Visitors to Staffordshire’s Trentham Gardens this summer will have plenty of opportunities to join a tour with a gardens expert to discover some of the secrets behind one of the UK’s most successful garden restorations.
Set in 725 acres on the edge of Stoke-on-Trent, The Trentham Estate’s historic parkland and gardens were largely abandoned at the end of the last century before a multi-million pound regeneration scheme breathed new life into them.
Now 17 years after re-opening to the public, the award-winning gardens are among the nation’s top horticultural attractions and a popular visitor destination.
Dubbed by the Daily Telegraph as “the gardens makeover of the decade” during its 10th anniversary year, they have matured into some of the finest in Britain.
Not only does it feature the finest Italian gardens outside of Italy, but it also continues to innovate, creating contemporary perennial plantings, designed meadows, and naturalistic gardens.
The new tours offer a chance to gain exclusive, behind-the-scenes, insight into how Trentham’s top team of gardeners create its floral displays and natural planting, as well as an opportunity to pick up hints and tips to take home.
Gardens Development Manager Carol Adams will lead the tours on selected dates, revealing more about the gardens throughout the seasons.
In July, separate tours will give visitors a chance to ‘Stop and Smell the Roses’, taking in one of the most loved borders on the Estate, the David Austin Rose Border; and a guided wander through ‘Midsummer Meadows’ to find out how Trentham has established a network of meadows in the gardens.
For August, more tours will reveal ‘Wildlife-friendly Gardening’, revealing how Trentham has adapted gardening methods to support important local wildlife, and global winter and summer visiting migrants, and a chance to appreciate the work of top garden designer Piet Oudolf at Trentham, from the famous Rivers of Grass, Floral Labyrinth and shrub borders to the long borders in the Italian Garden.
The Italian Garden will be the focus again in a September guided tour, revealing more about the revival of this historic garden, and how to bring beautiful borders to your own homes.
The tours, which cost £6.50 for members and £18 for non-members (including garden admission) are on selected dates until 24 September.
For more information, and booking, see www.trentham.co.uk/whats-on/trentham-gardens/garden-tours/.