Blooming lovely! Harrogate Flower Show winners

Top honours in the 2016 Harrogate Flower Show Gardens has gone to the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) with a Premier Gold Award for their ‘pick me up’

Designed by Northumbrian landscaper Peter Cunliffe, the garden explores the origins of the afternoon ‘pick me up,’ comparing the traditions of the English high tea with the Japanese tea ceremony.

Featuring an authentic Japanese Tea House, it is designed to evoke an atmosphere of peaceful solitude, flowing effortlessly from East to West and illustrating how fundamentally similar the two traditions are.

A gold winner in the community spirit category was A Grand Day out, designed by Horticap Limited in Harrogate.

The fun garden has been designed for horticultural theatre with a display inspired by the famous cartoon characters Wallace and Gromit.

It features a picnic scene set in the open Yorkshire countryside. Planting includes native hedging and trees, plus wild flowers and grasses to capture the region’s famous countryside.

George's Garden, created by Yorkshire Garden Designs, was another gold winner in the community spirit category. It is a sensory garden for disabled children, inspired by the designer’s son George and aiming to encourage outdoor enjoyment in a safe environment.

The display includes a waterfall shelter, metal sculpture and sensory planting to help provide stimulation, along with colourful side panels created by children from the Nidderdale Children’s Resource Centre.