Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
MONTY’S TIPS FOR A TOP PLOT
I have never had the experience of having my garden judged for a competition but I have had to prepare it for countless photo shoots and TV programmes, so I can draw upon that to share the lessons I’ve learned...
The first and most important thing is to share and celebrate what you personally love about your garden, and not to predict what you think the judges might want to see, or will consider highly. They will be looking for evidence of your own character and personality.
The style of garden that won last year may well not succeed this time – there is no formula to success. I have visited thousands of gardens in my time and in every one I am looking for something different, something that marks them out as making them individual and idiosyncratic.
Focus on what you are good at and what already pleases you in the garden, and do not try to make any changes just because the judges will be coming – even if you would like to in the fullness of time. Get what is already there looking as good as it possibly can.
Although I have learned to look at other people’s gardens with a fairly objective, dispassionate eye, I find it very difficult to be objective about my own garden. So I take lots and lots of digital pictures and scrutinise them closely. This is a huge help as it tends to show up the patchy, messy areas even if everything around them is lovely. Look back at pictures of last July and August if you have them. Plan and prepare accordingly.
Pay attention to detail. If a line is meant to be straight, then make sure it really is straight. Ideally you should primp and preen your garden 24-48 hours before a visit – and then leave it to breathe a little and relax, so that it appears looser and more inviting, despite your detailed attention.
Finally, accept that the weather and season will do you no favours. I have never, ever visited a garden without being told I should have come at another time to see it at its best. This applies to everyone, so in the end it all evens out. The judges can tell a good garden when they see one – even if it is blowing a howling gale and pouring with rain! Over the past 22 years, gardens of all shapes and sizes have featured in our National Garden Competition. Many people with ordinary-sized plots worry their garden won’t be grand enough for the competition, but the judges are just as impressed with a beautifully designed town courtyard as they are with a generously sized country garden.
If you have a small garden, why not draw inspiration from these spectacular little spaces that are brimming with design flair. All are open for charity this summer under the National Gardens Scheme... Seaside special The enchanting garden at 33 Peerley Road in East Wittering, West Sussex, lies a stone’s throw from the sea and measures just 20m x 10m (65ft x 32ft). Every inch of available space has been utilised to make this a garden for all the family, with a wide range of plants that can withstand the salt spray and stiff sea breezes. It’s open on Sunday 26 July and by appointment until September. Also in West Sussex, 4 Ben’s Acre in Horsham (pictured right) is a modest 30.5m x 14m (100ft x 45ft) yet packs in topiary, arbours, a summerhouse, ponds, waterfalls, statuary and beds densely planted for colour, texture and form. Open Friday 19 June and Saturday 29 August, and by appointment until September. Two for the price of one At 34 Dover Road in Sheffield you get two tiny gardens for the price of one, with a front garden that’s 6m x 10m (19ft x 32ft) and a back garden measuring just 32ft x 32ft (10m x 10m). Within these two small spaces there are many different planting areas including alpines, a knot garden, a cottage garden, an