Stockport was in the national spotlight recently as it featured in Gardener's World on 27 October. 

'The Landing' - Stockport town centre's rooftop kitchen garden - was the subject of a feature in the iconic BBC show. 

This garden mostly provides the Where the Light Gets In (WTLGI) restaurant with fresh ingredients. There are also regular volunteer gardening sessions open to green-fingered Stopfordians. Everything from common to exotic herbs, squashes, berries, fruits, and salad is grown here - including a particular proliferation of South American plants, unusually suited to the Stockport climate. 

In the feature, Sam, chef and owner of WTLGI, said: "People are always surprised when they poke their head over and see that there is food growing"

Head grower Nick is also a regular at the rooftop garden. He talked about it being an ideal job, being, as he was, "outdoors all day, and surrounded by nature". 

The Landing grows exotic and common herbs, salad, fruit, and more (Image - Alasdair Perry)

The Landing started when Stockport Council gave some of its space - this time at the Merseyway Car Park - to be used as a garden.

Manchester Urban Diggers, an organisation involved in finding spaces for growing, helped Sam build a few seed beds. 

The car park is unusually suited to growing things. High above ground level, and full of plants from around the globe, it feels like a world removed from the busy Merseyway centre down below. 

The garden utilises heat emanating from the glass roof of the adjoining Merseyway shopping centre to create an ideal climate for certain plants - it means things can grow here which may otherwise have struggled to grow elsewhere in Stockport. 

The Landing, anyhow, is proof that good gardening does not require an acreage at the back of a stately home. 

As Sam says: "You can start with anything - all you need is a little soil and some seeds."

You can find the full programme on BBC iPlayer, as 'Gardener's World 2023 - Episode 31'. The Stockport feature begins at 28:40.

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