A student team from Reaseheath College, Nantwich, will contest the ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’ competition at the new Ascot Spring Garden Show in April.
The competition, pioneered by TV gardener David Domoney in association with The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, celebrates the best of young British talent in garden design and build. Reaseheath students will compete against teams from five other landbased colleges to create eye catching and sustainable urban gardens that will be seen by thousands of show visitors.
Their challenge is to design and build a small front garden in a traditional or contemporary style which will show homeowners and passers-by what can be achieved in a small city space. The gardens, each on a 5m x 4.5m plot, must provide a sense of tranquillity for the homeowner, use sustainable principles and encourage nature into the urban environment. The students must also inspire the judges and capture the imagination of visitors with their clever planting and design techniques.
The gardens will be judged by a panel of horticultural industry leaders, home and garden magazine editors and acclaimed garden designers and landscapers. The winners will receive gold, silver gilt, silver or bronze medals and the overall winner will receive a ‘Best in Show’ trophy. Visitors will be encouraged to vote for the People’s Choice Award.
Launching the competition at Ascot Racecourse last week David Domoney, who presents ITV’s ‘Love your Garden’ and is gardening presenter for ‘This Morning’ said: “To date this competition has given more than 600 garden landscaping and design students the opportunity to build gardens at a national event before they even leave the college gates. It’s always a great privilege to see great British talent come together to compete for the title of ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’, and with this year’s focus on front gardens, I can’t wait to see them come to life.”
Simon Sadinsky, Head of Education at The Prince’s Foundation said: “We are thrilled to have once again helped launch the ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’ competition with David Domoney and some of the country’s most enthusiastic young gardeners. We are asking participants to provide a particular focus within their gardens on the principles of sustainability, paying attention to issues such as the use of local, natural materials and the implementation of sustainable drainage systems.
“The creativity of past years has shown us that no matter how small the space, we can all incorporate natural environments into our busy urban lives and we are greatly looking forward to seeing what is produced this year.”
Alastair Warwick, Chief Operating Officer at Ascot Racecourse, added:
“We are delighted that the ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’ Competition is coming to Ascot Racecourse to form part of the inaugural Ascot Spring Garden Show. We already have six professional show gardens confirmed and to have a further six gardens, created by talented college students, amplifies the already impressive line-up that visitors can expect in the show’s first year.
“Supporting young and emerging talent in both sport and horticulture is hugely important to Ascot so we’re excited to be giving these students a platform to showcase their skills and creativity.”
The Ascot Spring Garden Show takes place Friday 13th – Sunday 15th April
Reaseheath’s Head of Horticulture Sarah Hopkinson, lecturer Dave Black, landscape architecture undergraduates Nathan Webster and Katie Monton, apprentice Matt Rodgers and Level 2 Diploma student Tabitha Clare pictured at the launch of the ‘Young Gardeners of the Year’ at Ascot Racecourse.
