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BEHIND THE SCENES AT TATTON 2004
Have you ever thought how much effort it takes to get a show garden ready for a major flower show? We see the completed garden and probably hardly ever stop to think about the work which has gone into preparing for judging and opening day - the trials and tribulations, the joy and sometimes the heartache.Reckless takes a peek behind the scenes at Tatton.
Walking around the site just two days before opening the one thing that strikes you is the atmosphere. Dodging between dumper trucks, lorries, earth moving machines and all manner of construction gear, it's difficult to envisage the pristine order that will be on show when the gates open. Everything is in a state of flux but the atmosphere is great. 
There is definitely a feeling of camaraderie here as everyone turns to and helps everyone else – sleeves rolled up you just get on with it, hoping all the time that the weather stays kind to you. In some cases a show garden will be a smaller or similar model to one which has recently come from another show. Some of the exhibitors at Tatton, for example, had just come straight from Hampton Court and would be developing their gardens accordingly.
Tatton is an excellent jumping off point for new designers. Not every show garden will have major suppliers or sponsors behind it and new designers often have to beg, borrow and plead with sponsors for help. Sponsors come forward both with cash help and in kind by lending or donating garden furniture, plants and hard landscaping such as stones or paving.
Designers may be waiting for plants to be delivered, sometimes from abroad, and there is anxiety as to whether they will arrive on time and when they do that they will be the right colour and condition. In some cases friends and family turn out to help get the gardens ready. There is often no secret army of workmen on hand, which makes some of the exhibitors' efforts even more startling. Here are just a few of the stories from "behind the scenes" at Tatton.
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