In 1998, when I was working for Hillier Landscapes as an assistant garden designer, I was awarded the Tudor Rose medal at Hampton Court Flower show. The medal wasn’t for a show garden but a new category created by the RHS that year and unusually open to both garden designers and florists.

It was when the TV programme Ground Force with Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock was popular and the RHS wanted to educate and engage with the public about the art and craft of both industries. This blog post tells my story.

That year my boss Sarah Eberle had been sponsored by Fisher Price toy manufacturer to build a show garden and as her assistant I was closely involved in helping her with the project. When you see the flower shows either on TV or in person they are impressive but you cannot begin to imagine how many hours have gone into their creation. Although the design ideas often look simple there is layer upon layer of detailing involved all of which has been researched, sourced or commissioned and finally installed to make the finished product show quality. Alongside helping Sarah with her show garden, I was given the job of making a display for the new category the RHS had created that year. I was pleased to have a whole project of my own to do and was particularly honoured to be given that responsibility because I was new to the company. The combination of both the newness of the category and myself in the company meant the budget set and time allocated was cautious and limited. However, for me this helped clarify the many possibilities racing around my head and I concluded that my best approach was to keep things simple.

Photography was a passion for me. Initially from studying 20th century photographers at part of my History of Art degree but afterwards becoming a practitioner myself. Of all photographic styles I particularly liked Black and white, not just because it’s so stylish but because you see the image differently. Somehow by simply removing colour, the elements of light, texture and composition seemed heightened and the essence of the image shines brighter. I decided that removing the distraction of colour could be my way into explaining garden design. I felt black and white photographs would reveal a garden’s structure, the very bones from which everything else is hung, and take away the subjective judgement of a good garden based on whether you liked the colour scheme. I persuaded Sarah to have 4 of her gardens professionally photographed and when the photos came back excitedly displayed them next to their garden layout drawing to see how my approach worked. Disappointingly the overall impression was rather flat and boring; I needed a little magic to bring it to life.

That magic arrived in the form of the wonderful Hugo Skucek who ran his floristry business in the potting shed of Ampfield house, where Hillier garden centre and landscapes were based. Almost every lunch hour I found myself in his workshop looking at his latest creations and marvelling at the huge budgets he was working to, everything he made was awe inspiring. When I asked him how I could lift my black and white display he suggested a pair of lollipop topiary shapes filled with nothing but garden foliage. It was the perfect solution. By using only green, the base colour of every garden, they became an invitation to add your own colour preferences not just to the floral display but the 4 garden designs on display. Explaining that colour was only a layer that was added once the design had been perfected. The same layout design worked as well with a white and blue colour scheme as a yellow and orange one. Hugo’s arrangements of garden foliage were key in making sense of the monochrome photos and drawings. And with access to the mature gardens of Ampfield house and the wholesale department of Hilliers garden centre we could have a wonderful selection of traditional and unusual material as well as being cost effective too. Hugo did insist on using one flower however, a rose, the classic garden flower. But not just any rose, a green rose of course. Rosa viridiflora is a strange creature with a small scruffy flower that looks quite different at various points during its flowering period. When in bud and first opening it is a fresh green but over time becomes tinged with red becoming almost completely burgundy. I was excited to see how everything would come together.

I spent the construction week helping on the show garden planning to take a few hours the night before judging day to set up my exhibit. When I arrived at my marquee all the other exhibits had already been set up. I saw the most elaborate 3 d models that would have taken weeks to make, exquisite floral extravaganzas hanging from the ceiling and beautiful hand drawn artist impressions.

Each one was really impressive and I felt my exhib was poor in comparison. I quickly put up my photographs and garden layout drawings with Hugo’s topiary arrangements in terracotta pots either side of the stand and went back to help Sarah finish the show garden. The following day all eyes were on the big show gardens. They were some amazing gardens that year, but Sarah always pushed the boundaries, often using unfamiliar materials. This year she used epoxy resin mixed with blue crushed glass for the paths. It was the talking point of the whole show. Eventually the results were in. Everyone was delighted Sarah had won best in show. Amidst the flying champagne corks and flowing tears I was tapped on the shoulder and told to go back to the marquee to hear my results.

I know it is a clique to say how good the competition was but it was true, I couldn’t see why I had got an award. When the judge presented me with the cup he praised my courage saying that I had taken a big risk and that it had paid off. He went on to explained that the Tudor Rose was not awarded every year. The level of the award is determined by the points scored, there are not a set number of silver medals for example given out each year. The score for a tudor rose is higher than gold.

Winning an ward like this at this point of my career was fantastic. It gave me the confidence in my new career choice, encouraged me to trust my instincts and of course to carry on and take risks; a lesson I remember to this day.