Head gardener prepares to wow at flower show
THE head gardener at Adlington Hall is leading a team representing Cheshire’s Gardens of Distinction at this year’s RHS Tatton Show.
Anthony O’Grady, and his three-man team are preparing at the site of the flower show in the run-up to the opening on Thursday, July 19.
Anthony, who has exhibited award-winning gardens for the last two years, said: “It takes about a week of concerted effort to put in the garden at Tatton and involves a lot of careful transportation of plants and hard work.
“By the end we will have used about 1,000 plants to create our four metre by four metre garden.
“It is certainly a relief when everything is in place and months and months of work has come to fruition.”
This year’s garden takes its inspiration from Adlington Hall’s rose garden, featuring a central bed in a palette of blues, pinks and whites, edged with old English lavender and a planted stone urn.
The garden also pays homage to the significant role played by the garden’s bees, which for centuries, before the invention of stand-alone bee hives, were encouraged to make their hives in 63 manmade ‘bee boles’ on one of the hall’s walls.
Anthony, said: “This is a garden planted for bees with plants such as marjoram, thymes, roses and lily of the valley.
“It is very easy for gardeners across the region to plant one or more of these plants.
“Bees are not only a wonderful garden visitor, they are also crucial for pollination.
“An eye-catching fea- ture of our Tatton garden is our ‘bee and bug hotel’.
“Fashioned from an old tree, this is a nod to estate’s original bee boles but it also reflects Adlington Hall’s ethos of being environmentally friendly.”
Cheshire’s Gardens of Distinction was formally launched in 2008, to celebrate Cheshire’s Year of Gardens.
It is a consortium of 20 gardens whose aim is to raise awareness by promoting the richness and diversity of Cheshire’s horticultural assets.
Anthony O’Grady, said: “A lot of people ask me ‘what is the secret to a beautiful garden?’ I think the main thing is to be patient and be able to put things behind you.
“Last year and early this year with the snow, things in our garden did not survive. It is disappointing but instead of feeling discouraged, look ahead and get on with planting new things. Most good gardeners are pragmatic and it helps to be an optimist.”