About the Gardens

Award-winning

The imaginative and innovative revival of the famous Italian Gardens was led by renowned designer and multi-Chelsea gold-medal winner Tom Stuart-Smith. To the east of the Italian Gardens are the Rivers of Grass and the adjacent Floral Labyrinth. Both these schemes were designed by eminent Dutch plantsman, and Chelsea gold-medal winner, Piet Oudolf.

Garden of the Year

We are proud to have received many accolades including the Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism Gold Award, Countryfile Garden of The Year, Horticulture Week Custodian Awards and in 2015, 2016 and 2017 we were awarded a Gold Accolade by Visit England.

The Italian Gardens

The Italian Garden layout is designed within the historic framework of Sir Charles Barry’s original Italianate Garden of the 19th Century.

The gardens have never stood still at Trentham, and in our approach to restoration it’s important to allow the garden to continue to move forward, not back. We commissioned renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medallist Tom Stuart-Smith, to revive The Italian Garden with one of the largest contemporary perennial plantings in Europe. In the Spring we add pots of colourful tulips followed by early summer colour from the wisteria, bearded iris and roses. The perennial displays are in their peak in late summer and autumn.

Trentham Lake

At the heart of Trentham Gardens is the spectacular, mile-long, Capability Brown-designed Trentham Lake. Studded with small islands the Lake is alive with the sights and sounds of a wonderful array of wildlife. The circular lakeside walk takes in views of the River Trent, ancient wildflower meadows and woodlands, through the cascading weir and along atmospheric nature trails. There is so much to explore and be inspired by, including the bold and dramatic naturalistic planting design; ‘modern meadows’ by Nigel Dunnett creator of the acclaimed plantings at the Olympic Park, London. Created for successional seasonal interest and environmental suitability.

Early in 2023, we welcomed beavers into a 182-acre enclosure and parkland lake setting. Supported by experts at Beaver Trust, the family of Eurasian beavers – a native British species known for their keystone effect and benefits they bring to ecosystems – were reintroduced to the historic landscape which features a mile-long serpentine lake and historic woodland.

Lakeside Walk

Trentham’s lake is one-mile long, presenting as the perfect place for peaceful walks in all seasons. Since 2016, Trentham has been collaborating with Professor Nigel Dunnett in developing horticultural interest, as well as ecological value to the route

Sunny Meadows

The first scheme that greets you over the entrance bridge is the Sunny Meadows. Planted in 2016 with a challenging soil mixture, bold colour is present through to the early frosts, with the flower heads being a available source of food for wildlife notably visiting flocks of Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Bramblings.

Woodland Meadows

On the west lakeside, this scheme contains over 70,000 perennials and a count of over 200,000 bulbs in 8 matrix mixes inspired by North American woodlands – designed to cope with the woodland environment whilst giving year round colour and foliage interest.

In addition to the main meadows, in Autumn 2024, Professor Nigel Dunnett has been commissioned for a new design scheme at surrounding the Otter Sculpture on the East Lakeside.

Further to the herbaceous perennial schemes, a variety of other carefully chosen stands of shrubs and trees extend the variety and all year round interest of the Lakeside Walk.

Meet The Designers

These great designers have helped to shape the Trentham Gardens that we love today.

Tom Stuart-Smith

Tom Stuart-Smith is an international acclaimed landscape architect, whose work combines naturalism with modernity and built forms of romantic planting. He was the lead designer in the 2004 restoration of Trentham, and in 2024 was recommissioned to revisit the original plans and adapt the planting scheme with innovation, sustainability and climate resilience in mind.

Nigel Dunnett

Nigel Dunnett is Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield and is one of the world’s leading voices on innovative approaches planting design.

He is a pioneer of the new ecological and sustainable approaches to gardens, landscapes, and public spaces. His work revolves around the integration of ecology and horticulture, to achieve low-input but high-impact landscapes that are dynamic, diverse, and tuned to nature. The meadow schemes around the Lakeside are designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett, and have introduced a distinctly contemporary understory to Capability Brown’s newly revealed landscape. We are continually collaborating with Nigel Dunnett to ensure that the Lakeside walk further develops and adds both horticultural and ecological interest.

We believe Nigel’s plantings will create the longest sequence of linked naturalistic plantings anywhere in the UK. Piet is widely considered to be Europe’s leading plantsman – from his nursery in Holland, he breeds extraordinary plants that captivate the gardening world.

Piet Oudolf

Piet is widely considered to be Europe’s leading plantsman. From his nursery in Holland, he breeds extraordinary plants that captivate the gardening world. Piet Oudolf

His worldwide work includes the Manhattan High Line Project. At Trentham he has designed our Rivers of Grass and Floral Labyrinth; the new gateway to the Garden.

Piet also designed the long borders which flank either side of Tom Stuart-Smith’s planting in the Italian Garden.

“Although inspired by Capability Brown, my planting plans are influenced by early Cubist paintings and the English artist Ben Nicolson.”