Explore the Tatton Park grounds to discover a number of eye-catching exhibits, specially created for this year’s Show
The Straw, The Coal and The Bean
By
Nick Permain
This installation brings together the worlds of agriculture and horticulture in one space. Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fables, the exhibit centres on three key garden ideas: straw – represented by traditional grain-drying structures; coal, shown with handmade kiln-fired clay; and beans, in the form of diverse planting to promote biodiversity and highlight the threats posed by monoculture plantations and industrialisation.
Find out more about the installation
The rice fields of Japan are another source of inspiration, where plants are dried on wooden poles in a process known as Honnyo. These accidentally beautiful structures create a boundary to the exhibit. Within them are a range of plants including drought-tolerant species, edibles, pollinator-friendly
flowers and soil improvers. At ground level, handmade clay tiles and sculptures represent found pieces of antique agricultural objects.
Rotunda
By Clive Scott & Moodswings Manchester
Sponsored by Hedges Direct
Celebrating the enjoyment and theatre that can be provided by the humble hedge, Rotunda is a contemporary circular garden room surrounded by a rich purple curtain of copper beech hedging. Three grass pathways bisect the hedge and lead to a circular tree bench and birch tree, while metal artwork at the head of each path creates added interest and focal points. Three intersecting flowerbeds are filled with colour – tones of pink, blue or purple, respectively – and tiered like seating in a theatre with a mixture of drought-tolerant pollinator-attracting perennials, grasses and shrubs. Built in partnership with Moodswings Manchester, the garden represents the charity’s pathways programme, and provides a calming, therapeutic space, within which both people and planet can heal.
Tatton Park Neighbourhood Nursery
By Tatton Park Garden Team
Sponsored by Tatton Park/Cheshire East Council
Boasting more than 300 years of propagation experience and comprising an area of around 5 acres, Tatton Park’s productive gardens are one of the largest and most complete kitchen gardens of any National Trust property. One of the estate’s three walled gardens is the Nursery Garden, until now a space for storage, propagation, potting and compost-making.
But plans are afoot to transform this space, combining old and new growing methods to create a sustainable nursery that’s fully prepared for the challenges of climate change. Stop by and share your views, and take a peek at what the new nursery might look like. Featuring the latest permaculture and no-dig methods, as well as tried- and-tested techniques, the exhibit is also showcasing some of Cheshire’s top nurseries, rose growers and herb specialists.
RHS Letters
One of the most popular floral features at any of our Shows and Festivals, the RHS Letters are back, showcasing the beautiful things that can be achieved using only sustainably sourced, seasonal British blooms, and not a single scrap of floral foam. This year’s installation by Penny Williams of Modern Farmhouse Flowers, is rich with the heavenly fragrance of only the freshest flowers.
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