The judging panel
The Awards were judged by the following expert panel, together with members of the GWG Committee.
Prof Chris Baines
Chris Baines is a horticulturist and landscape architect. He is an award-wining writer and broadcaster and an independent environmental adviser to government and to senior executives in the house building, minerals and water industries. He is on the steering committee for CABE Space, an adviser to the Lottery and vice-president of The Wildlife Trusts.
Susan Bell
Assistant producer on Ground Force during the 1990s, Susan Bell is now a photographer and her work has appeared in many magazines including BBC Gardeners’ World, Gardens Illustrated and The Daily Telegraph. She used to shoot the practical, hands-on section of past GWG Magazine of the Year, Gardenlife.
Deni Bown
Deni Bown is an award-winning writer and photographer, and an avid plant collector, traveller and gardener. Though best known for her RHS Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses, and for her first book, Aroids - Plants of the Arum Family, she has more than a dozen books to her name, and has contributed as author, photographer and editor to many others. Deni chairs the Norfolk Group of the NCCPG, is an RHS judge, a member of the RHS Fruit, Vegetable & Herb Committee, and past chair of the Herb Society (UK). From 2004 to 2006 she held the position of Honorary President of the Herb Society of America. She is also a long-standing member and former chair of the HSA Promising Plants Committee. Deni is a self-taught botanist and horticulturist and a self-confessed plantaholic.
Jim Buttress
Jim Buttress trained at RHS Garden Wisley, after which he spent more than 20 years with London’s Royal Parks, latterly as Superintendent at Greenwhich Park. Although now retired, he is the Chair of Britain in Bloom, and a Trustee of Perennial, the former Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Fund.
Tiffany Daneff
Former Editor of the gardening section of The Daily Telegraph. Tiffany was Editor of Gardenlife, before going freelance. She is now gardening section editor at Saga Magazine.
Louise Danks
Louise Danks has always been interested in gardening. She completed the BTEC National Diploma in Ornamental Horticulture at Duchy College. Having worked on the Tregothnan Estate and at Trebah Gardens, she spent three years at RBG Kew studying for the Kew Diploma. Since graduating, she has been working as a specialist Horticultural Researcher and more recently as a Director on various television programmes, mainly for the BBC on the RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace Flower Shows and for Gardeners’ World, but also for Channel 4 on The Great Garden Challenge. As the nature of gardening TV is seasonal, she fills her time with designing and implementing gardens and garden writing.
Peter Dawson
One of the founders of the GWG and a former Editor of Garden Answers magazine and Nurseryman & Garden Centre magazine. Peter has an extensive knowledge of the horticultural industry.
Dr Steve Dowbiggin FIHort OBE
Steve Dowbiggin has been the Chief Executive of Capel Manor College since 1986, having previously been Vice Principal between 1982-1986. Prior to being appointed at the College he was Head of Department at Hadlow College of Agriculture. His background included periods of academic research into pollution bio-chemistry, management consultancy and a period employed as a farm manager for a major vegetable production company. He is a past Chair of the Institute of Horticulture's Standing Committee of Education and Training and was made a Fellow of the Institute in 1988 and has served on their Council. He has been working in Greater London since 1982 and over the last few years has been committed to helping improve the Landbased and Related Green Knowledge of all those living and working in London and has worked to provide continuous Professional Development for all those employed in looking after London’s Green and open spaces. He has been a regular contributor to the horticultural press and was BBC Radio London Gardening Correspondent for many years. He has also written for local and national newspapers, both under his own name and ghosting for celebrities.
Dr Dowbiggin was made an OBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2007.
Ambra Edwards
Ambra Edwards is a regular writer in consumer magazines and national newspapers and a sound broadcaster. She is an environmental campaigner and garden historian. She was the winner of the GWG Journalist of the Year Award 2006.
Grant Feller
Grant Feller is Associate Editor of the Daily Express, responsible for the newspaper's features, comment and interviews. With 20 years' experience as a journalist, he has held senior editorial positions on the Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Hello! magazine, and has been involved in a series of internet start-ups.
John Frye
John Frye has been taking photographs since the age of seven, and professionally for 35 years, in which time he has photographed subjects ranging from contact lenses to oil rigs, for clients such as Trust House Forte, Sheraton Hotels, and BMW as well as several 'Royal' occasions. His work has appeared in the Illustrated London News and the Sunday Express Magazine, local and national press, as well as scores of corporate publications and, latterly, websites. Having obviously grown up with the traditional craft of photography, he has now made the complete transition to digital imaging, and after a steep learning curve over three or four years he is now wholly comfortable with the technology and techniques.
Sarah Giles
Former Editor of Home magazine, Sarah Giles is now freelance writing regularly for major women’s, home interest and gardening magazines, including The English Garden. She was the editor of two one-shot titles published this year, Woman’s Weekly Summer Special 1 and 2.
Paul Heiney
Paul Heiney has been a television reporter for more than 20 years, starting with That's Life through to his recent work on BBC1's Watchdog - with numerous programmes in between such as The Travel Show and Food & Drink. Radio work includes Radio 4's You and Yours. In 1990 he transformed his life by taking up traditional farming in Suffolk, and for 10 years farmed 36 acres using Suffolk Punch horses, writing a diary of his activities for The Times as well as several books. He presented A Victorian Summer for Anglia TV - eight half-hour programmes about traditional farming methods and the rigours and difficulties faced by Victorian farmers - and more recently the series Secret Rivers for Anglia TV. Apart from his love of the East Anglian countryside and the richness of character that defines its countrymen and women (whom Paul describes as 'farming heroes').
Ian Hodgson
Ian Hodgson has been Editor of The Garden since 1993. He was previously Editor of The Gardener and has worked on many gardening publications such as Practical Gardening and Garden News. He trained at Kew and then at Sheffield University as a Landscape Architect. His interests range from the creative use of plants through to expanding the value and appreciation of gardens.
Janet Johnson
Janet Johnson heralds from the US, but is now London-based. She used to be full-time picture researcher for Gardenlife, before going freelance. Much of her work now is for Gardeners’ World Magazine.
Michael Kerr BA Dip Hort (Kew)
Michael Kerr studied Fine Arts originally and was a sculptor for many years before he went firstly to Merrist Wood College to study commercial horticulture and then later to Kew Gardens where he completed the Kew Diploma course with an honours grade.
After graduating from Kew he went into the world of media working on the Channel 4 series Lost Gardens with Monty Don. He later went on to work at the BBC on the Flying Gardener programme and eventually began working on the coverage for the Chelsea Flower Show and the Hampton Court Palace flower Show. He began his career at the BBC as a researcher but now directs short films for the show coverage and assists other directors with the horticultural content of their films during the week of the actual event.
During recent years he has taught horticulture for Hounslow Council and identifying and data-basing images for the garden photographer Andrea Jones and for Science Photo Library. He has a consultancy and design practice, and has designed and implemented several London gardens over the years. He also writes a monthly feature for Country magazine.
Rosamund Kidman Cox
Rosamund Kidman Cox is an editor and writer specialising in wildlife and conservation. She was editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine from 1983 to 2004. Other roles have included UK-region editorial director of natural history books for BBC Books, editor of Wildlife Magazine, visualising editor for Living Countryside and editor/writer for Usborne Publishing. She was a founder of the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Stephen Lacey
Stephen Lacey is a columnist for The Daily Telegraph, presenter for Gardeners’ World. He is author of The Startling Jungle and Scent in your Garden, Gardens of the National Trust and the recently published best seller Real Gardening.
Kay Maguire
Kay maguire is a horticultural journalist who trained at the Botanic Gardens in Bristol and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. She worked freelance for a number of years juggling gardening, writing and working on various gardening television programmes, before becoming Horticultural Editor on Gardeners' World Magazine.
Andrew McIndoe
Following a Degree in Horticulture at Bath University, Andrew McIndoe joined Hillier Nurseries in 1974, initially as manager of the company’s garden centre in Winchester. Andrew’s energy along with his enthusiasm for horticulture and eye for colour and design has shaped his career. Now Deputy Managing Director of Hillier Nurseries he is responsible for the development and operation of the Hillier chain of garden centres. In addition he is the designer of the Hillier exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. His garden exhibits of the last 19 years have upheld the company’s unprecedented record of 62 consecutive gold medals at the show. Andrew started the Hillier Gardening Club 15 years ago. Andrew is a regular contributor to a number of magazines, newspapers and BBC radio. He lectures widely to gardening groups and societies and leads numerous gardening tours.
Jekka McVicar
Jekka McVicar runs a successful organic nursery in South Gloucestershire, specialising in culinary, aromatic, decorative and medicinal herbs. Since 1993 she has achieved a staggering 59 RHS Gold Medals at flower shows around the country, including 12 at Chelsea and Best Floral Exhibit at Hampton Court in 2007. As well as the day-to-day running of the farm, Jekka is a regular TV/radio broadcaster and author of four books on the subject of herbs. She is also an elected member of the RHS Council.
Mike Park
Mike Park entered horticulture after leaving school, training initially with Southampton Parks Department, and then at Oxford Botanic Garden. Positions in both the private sector and also community horticulture with a Social Services department followed before taking the degree diploma at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. While there, his interest in books broadened and deepened, and his first catalogue of second-hand books was issued in 1976. Following Kew he worked for 20 years designing and maintaining gardens for a Housing Trust in London. At the same time the bookselling just grew and grew. Since 1984 he has attended every London show of the Royal Horticultural Society, and been an exhibitor at Chelsea Flower Show. In 1996 he retired from professional gardening, to become a full-time bookseller, and he has now just issued his ninety-third catalogue.
He still gardens for fun, and he endeavours to control two London gardens and a small but challenging garden in the Highlands of Scotland. Mike was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 2002.
Mike Saunders
Mike Saunders has extensive experience in the production of digital media in the private and public sectors, having worked in Government, broadcasting and commercial organisations. He founded and ran his own web agency for eight years, developing it to win multiple awards with clients including Sony Playstation, Ford the Co-op, the Environment Agency and Channel 4. After selling the Company, he developed and ran cross-platform projects at Channel 4, including Time Team's Big Roman Dig. At Culture Online, Mike developed the multi-award-winning Soundjunction project among others and worked across Government Departments on innovative new media initiatives. Mike has advised Ofcom on development of the content for their Public Service Publisher concept. He is also a regular visiting lecturer at Middlesex University's Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts, where he gained an MA in interactive design.
Dr Nigel Taylor
Nigel Taylor's specific hobbies, within a broad interest in gardening are dwarf pyramid fruit trees and vegetables. At Kew, he has championed craft based practical horticultural training - he is particularly proud of the Kew Diploma in Horticulture and Rotational Training courses. He believes that UK plc needs to invest much more in its heritage gardens and their staff as a major, unsung tourist attraction and earner of foreign exchange. He was a key player in the team that secured World Heritage Site status for RBG Kew in 2003. Above all, he says, he is a plant nerd.
Ceri Thomas
Ceri Thomas was a writer with Practical Gardening, then went to Garden Answers and then to Beeb.com. She became the first Gardening Editor of the BBC Gardening website - from there she went to BBC Gardeners' World and was then involved in the launch of the now defunct Easy Gardening. She has recently been appointed as Editor of Gardening Which? She is a horticultural graduate from Reading University's School of Plant Sciences and, because she thought it was all too classroom based, she took a break in the middle of her studies to go and get her hands dirty with the Royal Parks, returning to finish her degree.
Ben Vanheems
Ben Vanheems has a lifelong passion for plants, starting his first vegetable plot at the age of 10. He has a degree in horticulture from Reading University and writes freelance for gardening magazines and was the previous Editor of the Garden Design Journal.
Sandy Warr
Sandy Warr is a radio and TV broadcaster with experience on Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, Capitol Radio, Sky News and Channel 5. She has an MA in Mass Communication and undertakes personal and corporate coaching plus voice coaching.
Dr Chris Wood
Chris Wood is a botanist who formerly worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Horticultural Research International Wellesbourne. He is now the Secretary of the Commercial Horticulture Association.
Sally Wood
Sally co-founded the Garden Picture Library in 1987, and ran it for 18 years. The collection was renowned as a comprehensive source for inspirational images of gardens, plants, floral graphics, practical gardening and whole-garden features. The Library was bought by Photolibrary.com, and she continued with the new owners in the role of Creative Director for two years, until retirement. Sally continues to be involved with the world of plants and gardens as she is currently working as a Consultant for Cedar Landscapes, based in Godalming.
Janine Wookey
Janine Wookey has been a journalist for some 40 years mainly in news, and then in travel when she was based for 10 years in the Far East. On returning to England, au fait with frangipanis but unable to recognise a kniphofia, she started to develop an interest in gardening. She signed up for an RS course and found she wanted to put in a new garden and thought she had better learn how to do it properly. At just about the same time the English Garden magazine was being launched and she joined it in early 1998 as a freelance. Finding there was no better way to learn about gardening, she stayed, and discovered the ideal way to mix work with pleasure. As Editor of The English Garden she has masses of opportunity to pick the brains of some of the best gardeners in the country. It’s the perfect job!
Steven Wright
With more than 12 years' experience as a producer, Steven Wright has a wealth of experience in primetime entertainment from his time at the BBC and as Commissioning Editor of Factual Entertainment at Channel 4. Originally a journalist, he started his TV career on The Word and, as a producer, was responsible for numerous hit shows including Passengers, The Sunday Show, The Girlie Show, The Best of British, Comic Relief Jukebox and Around the World in 80 Raves. During his stint at C4, he commissioned around 200 hours of programming including such award-winning shows such as The 100 Greatest Kids TV, Make My Day and The 100 Greatest Films. He was also responsible for many other credits including Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster, Sex on TV, Top Ten TV, The Importance of being Morrissey, 100 Worst Britons, Bernard's Bombay Dream and The Showbiz Set.
Joanna Yarrow
One of Britain's leading experts in green living, Joanna yarrow helps people understand environmental principles and apply them to their own lives. She was co-presenter of BBC3's Outrageous Wasters, the green expert for ITV's This Morning and appears regularly on ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald. She is author of 1001 Ways You Can Save The Planet and both speaker and chair at various green conferences and events. Her company beyond green runs practical sustainability projects for a range of clients.
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