A Suffolk garden full of tropical-looking planting has won the title of Great British Garden of 2018 beating nine runners-up to claim the £4,100 gardening vouchers prize plus a gardening class with TV’s Adam Frost.
The winners of the competition, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph and Yorkshire Tea, spent 13 years creating their garden. Christine and Geoffrey Ingham planted exotic-looking Fatsia, Trachycarpus and ferns alongside the fiery orange flowers of crocosmia and kniphofia to create a lush jungle around their picturesque 15th-century thatched cottage. They also divided the garden into ‘rooms’ screened off with evergreen trees and bamboo, including ‘secret’ areas where their grandchildren love to hide.
The garden which took the runner-up prize, created by Chris Taylor and also in Suffolk, is a complete contrast. Originally a rough meadow, Chris has turned it into a peaceful haven and a writer’s retreat for his wife to recover from serious illness. It boasts a well-stocked vegetable garden and quirky garden accessories including circular seats, beehive compost bins and sculptures.
Also on the shortlist were a tricky corner plot in Lancashire packed with roses and perennials; a productive fruit and vegetable garden in Kent, and an elegant space with pleached hedges, topiary and bold planting carved out of a former tennis court in Derbyshire.
Judges Adam Frost, landscape architect Bunny Guinness and Tony Barkataki from the competition’s sponsor, Yorkshire Tea, said they were thrilled with the passion and inventiveness shown by all 10 finalists.
‘The gardens all look so obviously loved, and that is wonderful to see,’ said Bunny.
We’re all about creating your perfect garden here at the garden centre in Chislehurst, Newchurch, Canterbury, Welling and Newport, so if you need a little help transforming your inspiration into reality just pop in - we’ll be happy to help you create your own little slice of paradise outside your back door!
