2026 Best show garden award & Gold Medal – Cricket pavilion garden
Designed by Stephen Moody
Sponsored by Alitex Ltd
In Support of Young at Heart
This garden was all about bringing people together. Inspired by the Heathfield Cricket Ground where Young at Heart meet, the garden featured two willow sculptures in keeping with it’s message – a batman on the beautifully tended lawn holding a Gray-Nicolls bat and a woman reading to a young child infront of the pavilion inspired by a real moment at Young at Heart. A part of what makes this garden so special is that the colourful plants used had been propagated by local school children and elderly clients of Young at Heart at planting sessions that Steve runs, making this show garden a real community effort!
Marie-Louise Agius, chair of the RHS judging panel described the garden as “An exuberant and rambunctious display of joy in the garden brought a smile to the face of all of the judges. With much of the planting grown by communities and local schoolchildren, the garden had a sense of establishment and believable sense of place.”
This garden had a focus on using recycled materials throughout the space including building materials for the pavilion, Cricket bat cut-offs were repurposed for the path surface and edging and after the show the plants will be re-used in gardens and community spaces around East Sussex.
