Show award for garden-less designer

3:49pm Saturday 10th May 2008

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CELEBRITY gardener Chris Beardshaw's mentoring scholarship, announced at Malvern Spring Gardening Show, has been won by a city high-flyer who hasn't even got a garden.

Lindsay Anglin, who comes from Bristol but lives in an apartment in London, where she works as an account executive for a branding company, was chosen from a shortlist of five by a panel of judges at the show to join Chris for a year as a student with the aim of designing a garden at Chelsea Flower Show in 2009.

The 31-years-old only decided to submit a garden design for the competition three months before the closing date for entries last autumn.

"I liked the challenge aspect of it," said Lindsay.

"I had never designed a garden before, but I was getting tired of working in an office and thought I would prefer something outdoors.

"It's amazing to win and now I can't wait to get started."

Her winning garden, built at the Malvern show as part of the Show Gardens area, was intended to be "a garden where children can explore, discover and learn, be lively and energetic or quiet and contemplative."

Announcing her win, Chris described Lindsay's design ideas as "stunning".

"She will frighten everyone with her energy when she turns up at Chelsea," he added.

Mark Eveleigh, the groundsman at The Downs School at Colwall, also made the final five of the competition with a design based around the prep school's historic model railway.

"Mark's garden was a beautiful piece of work and very enterprising," said Chris Beardshaw.

"But among some very strong competition it was ultimately not quite good enough."

• Read the rest of our show coverage here, and click here for our picture gallery.