Greener gardening inspiration, grow-your-own expertise, fun family activities, have-a-go workshops and more
RHS Tatton Park, the North West’s glorious summer flower show, returned (
20 – 24 July 2022) bringing a great day out packed with highlights.
Planet-friendly gardening inspiration
Green ideas took RHS Tatton Park by storm with themes from front garden style and growing-your-own, to soil health and planet-friendly gardening practices.
Greener Front Gardens featured creative, and beautiful, ways to make wonderful wildlife habitats out of front garden patches, while making sure they’re still practical for everyday living. Whether you have a car to park, or a bike to store, the gardens showed how to make the most of a front plot to boost your wellbeing and attract wildlife to your home.
The Greener Borders were full of ideas for sustainable gardening in smaller spaces (pictured above), while the RHS and BBC Local Radio Planet-Friendly Garden (pictured below) was created with three amateur garden designers and inspired by the local North West landscape.
Grow-your-own
There was opportunity to hear from the very best fruit and veg growers, see inspiring designs for creating your own productive plot and be inspired to cook up a storm.
The
BBC Radio 2 and The One Show’s Sow, Grow and Show Garden, designed by renowned designer and broadcaster Joe Swift, encouraged everyone to discover the joys of gardening and to get planting. Vegetable beds in the garden promised a bumper crop of carrots, salad leaves, potatoes, beans and sweetcorn, while an abundance of beautiful grasses and perennials offered inspiration for cut flower patches at home.
You could see the best of the bunch at the Summer Fruit and Veg Competition, along with mouth-watering displays from Northern Fruit Group and Cheshire Gooseberry Society – even featuring the Heaviest Gooseberry competition.
The School Allotments pulled together the creative ideas and handiwork of local school children who created garden and container displays ready for the show.
Hands-on at Homestead
You could see and have a go at horticultural- and botanical-inspired craft practices at the Homestead area of RHS Tatton Park.
There was chance to discover the therapeutic benefits of herbs with The Herb Society or learn how to create a sustainable, mindful and productive garden with best-selling author Jack Wallington. You could make your own botanical bubbles, sow wildflower seeds and learn traditional crafts. More about the natural environment could be uncovered with Earth’s Riches, a new display that explored the wonders of soil.
A dose of ‘vitamin G’
You could explore how gardening benefits our mental, physical and social wellbeing at
The Vitamin G Garden.
With areas for contemplation, relaxation and restoration there was a studio filled with art and plants and space for mediation and yoga nestled next to a plunge pool. A dining table encircled by a timber screen offered space for socialising and eating together while scented planting stimulated the senses and the mind.
Read more about
The Vitamin G Garden when it visited RHS Malvern in the spring.
A floral forest
The Flower School immersed visitors in a floral forest, created by beautiful installations designed by talented florists.
At the heart of the school a studio space saw florists and cut flower growers offer tips for making the perfect hand-tied bouquet or decorative arrangement. The Potting Bench and Practical Gardening talks theatre welcomed experts sharing their gardening and floral know-how.
Over at the Floral Marquee, beautiful displays by expert growers could be explore, and there were plenty of opportunities to pick up a favourite new bloom for your pots, borders and baskets at home.
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