Merrist Wood Students Set To Blossom at BBC Gardeners’ World Fair

Published on: 11 Apr, 2025
Updated on: 11 Apr, 2025

An artist’s impression of Nature’s Gallery. This is the Merrist Wood entry

A team of horticulture and landscaping students from Merrist Wood College in Worplesdon look set to inspire thousands of visitors at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair with their Showcase Garden.

The BBC event will be held from May 2-4 at Beaulieu in the New Forest.

Merrist Wood is one of four colleges taking in the event’s college gardens competition. The challenge is to create a budget-friendly show garden, based on the theme of “Nature’s Art within the Garden”.

The college teams are mentored by award-winning garden designer Cherry Carmen, whose accolades include a Gold Award at BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

The Merrist Wood entry, Nature’s Gallery, is a woodland garden inspired by nature and incorporating features repurposed from around the college campus.

Nature has sparked the team’s imaginations, drawing inspiration from spiral plant forms and the Fibonacci sequence as the foundation of their design. The chance discovery of an old cattle hay feeder provided a unique element to shape the garden around.

The college says: “It is designed as a living piece of art, evolving and changing over time. A fallen tree can transform into a path or a bench, while a rotting stump can become a planter or a plinth. Every element serves as a canvas for nature’s art. The garden also incorporates moments to pause and enjoy the surroundings – the sound of running water, the breeze rustling through trees, a feast of shapes and textures to take in.”

Sarah Markham, business engagement specialist at Merrist Wood, said: “We are excited to bring this vision to life and look forward to showcasing a garden that not only celebrates the beauty of nature but also demonstrates sustainable and creative reuse of materials. We hope our garden will inspire others to see the potential in their surroundings and to embrace the ever changing beauty of the natural world.”

Lucy Tremlett, event director at Immediate Live, organisers of the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, said:“ We’re always blown away by the creativity, brilliant design, hard work and effort that goes into creating the college gardens. We can’t wait to see the Merrist Wood students bring their design to life at Beaulieu. Spring Fair visitors can look forward to a really exciting collection of gardens this year, packed with inspiring ideas to try at home.”

Tickets for the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair 2025 are on sale at: www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com. Prices are from £17.00 and include access to Beaulieu’s grounds, gardens and attractions, like the National Motor Museum and Palace House.