Japanese Garden Restoration Work

We’re doing some restoration work on the Japanese Garden at the moment. Work started about 5 weeks ago on the ‘four eyed’ fence by taking out the old, rotten posts which had been in for the last ten years and have had some recent wind damage. This involved taking out half the fence around the garden and putting in new posts ready to rebuild the bamboo fence.

The bamboo was ordered from Japan and came in a crate overseas to Southampton, then shipped to Liverpool and then delivered by lorry to Tatton. Making the ‘four eyed’ fence is the trickiest bit as you have to get the bamboo perfectly level on rocky ground and knock them into shape with a rubber mallet. The fence is called ‘four eyed’ because when it’s complete you can see four eyes staring back at you!

The next stage, probably next week, is to tie the Japanese knots to fasten the bamboo to the fence. The knots are a skill in themselves but it’s also important to get the tension right as they tighten and shrink after the rain. The rope (which has also come from Japan) is soaked in a bucket overnight and then is tied on wet.

After this we’ll be putting in three new gates within the four eyed fence. We hope to have the garden perfectly restored by the end of April when Professor Fukuhara comes from Japan for our Japanese Garden centenary celebrations. The Professor advised on the restoration of the garden about 10 years ago.

The photo shows me at work on the fence!

Geoff Horrocks, Craftsman Gardener

Tatton's Blooming!

This week I’ve been liming the lawn in Charlotte’s Garden and the Italian Garden, ready for scarifying. The soil here is very acid so we use the lime to raise its P.H. to help kill the moss off. This is something we do every year at about this time. We’ll also be giving the lawn a spring feed after we’ve finished the scarifying and I have been spraying the paths with sulphate of iron to kill off the moss.

Continuing with the tidying up I’ve been removing ivy from the walls of the L Border. This is to make it ready for re-introducing the traditional wooden trellis which will support climbing roses, clematis and other plants. We’ve ordered in the timber and will be making it onsite to fit perfectly. Also on the L Border I’ve been digging over the bed and mulching it with horse manure to keep the weeds down and feed the plants.

If you get the chance to come down don’t forget to visit the glasshouses near the Orchard and see the beautiful peach blossom in flower. This will only be around for the next week or so!


Alan Denton, Gardener

Digging Up Spring

This is the time of year when the last of the remaining frosts are on the ground and it’s starting to get a little bit warmer. Around the gardens in Tatton the beginnings of spring are starting to emerge: Forsythia intermedia on the L border is now flowering in golden abundance; the delicate white bell-like flowers of the Pieris japonica on the rockery complements the sky blue Irises surrounding them. The pink flowers of the Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ are peeping through the buds that have enclosed them all year and the dark pink berry-like flowers of the Skimmia rubella around the corner are flowering profusely.

Unfortunately I am missing all of this as I have been digging in the kitchen garden! I have been working on the herb bed which we plan to re-locate to a small raised bed elsewhere in the garden and replace it with a mixture of perennial flowers, including dahlias. We did not have the opportunity to finish preparing this bed during the early winter period, due to the biggest burden on gardeners – the unfavourable weather conditions!

Digging is a tiresome task but very rewarding as it aerates the soil and allows water to seep through. Many of the visitors to Tatton have complimented us on the condition of the soil in the vegetable garden and we simply say it is due to many years of hard work and feeding it with manure and fish blood and bone. I look forward to filling these bare beds with vegetables and flowers later on in the season.

Daniela Jankowska

The photo shows me rotivating a bed in the kitchen garden during late spring