Judges comments
The following are the judges' comments about the Award winners.
New Writer Award
The judges praised all the short-listed new writers for their engaging style. Their work was bright and fresh.
The winner covered an important subject that was well researched and showed a good marshalling of facts. The judges particularly liked the punchy delivery of its eye-opening content. In their opinion, it was an excellent article.
Environmental Award
The judges were very encouraged to see environmental concerns being taken on by gardening writers in such a range of interesting and engaging ways.
The winner reminds all gardeners that there are some hard choices ahead, and changes we all need to make in the battle to keep the world cool. He writes of what he calls our Western ‘energy obesity’ and outlines a ‘diet’ to address it. There’s much individuals can achieve - how about switching off propagators and greenhouse heaters for a start? Those who throw their green fingers up in horror would do well to read John’s article to understand that a cooler greenhouse need not be the end of the world. In fact, it could help save it. A well-argued outline of the issues followed by useful, practical advice.
Electronic Media Award
The value of each entry to UK gardeners was considered to be a crucial element in the judging but several possible shortlist candidates lost out because of inaccuracies in their content.
We were pleased that a number of DVDs were entered, one of which made it to the shortlist, but the wider range of information, services and high quality images available from websites proved to be the decisive factors in picking the winner. The winner is a large and comprehensive website, with the ability to attract a wide audience and deliver the goods.
Trade Journalist of the Year
The judges felt that the background research, editorial crafting and presentation of the winning article was inspiring. The article maintained reader interest throughout and all professionals, irrespective of their level of interest, would find something of use.
Practical Journalist of the Year
There were a huge number of entries for this Award, so the judging process went long into the night! At the end of it all, however, there was one clear winner. Clarity of writing is essential with a subject like digging, and the judges felt that the winner handled the topic with supreme skill, cleverly explaining a subject that is dry and unexciting so that anyone would become interested in it.
Journalist of the Year
The huge list of entries read like a who's who in the gardening world and it was extremely difficult to decide on the shortlist. The quality of the writing was exceptionally high throughout, but those that stood out showed originality and evoked a joyful passion for the garden that's addictive and inspiring to read.
Monty Don's style fuses 'hands-on' with soul - a fine blend of the practical and reflective. Frank Ronan hits the nail on the head like no-one else - just the thing to read when we are taking our gardens and ourselves as gardeners too seriously. The winner, Jane Moore, can make us laugh too but her great talent is to demystify - to engage and instruct in the easiest, most user-friendly way. Her light touch makes her the ideal writer for beginners who she really encourages to 'have a go'.
Magazine of the Year
Gardens Illustrated is beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated, well written and well edited. The writing, by some of the best in their field, is intelligent and accessible. The layouts are clear and there is a wonderful variety of topics and treatments, with an added element of surprise. It was a joy to read.
Gardeners’ World Magazine is a massive magazine - popular and informative - that has perfected the art of gardening publishing.
Grow Your Own is a good-looking, well-written and highly informative magazine that does what it says: helps beginner and experienced gardener alike successfully grow their own food.
The judges reserved a special mention for Hortus. It has none of the colour and razzmatazz of the others, but it is well written, has breadth as well as depth and is quirkily entertaining.
Newspaper of the Year
The winner achieved the perfect balance of inspirational articles and highly relevant, timely and practical information. The layout is clean and well presented and there is something for everyone - product focuses, well-timed jobs for the week, events and gardens to visit, detailed and practical plant and vegetable profiles and confidence-boosting problem solving. All of this combines to offer good value for the reader and an engaging read.
Reference Book of the Year
The judges felt that on publication the winner had immediately become the standard reference book on perennials for gardeners. Put together with a great attention to detail, the quality of illustration is exceedingly high. This is supported with an extensive and detailed text that balances the need for including and describing many thousands of good new cultivars without excluding those older ones still worthy of cultivation. The coverage of many large groups such as Hosta and Geranium is impressive, but equal importance has been paid to hundreds of smaller genera also. At only £25, this is one of the best-value books on the market this year.
Practical Book of the Year
The winner gives us a uniquely detailed look at gardening from the perspective of climate change. It is extremely practical, with easy to follow writing and with good, simple illustrations. The author has a commonsense approach with a wonderful use of garden examples to show effects of topography, microclimates and the effects of weather and climate. The writer is creative yet also gives sound advice on how to deal with problems. Aesthetically pleasing and attractive, this is a responsible book with regard to wildlife, sustainability, water use and related aspects. It is certainly good value for money and a worthy winner.
Enthusiasts' Book of the Year
The judges agreed that all three short-listed books are wonderfully composed and that they would appeal to the enthusiast - and a wider audience. The winner is a charming book, beautifully written and put together. It reveals so many of the secrets of the period and so many people, plants and locations fall into place as you progress through the pages. The most magical quality of this book is how it makes the reader realise what perfection was achieved in horticulture during these years. A remarkable book about a truly remarkable photographer, plantswoman and personality.
Photographer of the Year
This was a very strongly contested category and the judges were impressed by the body of work entered by a number of our leading photographers. Overall, we thought the winner's work was not as showy as some of the others, but it had a lot of depth and integrity. It shows he is technically brilliant and possesses an artistic eye that adds a sense of poetry to his images.
Features Photographer of the Year
The winner has done an excellent job in capturing this diminutive group of plants that you normally wouldn’t notice. Her images make you feel like you are there, down on your hands and knees examining the plants.
Single Image of the Year
A superb selection of interesting pictures. The winner made skilful use of the differential focus, and the contrasting use of the background colours. He also resisted the temptation to crop in tightly on the main subject.
Radio Broadcast of the Year
The standard of entries this year was very high, with two standing out above the rest. Both Gardens of Faith and Five Gardens of Germany were tremendous programmes - stimulating and thoughtful, elegantly presented, technically accomplished, and utterly compelling listening. And after many days’ debate, the top prize finally went to Gardens of Faith because we felt that its subject matter was slightly more ambitious - addressing issues both topical and important. Gardens of Faith is just what radio ought to be: demanding, challenging, thought-provoking, instructive. It was not easy listening, but richly rewarded our attention. In these times of fear and distrust, there is a great need for programmes like this.
TV Broadcast of the Year
The standard of entry was illustrated by the quality of many of the programmes that had to be left off the shortlist, especially the Beechgrove Garden with its homespun, unpretentious style, the other episodes of Gardeners’ World, which were uniformly excellent, and Christine’s Garden, which was fun, unpretentious, original and perfect for the amateur gardener. However, the winner’s sheer exuberance and energy made for a totally inspiring programme. The judges praised its innovative approach to a familiar subject, and Carol Klein who they described as the most inspiring and enthusiastic presenter in gardening television today. It was also visually exciting. Also shortlisted, Garden Provocateur was the definitive obituary show, with excellent archive and contributors. And Cutting It scored highly for its good narrative and journalism.
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