Gardens of the Year Competition
Could you and your garden be winners in the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Gardens of the Year Competition 2025?
Gardens of the Year 2025 is now open for entries, and we want to see readers’ gardens of all styles and sizes. If you’d love to see your garden in the magazine and be in with a chance of winning a luxurious holiday on the lush Cilento coastline in Italy worth £7,000 why not enter our exciting competition now.
We’re looking for gardens from all over the UK – no plot is too big or too small. Previous finalists have included flower-filled allotments, tiny urban balconies and sprawling country gardens.
We’ll pick our six finalists, all of whom will be featured in the magazine. Our expert panel will then decide who wins their Judges’ Choice Award, while you the readers, will decide our People’s Choice Award.
It could be your garden this year so, go on, enter now!
Enter now
Click here to enter the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Gardens of the Year Competition 2025.
You can save your entry as you go. Don't miss the deadline!
What you could win
All finalists
All six finalists will be awarded a professional photoshoot of their garden and will be featured in BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine in 2025-26.
Judges' Choice
The winner of the Judges’ Choice Award will receive a seven-night Italian holiday for two worth £7,000, staying at Hotel Palazzo Belmonte on the Cilento coast, south of Naples, courtesy of Long Travel. You’ll have a ground-floor room with private terrace and sea view, with flights, car hire, and breakfasts included. The hotel is set in lush gardens with an outdoor poor and pristine sandy beach. You can also explore the nearby town of Santa Maria di Castellabate and the natural beauty of the Cilento National Park.
People's Choice
The winner of the People’s Choice Award will receive a seven-night holiday for up to six people (travel not included), worth £3,000, in the award-winning Riverside Cabins, set in peaceful rural Shropshire. You’ll stay in a boutique self-catering lodge on the banks of the River Perry, with three bedrooms, a private outdoor space and hot tub. The welcome hamper includes breakfast and a BBQ box of local ingredients. During your stay, you can visit nearby Shrewsbury, explore local walking trails, spot the plentiful wildlife and even try fishing, or simply kick back, enjoy the peace and watch the stars.
How to enter
Our competition is open to gardens right across the UK, of all shapes and sizes, from tiny urban balconies or patios to sprawling gardens out in the country – just give it a go!
- Upload at least six photos and tell us how you created your garden
- Choose photos that show broad areas of your garden, not individual plants
- Send photos that show the garden at its best – these could be from last summer
- We’d like to see a photo of the garden before you transformed it
- Plus, a photo of you in your garden, if possible
- Entrants must not make their living solely from designing or maintaining gardens, but those who have started their gardening career since 2023 or occasionally carry out garden landscaping or design work are eligible to enter
Enter by midday on 9 June 2025. You will NOT receive an email confirmation of your entry. If your garden is selected as a finalist, we will contact you in June to arrange a date for photography, which must be completed by late August.
Enter now
Click here to enter the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Gardens of the Year Competition 2025.
You can save your entry as you go. Don't miss the deadline!
What we’re looking for
The initial selection criteria are simple and likely in line with how you’ve put your garden together anyway, but as a heads-up we’re looking for creative use of the available space, how you’ve used, combined and grown your plants, the overall atmosphere created by the garden design or layout, and the use of materials. How you photograph your space is also a major factor and can really help its character to shine through. To help you with the best chance of standing out, here are some winning tips.
Make it personal
It’s easy to think you need to follow a formula for a chance of winning, but all our finalists’ gardens have a creative edge, often fuelled by a personal passion, pastime or element of their background. Jo and Andi’s travel-inspired garden, winner of our Gardens of the Year 2024 People’s Choice Award is a good example.
Right plant, right place
There are many ways to plant up a garden but how you edit those choices down, along with great planting combinations, can make all the difference. We’ll also be looking out for that extra commitment to growing, nurturing and maintaining a lush and biodiverse landscape.
Create an atmosphere
Stand back and assess your space for ambience and atmosphere. This usually stems from the overall layout – or the clever design of a small space or balcony – elevated by elements such as cohesive use of materials, sensory planting or calming water features.
Materials matter
We’re lucky gardeners indeed if we have the perfect landscaping materials for every part of our plot. But even if those materials aren’t your favourites, there are lots of clever ways of using plants to soften a space. Just a few well-placed pots can transform the look.
Showcase your strengths
The way you take your pictures makes all the difference. Try framing the most striking views, focusing on something structural and then panning out, shooting when the sun is low, and ensuring your camera is set to hi-res mode. Take lots and then choose the best. Take inspiration from our expert photographers including Jason Ingram and Neil Hepworth, who share their top photographic tips in the May 2025 issue of BBC Gardeners' World Magazine.
Meet our expert judges
Our panel of expert judges meet in September to choose an overall Judges’ Choice Award winner. Our People’s Choice Award opens for voting in November.
- Alan Titchmarsh, TV presenter and regular contributor
- Arit Anderson, Gardeners’ World TV presenter
- Ann-Marie Powell, Garden designer and presenter
- Kevin Smith, Gardeners' World Magazine content director
Enter now
Click here to enter the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Gardens of the Year Competition 2025.
You can save your entry as you go. Don't miss the deadline!
