The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) is delighted to announce that all three Young Landscape Contractors and their Young Planting Designer partners have achieved medal standard gardens at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, including a Bronze, Silver and Gold for their show garden entries for this year’s RHS Young Landscape Contractor competition 2017, which BALI has proudly sponsored for a second year running.

From the three pairs of finalists, the overall Young Landscape Contractor winner for 2017 was Elliott Hood, who was joined by his partner and Young Planting Designer winner Ben Poulter, who were both crowned in front of BBC cameras at a sun soaked awards ceremony from the showground on late Tuesday afternoon. Both Elliott and Ben join last year’s winners Ewan Sewell and Katie Maude as Young Landscape Contractor and Planting Designer winners respectively.

This year’s gardens, centred on a design created by 2016 Young Designer winner Caitlin McLaughlin, once again celebrates the theme of coastal and urban, with the highest levels of quality, technical skill and professional implementation firmly on display, ready to delight and inspire thousands of visitors throughout the week.

‘Chaos to Coastline’, a Gold winning garden built by Young Landscape Contractor Elliot Hood, who partnered up with Young Planting Designer Ben Poulter, impressed judges by providing a functional social space, whilst an innovative water feature, multiple levels and sharp lines contrasted magnificently with a free-flowing planting scheme.

Young Landscape Contractor Karl Crowe and partner Giulio Passarelli’s ‘Let ‘em Grow Urban Retreat’ garden provides a very different take on the brief, bringing together minimalistic intervention and plant management to reinforce the message that any neglected urban site can be improved by adding rich vegetation to any space, including between pavers and cracks in the wall. The Bronze winning garden is both captivating and technically brilliant in serving up a veritable feast of ideas of how an urban retreat for people and wildlife can be created.

The last of the three show gardens was built by Young Landscape Contractor Josh Mcdonnell alongside Anna Rhodes who excelled in her role as Josh’s Young Planting Designer partner. Together they created the beautifully idyllic ‘Arrange: Rearrange Countryside Retreat’ show garden that also pleased judges with its explorative understanding of harvesting plants that celebrates the cycle of growing, cutting, displaying and reproduction.