Browse Sections

• Education
• James Chapman-Kelly
• Neil Roland
• Mancunian candidate
• Special reports

It's showtime for gardens

Laura Thistlethwaite
10/ 7/2008

THE blossoming beauty of Fletcher Moss Gardens is to be recreated at the tenth annual RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.

The Didsbury park is taking a star turn when around 100,000 visitors will view a miniature version designed for the Royal Horticultural Society show in Cheshire.

The stunning display, created by workers at Manchester City Council, was drawn up to celebrate Didsbury’s success in the North West in Bloom competition.

It will be constructed by a small team of enthusiasts from Didsbury and designer Mel Kirby, who has masterminded the busy six-by-four-metre plot.

It will take around three days to put together, with volunteers assisting with planting 3,700 items of flora and fauna, before the show starts on July 23.

Mel, an environmental manager and ward coodinator for Didsbury, said: "I had the design in my head from last year’s show, when we got a silver award, I knew I wanted to do something based on Didsbury In Bloom. We have spent around £1,000 – which a is fairly modest amount – last year one team spent £34,000. Plus all the plants will either come back to the village, or be distributed in other parts of Manchester, so it’s an investment too."

A vibrant array of flowers, from yellow Marigolds to white Begonias, will be planted in a specially-built bed to attract insects and bees.

And a range of features inspired by Fletcher Moss will be added, including moss ‘ducks’ swimming around a lily pond, a rock garden and park bench. Mel added: "Our win in the North West in Bloom awards showed that Didsbury has a beauty all of its own. Now hopefully we can show off that side of Greater Manchester to an unsuspecting audience with a bed that will celebrate the variety at Fletcher Moss and also its history. The ducks are symbolic of that too, as a meeting at the Gardens led to the formation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds."

Once the estate of eccentric aristocrat Alderman Fletcher Moss, who donated the area for public use in 1914, the park is now an environmental oasis famed for attracting a wide variety of plant and wildlife.

The Fletcher Moss-inspired garden is entered into the National Flower Bed Competition which runs as part of the show from July 23-27; it will focus on the natural beauty of the park and gardens, as a haven for wildlife and a prime visitor attraction.

Tickets are priced from £18 to £21. To find out more call 0870 842 2234 or visit www.rhs.org.uk/tatton.