The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2005

Best in Show - Cheshire County Council - Living today with tomorrow in mind

This year marks the 7th RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park and it just gets better. With a record number of new designers exhibiting show gardens, the introduction of new bedding plant varieties in the National Flower Bed Competition and a whole host of nurseries, suppliers and garden product stands - Tatton has got it all.

The standard of the show gardens this year was absolutely superb with variety, innovation and style very much to the fore.

Alex Daley and Alice Devaney designers of "Inside Out"

Best Show Garden award has gone to Cheshire County Council, who were also awarded Gold, for their "Living today with tomorrow in mind" (pictured left) marking the start of the United Nation's decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Gold also went to Alex Daley and Alice Devaney for "Inside Out" a garden which also won Most Creative Show Garden. (pictured right) We loved this and you can find out more about this garden in our 'What caught our eye' section.

Another garden which impressed us was Kidneys for Life "From Chaos to Calm" (awarded Bronze). Designers Helen Beckitt, Sophy King, Paula Revill and Annie Tollafield (all from Manchester University) designed a garden to highlight the emotional journey that a patient takes from first being told they have kidney failure. Annie explained that the design team were helped by a kidney patient to interpret what it was like to suffer with this illness. From the chaos/ill-health water feature through to the healing area with its native wildflowers, healing herbs and shades of yellow into the calm and well-being rainforest atmosphere with its shades of green, this garden certainly made you think.

Silver-gilt was awarded to Grey Matters, designed by Kate Rayner for Rensburgh Investment Management Ltd (pictured left). We liked this garden for its imaginative use of grey to help the gardener to achieve contrast. On one side of the garden the burgundy wall made a wonderful backdrop to the planting and the water screen set off the whole design in a very dynamic way.

Reaseheath College won Gold for their "Take the Rough with the Smooth", featuring two neighbouring gardens divided centrally with a theme of squares and rectangles. The standard of college entries continues to rise and the award of Gold is a fitting tribute to the flair and imagination of students as Reaseheath.

We also liked Matthew Unwin's "The Bigger Picture" which was awarded a Silver-gilt. This was a garden you stepped into and down with the planting scheme creating a colourful summer garden with grasses, specimen shrubs and a mix of perennials. The wooden frames, representing picture frames, increase in size as you move towards the back and also form a rather stunning water feature.

In the back-to-back gardens there were several Gold medals highlighting the standard and strength of the designs. Elysium Design brought us "Green on Concrete" which won Gold. Designed by Paul Hensey this design shows how you can create a small usable space for a garden in an area which is already concreted. Excellent for ideas as to how to deal with a difficult space and the range of herbaceous plants, selected for their low maintenance, which you can use.

Jill Brindle's the "Venture Garden" was also awarded a Gold. We loved this garden and you can read more about it in our 'What caught our eye' section. Most creative back-to-back garden went to Alan Gardener for "Through the Square Window."

In the RHS National Flower Bed Competition, St Helens Council won Best Exhibit and Gold. Gold was also won by Preston City Council, Chester-le-Street District Council, Scarborough in Bloom, Cheshire County Council with Tatton Park and Trafford M.B.C.