Garden Challenge

The Great Garden Challenge

The Great Garden Challenge ran from April – July 2005 and was held in the Great Walled Garden at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. The program was shown daily on Channel 4 every afternoon.

Teams of two were each given a plot 5 x 5 metres, a budget of £1000 and 2 1/2 days in which to build the garden. 64 teams began and there was to be only one winner.

My philosophy when designing these gardens was not to create 'concept' or 'gimmick' gardens but real gardens that real people would be able to enjoy. The result is that the following three gardens are templates that can be adapted for any small garden or could possibly be a 'room' in part of a larger garden.

My builder team-mate Ian Penny of 'Classic Building' and I were fortunate enough to get through to the semi finals of the competition by designing and building these three gardens. We were eventually knocked out of the competition by a very talented team who went on to win the competition.