Rock Garden

If you feel there's something a little bit 'Zen' about our rock garden, you'd be right. That's because it's designed with a Far Eastern theme in mind.

You'll see it's within an area of the zoo highlighting animals and plants from China.

The rock garden was given a make over in 2003 after first being constructed in the early 1970s. At that time it was dedicated in memory of Elizabeth Mottershead (1887-1969), wife of Chester Zoo founder, George Mottershead.

Three decades later some of the plants had reached their sell by date and it became obvious the rock garden was in need of a revamp, but we're sure Elizabeth would be as delighted as we are with the results of her garden's facelift.

Today, it reflects the great diversity of plants in China and the Himalayan mountain range. These are in keeping with the animal species you'll discover in this part of the zoo, such as the cheeky-faced Red Panda, which in the wild, lives in the bamboo forests of the Himalayas.

Our rock garden includes a large waterfall feature, a pond, rippling streams and a bog garden.

It shows off plants which have been carefully collected from original species in the wild and grown from seed by our skilled horticultural team in the zoo's high tech nursery.

We're sure you'll agree that our 'zen' rock garden is a great place for tranquil musings or for gathering your thoughts after a hectic couple of hours exploring.