Garden Media Guild Awards 2019

Marian Boswall wins Columnist of the Year Award at the Garden Media Guild Awards for her series ‘Design Ideas’ in Gardens Illustrated.

The awards is one of the biggest events of the horticultural calendar for those who tweet, write, blog, photograph and broadcast about one of the nation’s favourite pastimes.

Marian said: “I am thrilled and honoured to have won this prestigious award amongst so many fine writers and plants people. I have very much enjoyed sharing my ideas on how to garden for well being and the long term good.

The judges said that they “were impressed by the column which brings history, design and planting in an entertaining and approachable manner”.

The winning and shortlisted entries at the awards highlighted some of the top trends being championed by gardening’s greatest influencers including eliminating plastics from our gardens, the social prescribing of gardening and the leafy love affair of millennials and their houseplants.

Held at the Savoy, the event (held on 21 November) was attended by over 350 of gardening’s great and good. The event has 15 sponsors including Westland as headline sponsor.

The 18 award categories attract entries from the UK’s leading gardening trend-setters from the new, blossoming stars of social media, through to the evergreen, celebrated garden writers and broadcasters.

Co-Chair of the Garden Media Guild Award Constance Craig Smith said: “It’s fantastic that so many of this year’s winning entries highlight the force for good that gardening can bring and across such a diverse range of platforms, from social media, vlogs and blogs to TV programmes and long-standing print magazines. The entire world of gardening media is in a wonderful position to highlight the increasing social, environmental and health benefits gardening, plants and being engaged with nature, can offer to everyone whatever their age.”

The 2019 winners are:

• Blog of Vlog of the Year, sponsored by Mr Fothergill’s – Alison Levey, Blackberry Garden
• Website of the Year, sponsored by Honda – National Garden Scheme
• Social Media Influencer of the Year, sponsored by Stihl – Sally Chandler, Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens website
• Alan Titchmarsh New Talent Award, sponsored by Hayloft Plants – Tom Brown for writing and broadcasting (head gardener at West Dean, formerly at Parham)
• Radio Broadcast/Podcast of the Year, sponsored by Evergreen – Sarah Wilson, Roots and All podcast
• Roy Lancaster TV Broadcast of the Year, sponsored by the Horticultural Trades Association – Great British Gardens, Channel 5
• Peter Seabrook Practical Book of the Year, sponsored by the Garden Press Event- New Vegetable Garden Techniques, Joyce Russell
• Garden Book of the Year – Kiftsgate Court Gardens, Vanessa Berridge
• Features Photographer of the Year – Jason Ingram
• Gordon Rae Photographer of the Year, sponsored by Candide – Jason Ingram
• News Journalist of the Year, sponsored by Briggs & Stratton – Marc Rosenberg
• Practical Journalist of the Year, sponsored by Thompson & Morgan – Alan Titchmarsh
• Beth Chatto Environmental Award, sponsored by Beth Chatto Education Trust – Sally Nex
• Journalist of the Year, sponsored by Viking Cruises- James Alexander-Sinclair
• Dr David Hessayon Garden Columnist of the Year, sponsored by Vitax – Marian Boswall
• Garden Publication of the Year, sponsored by Westland Horticulture – Garden Design Journal
• Cover of the Year, sponsored by Cobra – The Galanthophiles
• Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Westland Horticulture – Carol Klein