Photos by Vanessa Jackson, no reproduction without permission.
These photos were taken on location shoots for the heats of the ‘Gardener of the Year’ competition in late spring 1999. They show gardening expert Nigel Colborn interviewing contributors, and visiting their gardens.
The ‘Gardener of the Year’ competition began in 1999. It comprised of regional heats, which were held at the Botanical Gardens of Wales, and then a Final which was held at the Earth Centre in Doncaster. The regional heats included question rounds on a specialist subject, a general knowledge gardening round, as well as skills tests, and a visit to the shortlisted candidates’ gardens. The judges included Nigel Colborn, Adam Pasco and Ali Ward. The series was presented by Alan Titchmarsh.
I was the series producer of the competition in its first year. Subsequently the regional heats were dropped, but the Final, which included designing and building a show garden remained for the next ten years.Roger Casstles was the executive producer.
The competition was transmitted on BBC 2 in the Gardeners’ World Friday night slot in the run up to Christmas.
Vanessa Jackson
