RHS Tatton Park
Macmillan Legacy Garden
At the 2021 RHS Tatton Park flower show, Rob Hardy & Co created an award winning show garden sponsored by Macmillan Cancer Support. You can find out more about this award-winning garden below.
The garden design brief for the RHS Tatton Park flower show was to create a space that illustrates the incredible support that Macmillan provides for people who are living with a cancer diagnosis.
One third of Macmillan’s income comes from gifts in wills. This RHS Tatton Park show garden aims to raise awareness of this vital service and encourage more of us to leave a gift in our will to Macmillan Cancer Support, so that they can continue this good work.
The design
Macmillan provides support for those going through the painful journey of a cancer diagnosis, and the garden is a symbol of this journey. From the twisted pathway through the centre of the garden, to the reflective pool – it’s an illustration of what many people experience.
As mentioned on the RHS website, “Three large sculptural monoliths represent how one third of Macmillan’s income comes from gifts in wills. Plants and surfaces are initially sharp, jagged, dark and brooding, becoming more vibrant then calming around the seating area.”
Our show garden team
All design and planting plans were carried out by Rob and the team, you can view more garden designs here. We enlisted Peter Gregory Landscapes to carry out the build.
We’re proud to have received two awards for this garden – a much coveted RHS Gold Medal and Best Tatton Garden.
You can watch the BBC coverage of the garden below or scroll down to see more images and the planting list.
Planting
As named the Macmillan Legacy Garden, a Legacy Tree was situated at the front of the garden to encourage RHS Tatton Park visitors to hang written messages about their legacy.
Following the show the plants were gifted to three different gardens around the region;
RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate
RHS Bridgewater, Salford
Knutsford Town Council.
Below is a full planting list.
The plant list
Perennials
Achillea 'Terracotta'
Actaea simplex 'Brunette'
Alchemilla erythropoda
Agapanthus ‘Royal Velvet’
Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop'
Astrantia major subsp. involucrata 'Shaggy'
Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack of Diamonds'
Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmation Cream'
Digitalis × valinii 'Firecracker'
Echinacea purpurea 'Pretty Parasols'
Erigeron karvinskianus
Eryngium planum 'Magical Anita'
Helleborus × sternii
Hemerocallis 'Curls'
Heuchera ‘Black Pearl’
Ophiopogon planiscapus
Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire'
Salvia ‘African Sky’
Sanguisorba officinalis ‘Tanna’
Tiarella ‘Spring Symphony’
Grasses & Ferns
Anemanthele lessoniana 'Sirocco'
Asplenium scolopendrium
Deschampsia cespitosa 'Goldschleier'
Dryopteris Affinis ‘Pinderi’
Dryopteris filix-mas ‘Barnesii’
Dryopteris filix-mas 'Linearis Polydactyla'
Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Windspiel'
Molinia caerulea subsp. caerulea 'Moorhexe'
Polypodium vulgare
Stipa tenuissima
Trees & Shrubs
Acer ginnala
Koelreuteria paniculata
Pinus sylvestris ‘Wateri’
Pinus mops
Pinus mugo
Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace'
Taxus baccata
None of this could have happened without the support of our wonderful donors and suppliers.
Our thanks to:
Peter Gregory Landscapes
Marshalls
Kendrew Architectural Metalwork
Landscape Plus
Dyofix
Travis Perkins
One Artisan
Lanes Landscapes
Deepdale Trees