Professor Alice Roberts’ Garden of Evolution wins Best Show Garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live
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Professor Alice Roberts and designer David Stevens are the proud winners of Best Show Garden and a Platinum award at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2026 for their immersive Garden of Evolution. This educational show garden is inspired by 500 million years of life on Earth, and academics from the University of Birmingham have played an active part in its development. Visitors to the garden can journey through dramatic prehistoric landscapes, ancient forests and evolving ecosystems, discovering how plants and animals have adapted and survived through the ages. BBC Gardeners’ World Live takes place at the NEC Birmingham from 18-21 June.
The Garden of Evolution was constructed by West Midlands-based Design It Landscapes, led by Dan Ryan. It combines science storytelling and design to create a thought-provoking experience, with striking rock formations, cascading water, fossil-inspired features and richly textured planting. Alongside life-sized prehistoric creatures and references to Earth’s changing climate, the garden highlights the importance of biodiversity, conservation and our relationship with the natural world today. It features a model of BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute of Forest Research Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment programme), one of the world’s largest climate change experiments. Experts from plant suppliers, Hillier, will be on the garden to share information about some of the plants featured.
There are more than 45 show gardens, Borders and floral displays at this year’s event, all brimming with inspiration and ideas for real gardens. Last night’s awards took place at BBC Gardeners’ World Live’s spectacular Floral Marquee, sponsored by L&G. David Hurrion, the horticulturalist, writer and presenter, hosted the awards ceremony at the Hillier-sponsored Let’s Talk Plants Stage.
Chair of the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Show Garden assessors’ panel is award-winning garden designer and horticultural expert, Roger Platts. He said: “The Garden of Evolution made a strong impression on the Assessors with its skilful construction and high-quality planting. The impressive specimen trees and ferns enhance the presentation and clearly tell the story of evolution. Expertly designed, the garden combines education and horticultural excellence to provide a memorable visitor experience.”
Best Showcase Garden and a Platinum award went to Northamptonshire designer Matt Bettison for Greenhouse Noir. This compact, contemporary space features bold, black backdrops and structure which create a dramatic, gallery-like setting that allows every plant to stand out. Detailed stone paving and a central table display add architectural character. The garden also scooped the award for Best Construction Landscaper which recognises technical excellence amongst professional landscaping teams. Greenhouse Noir was constructed by Shane Allsop Landscaping, Mike Jarvis Landscaping, and Landscaping Creation.
Chair of assessors, Roger Platts, said: “Greenhouse Noir is brilliantly designed and planted, demonstrating excellence in creating a garden in a small space. The construction is to a very high standard, with lovely planting showing good horticultural knowledge.”
Winner Matt Bettison said: “I’m overwhelmed that a small garden has been recognised amongst some really big, beautiful spaces. This is my first Showcase Garden so this is totally unexpected. It’s been wonderful to have a great team behind me and I couldn’t have done this without them.”
In the Beautiful Borders category for small-space inspiration, this year’s theme is ‘Once Upon a Time’. Winner of Best Beautiful Border and a Platinum award was Mark Selby, a designer from East Sussex, for The Pioneering Spirit. Inspired by wild countryside adventures and camping, this Border blends untamed planting with functional design, featuring woodland plants, grasses and perennials for movement and texture, and a water-harvesting table made from coppiced chestnut and British wool.
Co-Chair of Assessors for the Beautiful Borders, acclaimed garden designer Richard Barnard, said: “Mark has used a stunning mix of soft and hard landscaping that works perfectly for the space, with sustainable materials featured throughout. The planting and colour palette are outstanding, as is the design and build quality of the water harvesting feature.”
Winner Mark Selby said: “This is my first show garden and I’m very happy, if a bit overwhelmed, to have won this award. Creating the garden has been a lot of work, but it’s been a great learning journey, particularly the positive feedback from the assessors. I’m launching my own garden design business and this is a great event to showcase that.”
Best Interpretation of the Theme (‘Once Upon a Time’) and a Platinum award went to Lancashire based Jan O’Brien for Threads of Life. Reflecting fifty years of lived experience, the Border’s design is inspired by the designer’s love of sewing, textiles and natural forms, and supports awareness of Motor Neurone Disease.
Winner Jan O’Brien said: “This is my second year designing a Border at BBC Gardeners’ World Live and I’ve loved it. This year, I wanted to tell the story of my life through plants, and to recognise some wonderful people that have made an impact on my life. The Border is in honour of a great friend who is living with MND.”
Best BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border and a Platinum award went to Surrey and southwest London designers Georgina Spencer and Alice Pote for Return to Gothic. The Border tells the story of Gothic Lodge, once overgrown and reclaimed by nature, and its gradual restoration over two years. Georgina and Alice are career changers that have trained with the Working for Gardeners Association, a charity providing horticultural skills training through its Work and Retrain As a Gardener Scheme (WRAGs). After BBC Gardeners’ World Live, the garden will be relocated to a community garden project at Elmbridge EcoHub in Walton on Thames.
Georgina Spencer said: “We’re absolutely delighted that all the hard work paid off. The assessors have been so encouraging and it’s lovely that we’ve created something that people are really enjoying. Alice and I met at WRAGS and working together on Gothic Lodge is a great way to complete our training. We’re already planning to do more work together.”
Seven of this year’s Beautiful Borders are designed by WRAGS trainees. Winner of Best WFGA Border and a Platinum award was Kate McCallum from Dorking, Surrey. Kate’s Border, By the Light of the Moon, was inspired by childhood fairytales and the magic of twilight hours when light fades and imagination grows. A crescent-shaped hammock evokes the moon, surrounded by fragrant, silver planting that glows at night to attract nocturnal pollinators.
Winner Kate McCallum said: “I’m absolutely overwhelmed to have won this award and have learnt so much in the process. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my wonderful parents-in-law.”
BBC Newsround presenter and keen allotment grower, De-Graft Mensah, has co-created the BBC Gardeners’ World Make a Metre Matter Border with garden designer, Lucy Chamberlain. This nature-friendly micro garden is packed with food plants, flowers and features to attract wildlife, with a desigh that illustrates how even one square metre of garden space can be transformed to support a healthy planet.
Lucy Ashworth, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World Live, said: “It’s another bumper year of horticultural highlights at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, with inspiration and ideas for gardens of every shape, size, budget and style. We have the utmost respect and admiration for the teams that enter their show garden and Border designs each year, and for the creativity, dedication and hard work that go into them. It’s not easy to impress our expert assessors and the awards are hard won, so our hearty congratulations to every single team that entered.”
New features at BBC Gardeners’ World Live this year are the QVC Outdoor Living Stage, the Smoke & Fire BBQ Festival, the Garden Organic ’Grow Your Own’ Stage, floristry workshops and the BBC Introducing Stage, showcasing talented local musicians.
Famous faces
Monty Don, Adam Frost, Frances Tophill and Professor Alice Roberts are the star guests at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Theatre, sponsored by British Garden Centres, chatting with Nicki Chapman and BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine’s Kevin Smith. Popular gardening influencers Jonny Hincks (Garden with Jonny) and Michael Perry (Mr Plant Geek) join the fun too. Adam Frost’s Tasting Table returns, featuring cooking demonstrations, tastings, and food and garden chat with celebrity chefs from sister event, Good Food Show Summer.
Fabulous florals
At the Floral Marquee, sponsored by L&G, displays by leading plant nurseries and the International Orchid Show are as spectacular as ever. This year’s Hot Off the Potting Bench gallery features 75 brand new plants and varieties, entered by specialist plant breeders and growers for the Peter Seabrook Award for Best New Plant at BBC Gardeners’ World Live. At the Let’s Talk Plants Stage hosted by David Hurrion, stage sponsors Hillier share a daily programme of sessions dedicated to plants. The Plant Experts’ advice desk is the go-to destination for visitors with plant problems, and at the Wool-Pots Pot Swap, plastic plant pots are exchanged for sustainable wool versions.
APL Avenue
The Association of Professional Landscapers celebrates a decade of APL Avenue at BBC Gardeners’ World Live this year with a curated collection of contemporary gardens by member companies. Umbrellas by Dave Hodson Gardens from Usk is inspired by cult French film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Rutland-based TJ Kennedy Garden Design’s Sanctuary for a Changing World is a modern take on an ancient walled garden. The Mill Ruins by Gunns & Roses Ltd from Spalding and 3DG in Bury is inspired by nature’s gradual reclaiming of old Lancashire mill sites. At the APL Design & Landscape Clinic, experienced professionals are on hand with garden planning advice and support.
Plant and garden shopping
Visitors make the most of the event’s extensive shopping opportunities, heading to the Floral Marquee, Plant Village and Green Rooms House Plant Studio for quality plants. A Plant Crèche and car collection service are available to help lighten the load. Throughout the event’s halls and outside spaces is a wide range of plant pots, containers and decorative garden items, tools, equipment and gardening clothing, garden furniture, buildings, greenhouses and more.
BBC Gardeners’ World Live is at the NEC Birmingham until Sunday 21 June. Tickets are on sale at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com and include entry to Good Food Show Summer (goodfoodshowsummer.com), featuring kitchen talks, stages and demonstrations, and food and drink tasting and shopping. This year’s guests include James Martin, Si King, The Fletchers (Fletchers’ Family Farm) and Dr. Chintal Patel.
