Garden for Life is Best in Show
Three-time winner Stuart Gibbs led the way with Best in Show as Malvern Spring Gardening Show opened their doors for a real floral treat.
Stuart (pictured above), of Graduate Gardeners, won Best in Show at Malvern for the third year in a row with his self-sustainable garden designed for multi-purpose use.
Hannah Genders picked up the only other gold in the gardens category with My Very Local Veg Garden. All the plants and materials were sourced within cycling distance of Hannah's house in Evesham.
Here's just a few of the 30 'must-see' gardens from Malvern 2011
Garden for Life by Graduate Gardeners - Best in Show
The Graduate Gardeners know how to build award-winning gardens - this was their third consecutive Best in Show at Malvern, and they've amassed six golds at Chelsea too. Stuart Gibbs' Garden for Life is a wildlife garden you'd love to live in, with woodland favourites, fruit, veg, sculptures and solar-powered fountains. Self-sustaining and practical too.
My Very Local Veg Garden
Hannah Genders sourced everything in this garden withing cycling distance of her home in Evesham. The relaxing kitchen garden features Heritage fruit and veg, including climbing bean 'Painted Lady' - collected from seed for the past 25 years - and tomato 'Kenilworth King George', pictured left with Hannah. The garden will be moved to Hiller Garden after the show. Labels show how far Hannah cycled to source each element.
Lady Alice's Garden
See the ultimate Tudor parterre garden, complete with 'Lady Alice and friends' in full Tudor costume in Patricia Atkins modern interpretation. The garden contains symetrical box parterres filled with scented flowers and aromatic folliage plants, like sweet rocket, gillyflowers, woad and sweet cicely - all of which would have been common in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Pick up some great garden ideas
With 12 show gardens, eight school gardens, an Olive grove feature, and the 12 science-themed gardens from the Chris Beardshaw Mentoring Scholarship there's a host of wonderfully imaginative ideas you can take away and use in your own garden - from seaside themes to Japanese style or even creative ideas for pathways like the feature pictured left.