He once described himself as irrelevant to the success of his ubiquitous 'Expert'series of practical gardening books but his peers have passed their own judgment by bestowing the prestigious Garden Writers’ Guild Lifetime Achievement Award for 2005 upon Dr David G Hessayon ­ the world’s biggest-selling non-fiction author.

Since 1959 when he persuaded his then employer, Pan Britannica Industries to publish the initial Be Your Own Gardening Expert book, Dr Hessayon’s highly accessible no-nonsense illustrated ‘how-to’ guides have sold 50 million copies in 22 languages, popularising gardening to two generations. Even now, aged 77, his bibliography continues to grow with the publication this year of The House Plant Expert, Book Two, the prequel to which has sold 14 million copies since it was first published 45 years ago and is claimed to be the best-selling reference book of all time, apart from the Bible.

Dr Hessayon accounts for half of all the gardening books sold in the UK and it has been estimated that one out of every two households owns at least one of his 20-plus Expert books. And yet he shuns the limelight, maintaining that his name is irrelevant to his readers.

The result of the secret ballot of Guild members was announced to an audience of creative professionals from the fields of horticultural publishing and broadcasting at the Garden Writers’ Guild Awards Lunch at The Savoy on November 24 by master of ceremonies, James Alexander-Sinclair. The other winners in broadcasting, book, press and photography categories were:

TV Broadcast of the Year: Heaven Scent ­ Gardeners’ World Special, produced and directed by Patty Kraus for BBC Birmingham.

Radio Broadcast of the Year: The Gardening Show produced and presented by Paul O’Neill for BBC Radio Cumbria.

Newspaper of the Year: Garden News edited by Sarah Page.

Magazine of the Year: Gardenlife, edited by Tiffany Daneff.

Journalist of the Year: Frank Ronan for a series of articles in Gardens Illustrated.

Practical Journalist of the Year: John Hoyland for ‘Fresh start’ in Gardenlife.

New Journalist of the Year: Kirsty Maclean for ‘Return to An Cala’ in The English Garden.

Trade Journalist of the Year: Marc Rosenberg for ‘Saturation point for garden makeovers’ in Horticulture Week.

Enthusiasts’ Book of the Year: Sticky Wicket by Pam Lewis (Frances Lincoln, £20).

Practical Book of the Year: Sharp Gardening by Christopher Holliday (Frances Lincoln, £25).

Reference Book of the Year: Hardy Bamboos ­ Taming the Dragon by Paul Whittaker (Timber Press, £25).

Photographer of the Year: Clive Nichols for his portfolio of images.

Features Photographer of the Year: Clive Nichols for his work in Lady Farm (Horus Capital, Moscow).

Photographers’ Choice Award: Jeff Eden for his photograph entitled Secret Window.

Apart from the Lifetime Achievement and Photographers’ Choice Awards which are decided by ballot, each category is judged by a panel of independent experts. Two new Awards ­ Newspaper of the Year and New Journalist of the Year ­ were contested this year. Guild chairman, Stephen Green, said: “Almost every Award category was closely contested and the judges had a difficult task. All of the winners ­ and many other nominees ­ can be proud of their work but I especially commend Clive Nichols for winning both of the judged photography Awards and Garden News for winning the inaugural Newspaper of the Year Award in the face of very stiff competition from the daily newspapers.”

The 2005 Awards were sponsored by: LOFA (Trade Journalist of the Year); John Deere (New Journalist of the Year); Thompson & Morgan (Practical Journalist of the Year); STIHL (Journalist of the Year); Scotts (Magazine of the Year); Paskett Public Relations (Newspaper of the Year); Banrock Station (Reference Book of the Year); Hartley Botanic/Gabriel Ash (Practical Book of the Year); Laurent-Perrier (Enthusiasts' Book of the Year); Briggs & Stratton (Photographers’ Choice Award); Glee (Features Photographer of the Year); Royal Horticultural Society (Photographer of the Year); Cornwall Gardens (Radio Broadcast of the Year); Horticultural Trades Association (Television Broadcast of the Year); and Bayer Garden (Lifetime Achievement Award).

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