I love Tatton Show. It’s only a few miles away from home and set in a gorgeous natural amphitheatre of open parkland. It’s a spacious, creative, innovative and community minded show and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

But by some stroke of fate for the past four years the eight days that I’ve spent on site building my show garden has been afflicted with torrential rain, high winds or both, like today. And it isn’t as if we’re having a wet summer – the irony of building a garden in torrential rain following a four month drought and with a hosepipe ban in place is not lost on me.

Still, the decision to avoid hard landscaping has paid off – at least we are into planting now thanks to help from hubby Dave, Ben Chester (Young Designer of the Year entrant), Jacqui Brocklehurst (a regular on the Tatton back-to-back scene and herb grower), Marilyn (invaluable Thursday helper) and of course the team back at the nursery, Ewan, Janet and Tracey.

So it’s all looking good at the moment. Just as important, I do feel I’ve found a style I feel comfortable with: soft, relaxed planting set in natural, local materials but with bright colours and a feeling of fullness and exuberance. It’s taken me a while, but I’m beginning to feel I know where I stand in aesthetic horticulture.

July 15, 2010