Category: Homepage

A list of blogs from the home page David Domoney. David is a Chartered Horticulturalist with over 40 years of experience growing and caring for plants. David has also worked on UK national television for over 2 decades. As a garden designer, David has won over 30 RHS medals for his garden designs at leading UK gardening shows and events.

Yakult Everyday craft competition winners announced

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Thank you to everyone who took part in Yakult’s Every Day Inspiration Challenge! I loved seeing and judging your entries, and I was bowled over by your clever and imaginative ideas.

Yakults Every Day Inspiration Challenge asked people to find inventive ways to reuse their iconic yoghurt drink bottles.

You spent four weeks crafting, painting and creating masterpieces. And we had a hard time judging them all!

Meet our winner

Colette Mellor created a charming mobile with Yakult bottles transformed into insects and spiders. She also added small bells inside the bottles, so it doubled up as a wind chime.

Colette has won the top prize of £500 of Hobbycraft vouchers.

Two runners-up

We also awarded two runners-up prizes of £250 of Hobbycraft vouchers each.

Lee Biddle created this beautiful Easter wreath with his daughter, using Yakult bottles to make rabbits.

Jemma Webster worked with her little boy on a raft of projects, including vases and fairy light holders.

Congratulations to our winners!

And thank you to everyone who sent in their ideas.

Here are some more inspiring creations!

Emma Hedges created this Oscars scene complete with a theatre.

Jamie Edwards made a chess board set with Yakult bottles.

Richard Beesley made a space scene.

Rebecca Jenner created luminous ‘festival lights’.

And finally Jean Robinson made cut farm animals with button noses!

Well done everyone.

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April 4, 2016
Easter Wordsearch Puzzle: Free printable Easter wordsearch

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Happy Easter! Keep the kids (and adults) entertained over the Easter weekend with this wordsearch puzzle.

Find all the Easter words in the grid. The words may read forwards or backwords and go up, down and diagonally.

Download the wordsearch as a PDF to print

More Easter content

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7 Steps to Get Going in the Garden at Easter

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Fun Gardening Activities for Kids

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More quizzes

Do you know these common Latin plant names?

Can you recognise these 10 garden birds?

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March 24, 2016
Young Gardeners of the Year: Awards and winners 2016
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The results are in from the sixth annual Young Gardeners of the Year competition!

The contest sees students from six of the UK’s leading horticultural colleges build show gardens in just six days.

The show gardens are judged by an esteemed panel of industry experts. This year the judges included:
- Neil Domoney, Judging Chairman
- Carol Paris, Chief Executive of the HTA
- Deborah Stone, Express journalist
- Simon Sadinsky, Director of Education at the Prince’s Foundation
- Martin Parsons, Producer, writer and TV presenter
- Alan Titchmarsh, TV Gardener
What are the gardens judged on?

The judges were looking for high-quality gardens and landscaping with excellent plant and feature choices. The design should make the best use of space and height and include elements of harmony, sustainability and tranquillity.

Students showed the judges around the garden and explained their inspirations and how they built the garden.

Each garden is awarded a medal: gold, silver gilt, silver or bronze. Judges then award one garden the Best at Show trophy, crowning those students the Young Gardeners of the Year 2016.

See each college’s garden below and find out what medal they received. Plus, find out who won the coveted Best at Show trophy!

Capel Manor College

Students from Capel Manor College built a tropical yoga retreat garden, full of lush planting and rich timber decking.

Judges described the garden as tranquil and relaxing, with high-quality flooring and different levels. They admired the plants and called the build quality ‘excellent’.

Capel Manor College was awarded a Silver Medal.

Shuttleworth College

Students from Shuttleworth College designed a Moroccan-themed garden with a bold blue theme colour and decorative tiling alongside architectural plants.

Judges thought the garden was beautiful, with intricate details and great accessories. They said the garden had a lovely ‘feel’ from the tropical plants and water feature.

Shuttleworth College was awarded a Silver Medal.

Chichester College

Students at Chichester College designed an elegant, low-maintenance garden with emphasis on shape and structure, including domes and spheres.

The judges described the garden as very high quality, noting that it could easily have been built by professionals. They loved the symmetry and planting too.

Chichester College was awarded a Silver Gilt Medal and the People’s Choice Award for the public’s favourite garden.

Askham Bryan College

Students from Askham Bryan College created a contemporary woodland garden with trees, spring plants, lush wall planters and timber features.

Judges called the garden ‘a delight’ and praised the creativity and gorgeous plants. They were also impressed by the display of traditional skills and homes for wildlife.

Askham Bryan College was awarded a Gold Medal.

Pershore College

Students at Pershore College built a lush garden exploring spirals and patterns in nature. They included QR codes on the plant labels to direct visitors to an online plant catalogue.

Judges loved this garden, especially the sunken seating and intimate feeling. They admired the recycled elements and praised the educational plant labels, calling them inspiring.

Pershore College was awarded a Gold Medal.

Writtle College

Students from Writtle College designed a basement garden filled with lights and lush plants underneath a roof covered in meadow grass.

The judges loved the brave choice of design, noting how hard the students had pushed themselves. They loved the sophisticated, urban feeling and use of shade-tolerant plants.

Writtle College was awarded a Silver Medal.

Best at Show Award – Drumroll please

The judges took a long time choosing their favourites, and the results were close. They described all the gardens as very different and extremely high quality.

But only one garden could win the Best at Show trophy, and the winner is… Askham Bryan College!

Congratulations to everyone at Askham Bryan College, and to all our colleges and talented young gardeners!

The gardens are displayed at the Ideal Home Show in Olympia, London from 18 March – 3 April.

Remember, the public can also vote for their favourite garden to win the People’s Choice Award – look out for voting slips at the show gardens at the Ideal Home Show.

See more pictures of the finished gardens here.

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March 23, 2016