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The Tatton Garden

A delightful garden that combines the best of classical architecture and informal planting.

The garden was designed by John Ravenscoft , the original owner of Bridgemere, for the inaugural RHS Tatton Show in 1999. The garden not only won a Gold Medal, it also won Best Garden at the Show! It was never intended to be such a large garden and took over a month to construct at Tatton. John Ravenscoft years later, admitted he had confused metres with feet when he originally designing the garden. An easy mistake!

The Garden was designed specifically to show off the sheer variety of herbaceous plants available at Bridgemere Garden Centre, which by 1999, had become the largest garden centre in Europe. The planting was set off by the colonnades, which were originally imported from Italy, but have since been replaced with green oak. This garden combines structured formality with nature and strikes a balance between the two.

Highlights

Don’t miss one of our 9 champion trees Cedrus Deodara Pendula, also known as the Fountain Tree. It is a magnificent large conifer, which is prized for its weeping canopy. It makes a big statement in this any garden! Also Inula magnifica, a dramatic plant with a multitude of primrose yellow flowers on stems which can grow up to 2m tall and the herbaceous borders which sit against the backdrop of the colonnades.

Plants to look out for...

Click on a plant to find out more:

Cedrus Deodara ‘Pendula’

Growing up to 5m, it is a weeping tree with branches that hang down to the ground and then spread outwards. The dark, blue-green needles grow in groups, bundled together. Upright cones grow individually, or in pairs and have a rounded top.

Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘ Rex’

Common name: Chinese Rice Paper
A large, fast-growing shrub or small tree which grows up to 5m high. It produces upright stems with very large, green leaves, which can be up to 1m across. New shoots and leaves have a coating of fine, brown hairs. Creamy flowers are produced in the autumn, which is then followed by black fruit.

Musa ‘Basjoo’

Common name: Japanese Banana Tree
An herbaceous perennial and grows to the size of a small tree. It produces large exotic looking leaves which die back in the autumn and reappear in the spring.

Inula magnifica

It grows to 2.5 m high and is a dramatic looking plant. It has huge bright yellow daisies, which contrast with large, dock-like leaves. Perfect for the back of a sunny border in a sheltered location, or at the pond edge.