THIS year's Royal Horticultural Society flower show at Tatton Park housed some home-grown talent when Appleton Thorn's Adam White displayed his award-winning designs.

His natural play design captured the imaginations of children and adults alike, especially those from Woolston Community Primary School, who spent the day playing on his design.

"Some of them really enjoyed the sandpit, some were climbing on the wooden structure and some loved the water feature," Adam said.

"The only tears we had were when it was time to leave."

Natural play is the opposite of the play usually seen today, with springy surfaces and little imagination, Adam said.

He wants to get back to the play of yesteryear, when children climbed trees or made forts.

"If we don't have risk in play then that's when you get children playing on building sites and railway tracks.

"Reasonable risk in play gives children the ability to assess risk for themselves," Adam said.

The green-fingered 34-year-old also won a Royal Horticultural Society gold award at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the BBC People's Choice Award the week before he displayed his gardens at Tatton.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 people attended the Tatton show every day last week, and many of them made a beeline for Adam's design after it was featured on the BBC's North West Tonight.

"Think back to what you enjoyed about play," Adam said.

"I can guarantee it would have been outside, not in a playground, out of the sight of grown ups and more likely than not it would have had some risk in it," he said.

"Why in the UK, where we have great urban designs and loads of choice for adults, don't we have exciting, innovative play for our children?"

The website groundwork-playscape.org.uk contains information on how you can add natural play to your children's lives.

joanna.lean@guardiangrp.co.uk