In April this year Tessa Jowell, the RHS and London 2012 launched The Great British Garden Competition. We wanted to celebrate the British passion for gardening and offered two budding gardeners the opportunity to help design a garden that will sit within the new Olympic Park in east London.
The prize is an opportunity to work with the Olympic Delivery Authority’s world-class team of landscape architects and garden designers on the final design of the garden, and see it through implementation for the Games and remain in place as a legacy following the Games.
All entrants had to do was provide an A4 drawing, painting or collage of what they would like the Great British Garden to look and feel like, accompanied by a short explanation of what plants and trees they would use, as well as any other features. We wanted the garden to express the unique qualities found in Britain’s domestic gardens. Entrants were also asked to explore opportunities to incorporate a Pierre de Coubertin oak tree in the garden. This tree is named after the man who founded the modern Olympic movement in 1894, after being inspired by Shropshire’s Much Wenlock Olympian Society. We wanted to find a design idea that would offer visitors the feeling that they are wandering through someone’s garden.
We received 112 entries in the adult, and 88 in the 16 and under categories. These have now been short-listed to six in each category by a judging panel and ratified by Tessa Jowell MP the Olympics Minister, Philip Dunne MP for Ludlow in whose constituency Much Wenlock sits, and Inga Grimsey Director General of the RHS, and are illustrated here complete with their descriptions ready for your vote.
Look at the following design ideas, illustrations and descriptions, and simply vote for your favourite adult entry (one only please), and your favourite children’s entry (again, one only please).
To help you, we are looking for a design idea that:
- Demonstrates the unique qualities of Britain’s domestic gardens
- Is forward looking and celebrates the UK’s favourite pastime of gardening
- Will leave a legacy for future generations to enjoy
- Celebrates the Olympic ethos and the Much Wenlock Olympian Society, in particular exploring opportunities to include one or more Pierre de Coubertin oak trees in the design idea.
Voting has now closed, the winners will be announced at the end of November.
View the entries
Child entries
Adult entries
Additional information
Download the terms and conditions of the competition
The judging panel comprised:
- John Hopkins, Project Sponsor, ODA (Chair)
- Sarah Weir, Head of Arts and Culture, ODA
- Bob Sweet, Head of Shows Development, RHS Judge and Committee Member
- Colleen Bowen, DCMS/Royal Parks
- Oli Heywood, Venues and Infrastructure Architect, LOCOG
- Dorothy Fenwick, Director of Communications, Olympic Park Legacy Company
- Andrew Gaskell, Project Executive, London Development Agency
- Eleanor Fawcett, Head of Design, Olympics, Design for London.