Association of Professional Landscapers’ Skills Competition

JJH Landscapes from Oxfordshire, with team partner Radial Landscapes from West Sussex won the Association of Professional Landscapers’ Skills Competition.

“It’s important to recognise the technical skills of professional landscape teams whose talents often go unsung when it comes to building show gardens,” says Rachel Poletti-Gadd, portfolio director – gardening division at Immediate Live, organisers of the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair. 

Best Showcase Garden

The Best Showcase Garden was awarded to Lucy Chamberlain, head gardener at East Donyland, Gemma Sturges and Kelly Fowler.

The trio’s ‘Edible Garden Through Time’ showcases three significant periods of food-growing history, also earning them a platinum award.

“This was a tour de force exhibit of veg gardening through the ages, underpinned by exquisite craftsmanship and attention to historical detail, both in plant varieties and props from the period,” says Ian Hodgson, lead assessor at the event. “It worked as a garden both as a whole and in parts, with something for everyone.”

Best Beautiful Border

Best Beautiful Border was awarded to Rachel Sporbord from Rachel Sporborg Design in Hertfordshire, for her border design ‘Free Thinking’, along with a Platinum award.

The 9m2 garden, inspired by artist David Tremlett’s ‘Drawing for Free Thinking’, contrasts ‘rigid hard landscaping’ with softer tranquil movement in the planting design, creating a space for relaxation. 

Autumnal planting features in the garden, with grasses and perennials with a Viburnum Plicatum ‘Watanabe’ as the signature shrub, giving the design a “great presence and visual appeal,” says Hodgson. “Complemented by a restricted planting palette that carried off the vision with great panache.” 

The compact show garden’s designer, Sporborg says: “I’m absolutely thrilled and humbled to have won as there are some really high standard designs and amazing plants on show.”

The BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border Award

The BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border Award went to Consuelo Franco, assistant head gardener at Ballynatray House Estate in Waterford, for his design ‘On Cloud 9’, inspired by country walks and cloudscapes. 

Franco’s design was “underpinned by a diverse range of interesting plants,” says Hodgson. “We loved the artistry.”