Budding garden designers urged to pitch their ideas

TV’s Sarah Travers is calling budding local garden designers to pitch in and enter UTV’s The Magazine Show Garden Challenge for this year’s Garden Show Ireland event which takes place at Antrim Castle Gardens from May 9-11.

The Magazine Show Garden Challenge asks existing and budding garden designers to design a small garden which is fun, useful and easy to maintain.

Three lucky finalists will be featured on UTV’s Friday night show, The Magazine, as they prepare to be part of Northern Ireland’s premier gardening event where the finished gardens will be judged by the Garden Show Ireland judging panel.

The winning garden will be announced on May 9 at the Garden Show and will become the centre piece for filming for The Magazine which airs that evening. Plus, the winning designer will receive a prize of £2,500.

Sarah said: “Garden Show Ireland is a stunning show and we are thrilled to be involved and I cannot wait to see the designs as they progress over the coming weeks.“

Taking place in a brand new venue for 2014, an expanded new look Garden Show Ireland will include appearances by Channel 4‘s River Cottage team, Alys Fowler from BBC Gardeners’ World and Ireland’s world-renowned plantswoman Helen Dillon.

With thousands of specialist plants, great garden shopping, garden designers and show gardens, a craft village, a free design pavilion, artisan food stalls, live music, garden gourmet, garden challenges, a dedicated kids zone and more, the event promises to be the ultimate garden show experience for gardeners of all ages and experiences.

Claire Faulkner, Director of Garden Show Ireland, added: “This new design competition is a great way of recognising the wealth of talent that exists in the world of garden design. Our desire is to help bring those talents to everyone with a garden, large or small. It is wonderful to have such tremendous support from UTV to make that happen.”

The 2014 Garden Show Ireland will run from May 9-11 at Antrim Castle Gardens and is open daily from 10am to 6pm with parking adjacent.

Adults are £10 (concession £8) and the event is free for children under 16. There is a reduced rate for online booking and for more information visit www.gardenshowireland.com