Tatton Gardens

Much as the teddy bears love their own garden, they sometimes like to go and visit other gardens to see larger plants and flowers, ponds and lakes, terraces and formal bedding, none of which they can fit into theirs. Sometimes, these visits can even prompt the bears to plant something different, or make some other changes to their own garden.

Recently, they all decided that it would be great to visit one of their nearest National Trust gardens, at Tatton Park in Knutsford in Cheshire.

There is a grand mansion, a huge 1,000 acres of parkland with deer roaming free, a working Farm and Old Medieval Hall, and 50 acres of formal gardens!

There was a long drive from the gates to the actual gardens but it was nice to see all the trees, and lakes, and deer on the way. When they arrived at the Gardens, the first thing they saw was the Kitchen Garden. They were especially interested in this because, as you know, they love to grow their own vegetables in raised beds in their own back garden. But this Kitchen Garden was huge!!

There were lots of different vegetables planted, some of which the bears grow themselves, but others that would take up a lot of room, like cabbages, leeks, and asparagus, and there were hundreds of apple trees! The blossom was just appearing on all the trees, making it look as if they had been covered in snow.

Their next stop was the Rose Garden, but there weren't many roses blooming this early in the year. It would be a great place to visit again though.

They walked along woodland paths through rhododendrons and azaleas in full bloom! The flowers were gigantic (especially compared to the size of the bears!) And such lovely colours - there were yellows, and pinks, and peaches, and red, and scarlet, and white. Everywhere there was an explosion of colour. They were glad they had visited at this time of the year, and they took lots of photographs, as you can see.

All that walking made them very tired and extremely hungry! Luckily, they had planned in advance and brought a picnic with them. They found a quiet, leafy dell, and unpacked sandwiches, and buns, and cake, and biscuits, with lots of lemonade to drink. It was nice to relax in such a beautiful place.

But, there was so much more to explore. They tidied up after themselves and set off for the more formal areas of the garden.

There were several water features, streams and fountains and small ponds to stroll by. There was a Japanese Garden, with pretty bridges, and a teahouse. There was an Italian Garden which was on a terrace overlooked by the mansion, and had perfectly laid-out flower beds. Luckily, there were also a lot of benches around the gardens so the bears could sit down often and rest.

Eventually, though, they were so tired they thought they might not be able to take another step, so they decided it was probably, sadly, time to go home. They had thoroughly enjoyed looking round, but secretly thought that it would be an awful lot of work to have to look after a garden this big, and they were glad that their own garden was somewhat easier to manage.

If you are ever in the Knutsford area, then a visit to Tatton Park would be a great day out. There is so much to see and do over such a large area. In fact, the bears were glad that they had decided to just visit the gardens, they would have been so worn out if they had visited everything else there as well! But it did mean that they would have to make more visits in the future!