Croft Primary School pupils create stunning RHS Flower Show garden

Pupils at Croft Primary School turned ‘The Story of Frog Belly Ratbone’ into a vibrant display of flowers and vegetables at the RHS Tatton Flower Show.

Pupil Tristan Edwards, 10, said: “It’s about a boy who finds a packet of seeds and tries to grow plants but lives in a dull area.

From left, Tristan Edwards, Harriet Barton, Olive Armstrong and Priya Lee (Image: Newsquest)

“He’d love to make it all colourful but every time he plants seeds, a rabbit steals it.

“So he builds Frog Belly Ratbone to scare away the robbers and it works.”

From left, Alice Birchall, Lennox Fawkes and Charlotte Gee (Image: Newsquest)

Schools were challenged to create pocket-sized havens for biodiversity interpreting the theme ‘Grey to Green’.

Michelle Culliford, deputy head of Croft Primary School, said: “The children made everything.

Romillie Edwards beside the old television in the recycled garden (Image: Newsquest)

“We run a RHS club once a week.

“We involved year 4 with the artwork this year as Tatton won’t be back until 2027.

Isabella Parkinson with the rabbit (Image: Newsquest)

“The story book we used is 21-years-old.

“I have written to the author, Timothy Basil Ering, who lives in America, to tell him what we are doing.

“The children have really enjoyed interpreting the story and making it into a garden.”

Youngsters painstakingly nurtured hundreds of tiny plug plants in the school greenhouse as they spent months preparing for the challenge.

Children even collected items such as a mattress, old TV and toilet to create their own ‘cementland’.

The five characters, the rabbit, the boy, the rat, fruitfly and Frog Belly Ratbone were made from paper, stuffing and Modroc.

Together, they turned grey, derelict land into a beautiful paradise full of flowers and vegetables.

Mrs Culliford said: “We’ll do Arley Hall next year.”