Nadine Mansfield. Image: Emma Boyle Photography
The Garden Designer
Nadine Mansfield
In 2020, after a 25-year career in marketing, working for brands such as Manchester Airport, Sky TV and British Airways, Nadine Mansfield left corporate life to embark on a new career in horticulture. It seems like a bold move but for Nadine, it was the perfect marriage of her passion for gardening and her creative skills.
One of her standout moments came last year at RHS Tatton, when she won a Silver-Gilt medal for her garden in the Career Changer category. The design, named A Better New Build Garden, aimed to inspire property developers and the owners of new-build homes to make the most of their outdoor spaces. The garden had gravel instead of lawn or fake grass and was surrounded by plants for pollinators. Native hedging allowed space for birds to nest and shelter and the fencing always present in a new-build had a hole for hedgehogs to wander through. The garden was built by Garden360uk, a Wilmslow-based team that has collaborated with Nadine on several projects.
A wildlife pond and lush planting in one of Nadine’s favourite projects in Puddington. Image: Nadine Mansfield I was intrigued to know if Nadine had a personal favourite from the past few years. Among many projects, she told me one stands out – a transformation of a three-acre plot in Puddington on the Wirral. The garden was a blank canvas with a lawn surrounded by walls and hedging but devoid of colour and interest.
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With a brief to create a cottage-style garden, it was a dream for any designer, and the clients were thrilled with the result. Julian Sowerby said: ‘Nadine impressed us from the start. She understood our brief and delivered an inspired design, drawing on all the important points we asked for: bee- and insect-friendly, tall, colourful borders, bright and beautiful beds, relaxing pond and seating areas. We were blown away. Then her team performed miracles and created the garden from an old piece of land in a few days. If you could see the garden now, five years on, you’d fall in love. It’s a beautiful, quiet and intoxicating place to sit and enjoy a special haven, a fragrant hideaway from the rest of the world. I could not recommend Nadine enough.’
Artist Sam Baguley in Nadine Mansfield’s A Better New Build Garden. Image: Alison Moore While this project remains a favourite, Nadine stresses that every garden is unique. The key is to listen to what the client wants, she says, to create a space that works for them and complements the style of the property. Since her success at RHS Tatton, life has been a whirlwind of activity for Nadine. As well as designing gardens of all shapes, sizes and styles, she is studying for a Masters in Landscape Architecture Studies. She says: ‘It genuinely never feels as though I’m going to work. Providing clients with creative solutions to their brief and seeing those ideas built is a privilege. Garden design is a wonderful career and horticulture is something we should see on the national curriculum as it plays a fundamental part in all our futures.’
You can get in touch with Nadine via her website NadineMansfield.com and follow her on Instagram and Facebook @nadinemansfielgardendesign
Barry Grain at his Rosemeade Nurseries. Image: Alison Moore
The Nurseryman
Barry Grain
Many readers will know Barry Grain from his time as head gardener at Cholmondeley Castle. At the beginning of this year, however, he launched his own business, Rosemeade Nurseries, which specialises in unusual trees and shrubs, alongside a range of perennials and grasses. Plants have always been a key part of Barry’s life. He began gardening at the age of eight, inspired by his grandfather, a trained gardener who worked at Dunham Massey, and Gredington Hall in Flintshire, and by the time Barry went to high school, he was in charge of the family allotment.
He took an apprenticeship in Amenity Horticulture at Chester Zoo, attending Reaseheath on day release. He recalls that one of his first jobs was planting bamboo around the Monkey Islands, and he was also given responsibility for the temperate planting in the old elephant and rhino houses. Five years later, he emerged as a fully qualified horticulturalist and went travelling. His journeys allowed him to see many of the plants he had worked with at Chester Zoo in their native environment and he remembers South West Australia and Tasmania as particular highlights.
The Rose Garden at Cholmondeley Castle where Barry Grain spent 12 years as head gardener Image. Alison Moore Back in the UK, Barry held several prestigious gardening roles, including at Eaton Hall in Chester, where he was responsible for the herbaceous borders and peony beds. In 2013, however, he became head gardener at Cholmondeley Castle. Over 12 years, Barry oversaw remarkable projects, including the stunning 94-metre-long Lavinia Walk. He was also responsible for planting of hundreds of new trees, many of them magnolias – a particular passion of his.
Despite working in one of the most beautiful gardens in Cheshire, Barry always aspired to run his own nursery. With encouragement from his wife Claire, he founded Rosemeade, aptly named after his grandfather’s cottage. All plants from the nursery are grown in peat-free compost and Barry specialises in a wide range of rare and unusual plants suitable for our changing climate. The nursery already boasts 27 cultivars of magnolias, several Malus and a selection of specialist trees for small gardens, including a range of oaks.
Rosemeade Nurseries is named in honour of the cottage where Barry Grain’s grandfather lived. Image: Barry Grain It’s exciting to learn the stock at Rosemeade will differ from the usual list of small trees the garden publications recommend and also a privilege to see the love and care that goes into their development. All stock is grown in-house, from trees that are grafted under glass, to the shrubs, perennials and grasses propagated by seed, cuttings and division.
Barry is also passionate about educating gardeners to plant trees and shrubs that will thrive in our changing climate, and on the best practices for their care, including pruning and aftercare. He shares this knowledge via his Instagram account @rosemeade_nurseries and on the website rosemeadenurseries.com
Sales are direct from the nursery, on the A534 Wrexham Road, LL13 9ST and at plant fairs throughout the county. Upcoming fairs include:
July 23: Cholmondeley Castle, Malpas SY14 8ET
August 10: Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield SK11 9JY
Tristan Salmon at Crewe Hill, the garden that has become his passion. Image: Alison Moore
The Head Gardener
Tristan Salmon
I first met Tristan Salmon three years ago when I was invited to see the wonderful gardens at Crewe Hill, Farndon, which belong to Michael and Inger Trevor-Barnston. I was impressed not only by Tristan’s gardening work, but by the water features and sculptures he’d created from upcycled materials.
Tristan acquired these skills through a combination of natural talent and the wide variety of jobs he’s done during his career. After graduating from Pershore College and then the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, he spent two years in Australia – firstly as a jackaroo on a cattle station in Queensland, then as a mechanic in Darwin, and finally training horses for a polo club in Melbourne. But somehow, I wasn’t surprised to learn that during the time he spent in these places, he also found opportunities to create gardens.
The new summerhouse at Crewe Hill. Image: Alison Moore Designing and maintaining gardens on a large scale doesn’t faze Tristan in the slightest. He feels much more at home with a few acres to work with than a small suburban space. And perhaps it was fate that, 10 years ago, he heard of a head gardener job in rural Cheshire. He immediately hit it off with the family and they have worked together to enhance and improve the magnificent garden and surrounding estate ever since.
It was such a pleasure to revisit a few weeks ago and discuss some of the work Tristan has done since our first meeting. A magnificent tropical greenhouse has been added, complete with a water feature built, as you would expect, mainly from recycled materials. This year’s project has been helping to build a summer house in the walled garden – a perfect place from which to enjoy the afternoon sun.
Inside the quirky tropical greenhouse at Crewe Hill. Image: Alison Moore The planting in the garden is varied, from the sub-tropical zone reflecting the owners’ travels, to colourful herbaceous borders and impressive topiary, which allows Tristan to show off even more of his creative skills. The white garden, where the new summer house has been built, is also home to a pergola covered with Rosa ‘Claire Austin’ and a line of Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ shrubs follows the path of the central rill. The water feature in the part of the garden is one of the first Tristan built for the family and is constructed from pieces of slate shaped into a sphere.
The whole garden was looking green and lush, and the wisteria on the house and in the walled garden, some of the most impressive I’ve seen. Tristan is a multi-talented gardener who can turn his hand to just about everything at Crewe Hill and the excellent working relationship between him and the owners is evident.
You can follow Tristan and his gardening adventures on Instagram and Threads @cheshirehead_gardener