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Celebration Garden
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Capability Brown Celebration Garden
Brief
In 2015–2016, Paul Butler was invited to develop a concept for an RHS Tatton Park show garden celebrating the legacy of Lancelot “Capability” Brown. Although the garden was not built due to lack of sponsorship, the scheme remains a favourite in our studio for the way it translates Brown’s parkland principles into a contemporary show setting.
The Concept
Paul’s design brought together the signature elements of a Brown landscape on a compact footprint: a Palladian frontage framing the main view with a stone ha-ha in front, and trees held to around 4.5–7.5 metres to keep the architecture in scale. A domed rotunda was set as a classical focal point and intended to house a sculpture of Capability Brown himself.
A sweeping serpentine lake was edged in naturalistic planting, crossed by a dam and waterfall, and enclosed with estate fencing and orchestrated clumps of trees to control views, classic Brown devices adapted for a show garden journey. A small kitchen garden and rotunda folly added romance and productivity, nodding to the working estates of the 18th century.
The result is a thoughtful homage to Britain’s most influential landscape designer: long views shaped by gentle landform, water as the heart of the scene and classical architecture used sparingly but to great effect.