Would you like to share your garden design talent with tens of thousands of gardening enthusiasts? Applications for the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders competition close on 23 January.

BBC Gardeners’ World Live returns to the NEC Birmingham from 12-15 June 2025 and marks the height of the summer gardening season.

The Beautiful Borders are compact, 9m2 show gardens, bursting with creative design features and imaginative planting. These colourful mini masterpieces are always a popular highlight at BBC Gardeners’ World events, providing visitors with endless inspiration and take-home ideas, particularly for small or challenging garden spaces.

Creating a Beautiful Border is a fantastic opportunity to gain show garden experience at a large-scale pubilc event and to showcase your skills to a large, enthusiastic audience. Whether you’re a design or landscaping professional, a first-time designer or student, or a gardening club, community group or charity, BBC Gardeners’ World events’ friendly and experienced horticultural team support entrants every step of the way, from application to final build. 25 bursaries worth £200 each are available to BBC Gardeners’ World Live applicants for plants and props.

The creative theme for the 2025 Beautiful Borders competiton is ‘Cultivating Connections’, inspired by the power of garden spaces, no matter how small, to foster meaningful connections of all kinds. Whether it's connecting cultures, species, generations or communities, or deepening our relationship with nature, education or mental wellbeing, the organisers are looking for small spaces with big impact.

Entries are assessed on site by esteemed professional assessors, with medals for all and awards presented for Best Beautiful Border, Best Interpretation of the Theme, and Best Subscriber Border for the best design by a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscriber. Event visitors have their say too, voting for their favourite Border in the Peoples’ Choice award.

Winner of the ‘best in show’ Beautiful Border, Best BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border and a Platinum award at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2024 was Leanne Wood from Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire. Leanne’s Border, Following In My Footsteps, was a celebration of education through shared experiences and deep connections with nature. Inspired by following in her grandparents’ gardening footsteps, Leanne’s Border combined a children’s play space with a relaxing haven.

Winners of Best Interpretation of the Theme and a Platinum award were Jemma Wylie and Rona Glynn of Goldfinch Garden Design in South Norwood for Fee Fi Fo Forage!, designed as a learning space to encourage children to fall in love with nature through feasting and foraging.

To enter a Beautiful Border for BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025, download the application form and find full details, including bursary information, at bbcgardenersworldlive.com. Applications close on 23 January 2025.