chimney stack. Hot water is pumped from the boiler and through pipes in the floor of the glasshouses to heat them. 

Plants in the Paradise Garden

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.