RHS Tatton’s beautiful Long Borders fill the senses

Designed by Tom Pilgrim
Sponsored by Fine Art Source, Keith Pilgrim

Designed by Harry Dean with Over Allotments
Sponsored by Acorn Landscape Services, Atlantic Timber, Bluebell Cottage Nursery, Steel and Scape, Cliff Dickenson & Son

Taking inspiration from a record-breaking pumpkin grown on the designers’ allotment in the 90s, squash takes centre stage on the plot and sets the colour palette of glowing yellows, vibrant reds and smoky orange, while edible ground cover offers a different perspective. Staggered posts, protected using the Shou Sugi Ban wood-charring method, ensure the border is viewable from all sides rather than just front-on, to create a sense of place.

Designed by Leo Holmes

Baking hot summers followed by torrential winter rains have shown some traditional British garden plants and practices to be no longer viable. The Dry Garden offers a solution to both situations. A 5” layer of sharp sand provides drainage in winter, protecting the crowns of plants from rotting off, while in summer it maintains moisture and a cool root run. A Mediterranean spread of plants, chosen for their resilience to both dry summers and wetter winters, includes grasses, perennials and bulbs such as Allium sphaerocephalon AGM (round-headed leek).

Designed by Alice Meacham and Trudi Robson
Sponsored by British Deer Society

In this border, two abstract steel sculptures represent deer browsing amid an array of curated plants, to evoke the idea that cultivated spaces don’t have to be fenced-off from so-called pests, but simply be planted in a more considered way. No plant is truly graze-proof, but there are plenty that are less palatable to wild garden visitors or which can tolerate a bit of a nibble. Here they include the wine-coloured Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ (A) AGM (Japanese maple) and grasses such as Miscanthus sinesis ‘Gracimillus’. Mophead hydrangeas and Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’ AGM (tawhiwhi) add to the mix.

Designed by Sarah Watson and Michael Leech
Sponsored by The Staffordshire Puppet Tree and Notcutts Garden Centre

Featuring a range of edible, playful plants, easily grown by gardeners of all ages, the border seeks to inspire families to nurture relationships by gardening together, while also contributing positively to the environment. A collection of dahlias add vibrancy to the scheme, while the pom poms of unusual edible Acmella oleracea (Pará cress) add to the whimsical mood. Rosa rugosa ‘Alba’ (Ru) (white Japanese rose) and hollyhocks nod to the traditional while a cherry tree and blueberry bush add juicy fruit.

Designed by The Mid Cheshire Line Station Volunteers
Sponsored by The Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership

Twenty volunteers who tend gardens along The Mid Cheshire Line railway have come together to design a border that promotes a more leisurely way to travel. Plants including Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Kokuryū’ AGM (black mondo) and Sorghum nigrum (black millet) have been chosen for their low-maintenance and resilient qualities in the colour scheme of the local train operator, while others, such as Allium sphaerocephalon ‘Drumsticks’, reference travel or music in a nod to the ‘music trains’ that operate on the network.

Designed by Melanie Donovan
Sponsored by JP Parker’s

Designed by Olivia Copley
Sponsor: The University of Sheffield

When planted with an array of different plants and trees, small spaces add up to make a big impact on biodiversity, our own mental health and serve to provide much-needed, pollinator-friendly green corridors throughout our cities. A reclaimed brick pathway leads to an archway mimicking the appearance of a front door, while bee posts, made from sustainably sourced, British-grown Douglas firs stand amidst loose and airy planting featuring Geums, Monarda (bee balm) and more in a warm colour palette of oranges and magentas.

Designed by Elizabeth Broadbent and Tom Orton

Designed by Alex Law

Designed by Sam Dryell and Joel Loader

Rooted in the recycling and repurposing of waste materials, the space encourages visitors to smash and reuse hard surfaces, fostering free-draining gardens. Crafted from recycled materials, curved gabion walls offer habitat and structural interest, while small-but-powerful pools not only emphasise the importance of water conservation, but also enhance aesthetics and provide further habitat for wildlife. Beads of amethyst-coloured Verbena bonariensis sparkle next to Echinacea purpurea (coneflower), while Kniphofia ‘Tawny King’ (red hot poker) adds a fiery burst, softened by velveteen spires of Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ (lamb’s ears) in a wonderful celebration of diversity, resilience and harmony.

Designed by Rachel Barber
Sponsored by Rachies Pretty Plants
Additional sponsorship from CF Psychology Group & Etherow Stone

Designed by Samantha Stringer

This bold and beautiful border is designed to stop visitors in their tracks and create feelings of love and strength. A riot of perfectly pink plants is dominated by the feathery plumes of Astilbe, elegant spires of Lythrum and popping dahlia pom poms that tower over multiple varieties of other species. Cosmos provides a pink pop for pollinators while Echinacea sways softly with Erigeron; its daisy flowerheads helping to soften edges.

Designed by Samuel Galloway

The Harmony Arch is a vibrant celebration of LGBTQIA+ identity, designed to inspire reflection
of one’s true self, set against a backdrop of nature’s diversity and resilience. An arresting array of plants in a powerful palette of pink and puce stand proud against four wicker arches, themselves symbolic of the journey of discovery and one’s ability to embrace discovered identity. Thematic planting includes Thalictrum delavayi (Chinese meadow rue) and Gypsophila paniculata (baby’s breath), both chosen for their light, airy appearance that reflects the fluidity of identity, while Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Overdam’ (v) (feather reed grass) stands tall, embodying pride.

Designed by Megan Chopp, Phoebe Hunt and Ayomide Palmer

Emphasizing a small space with significant impact, the design integrates pollinator-supporting elements like shelters, burrow sites, and Fragaria (wild strawberry) for nourishment. The selection of plants – particularly those in the ultraviolet colour spectrum, like Eremurus robustus (giant desert candle), alliums and lupins – is intended to attract pollinators, complemented by visual interest from Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ear), Hakonechloa (Japanese forest grass) and Heuchera (coral bells). The hexagonal structure offers a pollinator-centric view, accentuating colours that appeal to them. Notably, the design accounts for nocturnal pollination, leveraging scented plants and soft lighting to attract efficient night pollinators.

Designed by Cara Gaffney, Kaci Purnell & Katie Bishop
Sponsored by Wyevale Nurseries

Themed around self-expression and human interconnectedness, an array of plants ranges from the robust to the refined, each chosen for their distinctive characteristics. Central to the border is an interwoven willow ring that encircles a fiery heart of Amaranthus caudatus (love-lies-bleeding) and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Red Chief‘ (eulalia), representative of the unity and strength found in both diversity and living as one's authentic self. Cool, monochromatic edges featuring Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’ (Japanese Aralia) and Thalictrum Splendide White (‘Fr21034’) PBR (meadow rue) quell the fire to add depth and interest.

Designed by Emily Barden

Designed by Bayley Blyther, Ashley Woollaston and Jessica Richardson
Sponsored by Wyevale Nurseries

Designed by Lesley Groves, Natalie Meara & Tom Meara
In support of Samaritans Mid Cheshire

This border is based on the anatomy and function of the ear. A muted palette of green grasses and white blooms (the Samaritans logo colours) are arranged in sweeping alternating waves along its length, with features at either end including a water bowl with a central metal sculpture to represent the ear drum and cochlea, respectively, and a spiral gabion insect hotel. A silver birch adds height, elegance and calming sound, its branches symbolising the branches of the auditory nerve.

Designed by Alexander Wright

A multi-layered, colourful bed that creates a statement in even the smallest of spaces and with community, education and children at its heart. Taking inspiration from a passion for mountaineering, cooking and trekking around the world, the designer starts the border with a flow of Begonias surrounded by chard, foxgloves and intermingled grasses. A selection of sunset-coloured dahlias, Astilbe japonica ‘Burgundy Red’ and Allium ‘Gladiator’ build in height, drawing the eye to central pillars of honeysuckle that surround a statement Canna Tropicanna Black (‘Lon01’PBR) (canna).

Designed by Susan Booth

This border incorporates these themes to encourage more women to vote. Plants in this border – all commonly known by traditional girls’ names, such as Rose, Lily, Holly and Prunella – include standard roses, elevated in raised beds clad in mirror mosaic. At the border’s centre, white, green and yellow plants, including Alstroemeria Princess Yentl (‘Zapriyen’) (Princess Series) and Liriope Muscari ‘Alba’ (lily turf) reflect the colours of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, while its edge hums with Barbie (TM) Mella roses and Barbie pink lilies.

Designed by Victoria Bettany, Eloise Wood, Sophie Wiseman
Sponsored by Wyevale Nurseries