A landscape gardener, who stepped in at the 11th hour to tackle a design at the prestigious Sandringham Flower Show, is celebrating returning home with a wheelbarrow full of top trophies.
Aylsham man Kevin Myhill, 65, from Hungate Street, designed a small garden in just seven weeks – a fraction of the time it would normally take.
But it didn’t stop him winning four top awards; a large gold medal, best small garden title, best in show – all judged by experts Chris Beardshaw and Alan Mason – as well as winning the people’s choice prize.
“You are usually planning a garden design a year in advance, but I got a last-minute call to step in because a designer pulled out through ill health,” he explained.
“I was hopeful of winning but didn’t think I’d do that well. The people’s choice award was the most pleasing, because that’s who I’m designing for. It was great to see crowds lined five deep wanting to look at my garden.”
Kevin’s design was geared to the kind of small gardens found on modern day housing developments. “I wanted to show you can have a very pretty garden in a small space that is also useful, relaxing and wildlife-friendly. It featured seating, a pergola, small water feature hedgehog boxes, a bird table and bee and butterfly-friendly plants – all in an area smaller than 4m by 5m,” he said.
Kevin was helped with plant selection by Teresa Rogers and Jo Contreras from Woodgate Nursery, who provided them for free. He had four days to build it, which he did solo, and did it with a day to spare.
The garden also raised £120 in public donations for his chosen charity, Aylsham Hedgehog Rescue. Kevin, who began as a builder before switching to landscape garden around 30 years ago, is now back to his day job of making benches, patios and pergolas for people’s gardens.