Manchester scoops 2 awards at Tatton Park Show

Two gardens by Manchester residents exhibited at this year’s RHS Flower Show have been awarded silver awards.

The first garden was designed and constructed in just 5 days by Mel Kirby, Environmental Awareness Manager for Manchester City Council.

Mel received an emergency call from the Royal Horticultural Society asking if he could fill an empty plot. Mel rose to the challenge and managed to design and build the garden in days when it takes most competitors months! This was all done whilst battling the summer's torrential rain.

The garden put together by Mel and his team includes a cyclist, a swimmer (swimming through a pool of blue lobelias) and a tennis player illustrating just some of the activities that people can get involved in in Manchester parks and leisure centres.

Councillor Eddy Newman, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services said, 'This is a great result for Manchester and it's clear that all the hard work put in over the last few months has paid off. I am sure that every visitor to the show will derive as much enjoyment and satisfaction from the gardens as those involved in their creation.'

The Naseby Avenue Residents and Tenants Association from Blackley chose to recreate a scene from the Battle of Naseby which took place during the English Civil War. Their avenue was named after a battle in 1645 at Naseby Ridge between Prince Rupert and Sir Thomas Fairfax. The flower bed shows the two men with their canons at the ready on a very colourful battlefield.

Media contact Hugo Hollingsworth, tel: 0161 234 3729