Walter de la Mare poem inspires winner

English poet Walter de la Mare’s poem The Listeners inspired this year’s winner of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and Society of Garden Designers (SGD) garden design competition, sponsored by Bradstone.

Winner Amanda Patton’s garden design, "The Traveller’s Garden - with Bradstone", has been submitted to the RHS for consideration for next July’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, and, if chosen, will be built by a ‘Super Team’ of landscape contractors hand-picked from the winners of the APL Awards 2008.

Dorset based Amanda’s winning design was inspired by the tale of a traveller who arrives at a moonlit door and waits for an answer in Walter de la Mare’s 1912 poem. Amanda’s aim was to convey the eeriness of the poem in her garden design, by using contrasts of dark areas highlighted with very pale colour and says, “Once you step into the garden you are on a never-ending path, travelling as if in a dream-like state”.

After being selected as the designer, Amanda said, “I am on cloud nine and just can’t wait to get started. At first I didn’t know where to start and had hundreds of ideas but all at once it just came together and I knew I had the right design.”

Amanda began her landscaping business in 2000 after working as a professional illustrator for over 20 years, illustrating archaeological and commercial books including Alan Titchmarsh’s Complete Book of Gardening and How to be a Gardener as well as all four books in the BBC’s Ground Force series.

In 2002, Amanda’s Somerset Revival garden at Chelsea received critical acclaim and a silver-gift medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. Amanda is also a talented photographer, winning the RHS Garden Photograph of the Year in 2003.

Commenting on the winning design, Ian Wright from Bradstone said, “We’re proud to be sponsoring the APL/SGD garden at Hampton Court and have been amazed by the standard of the entries. Amanda’s design is stunning and we’re thrilled to be working with her on this project”.

James Steele-Sargent, APL chairman said, “I am delighted that Amanda’s entry was chosen. Her design really stood out and it will make for a beautiful garden at Hampton Court. Through Amanda’s garden we hope to highlight the benefits of working with professional designers and landscapers.”

The Society of Garden Designers was established in 1981 and is the only professional body in the UK dedicated solely to garden design. It is active both nationally and internationally, promoting its aims through its journal, workshops, seminars, conferences and links with the construction industry.

The Association of Professional Landscapers represents landscapers who meet a required standard of professionalism. Members of the Association are registered with the government endorsed TrustMark Scheme. They are regularly inspected and agree to follow a customer charter with clients.

Sponsors, Bradstone, is one of the UK’s leading garden hard landscaping manufacturers and offers a comprehensive range of paving, walling, edging and garden accessories in both reconstituted and natural stone, plus aggregates and block paving.

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