Feeding time...

The relatively new Allen Bird Hide built overlooking Melchett Mere is now augmented by a bird feeding station. Peanuts and bird seed will be fed either side of the hide to attract a variety of woodland birds.

Woodpecker ©Gary Cross

Many tit species plus finches and woodpeckers should be in attendance. It may take a little time to get going but as the natural food supply dwindles it should prove a popular lifeline for the birds.

Darren Morris, Tatton Park Ranger

Park life

Autumn is a season of change. Colder weather and shortened daylight hours warn our flora and fauna of the prospect of inhospitable conditions and dwindling food supply. Nature acts accordingly, whether it be trees dropping leaves or a bird flying thousands of miles for sunnier climes.

Bird migration is well underway and visible migration was evident in the parkland with recent sightings of Common Terns, Wheatear and Common Sandpiper. Meadow Pipits become a regular sight as they move from their summer upland breeding grounds. Winter Thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare arrive from Scandinavia and Pink-footed Geese may be seen flying over in typical V formation.

Visitors enjoying the bird hide

©George Littler

Our resident birds are also joined by continental visitors of the same species to enjoy our relatively milder winters. The popular new Allen Hide will be a great place to witness the arrival of numerous wildfowl species also arriving from colder northern climes. A new bird feeding station will also be in operation here, enabling visitors to enjoy the woodland species at close quarters.

Find out more about the parkland and wildlife at Tatton Park on our website.

Darren Morris, Tatton Park Ranger

Going up in the world!

Since the Flower Show came to a close (during which we won two gold medals!!) we have all been busy back in the garden.




    Newly tied apple cordons ©Neil Langan



For the last month I’ve been pruning and tying-in the fruit trees in the walled kitchen garden, specifically plums and greengages. They have been pruned and trained in their ‘fan style’. This is very tricky technically, because they fruit on last year’s wood, which means, if you’re not careful you can end up with incredibly long branches with a few fruits right at the end. You tend to take off the long shoots in order to make dormant buds break. Ideally you have the fruits evenly spaced up each fan rib but on short, fruiting laterals. It takes years of practice! We have also pruned and tied in the apple cordons in the middle of the veg garden. All this work is required to be done from ladders so it makes it a long job for each tree. 



We have Victoria, Czar and Kirkes Blue plums and Dennison’s Superb, Old Greengage and Coes Golden Drop greengages. These are all historical varieties which were grown around 1910. These varieties were planted probably ten years ago now by a couple of us and by Simon Tetlow, our Garden Team Leader. They’ve now stretched a good 15 ft wide and reach up to the coping stones at the top of the wall. We are now enjoying the fruits of our labours as we are picking plums and gages for sale in the Garden Shop.

Since finishing the pruning we have been busy weeding in the kitchen garden. The weather has been very kind to the weeds and helping them grow! We’ve been unkind to the weeds in return, and have been hoe-ing them off for the last two weeks or so. We’re still cropping a considerable amount of fruit and veg for the shop including courgettes, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, beans, lettuce, potatoes and raspberries, nectarines, plums and greengages.

Further information about the walled kitchen garden at Tatton Park.

John Hoxworth, Craftsman Gardener