The competition celebrates the best in Scottish garden design and landscaping, with two categories: Small Space Gardens and Showcase Gardens. Both categories are judged by a panel of expert horticultural and garden design professionals, while visitors to the Garden Fair also can choose their favourite garden through the People’s Choice Award.
The Small Space Gardens category challenges budding amateur designers, hobbyists, and students to create inspiring gardens on a small scale.
Ten finalists will compete for the title of Best Small Space Garden, as well as the People’s Choice Award, which is voted for by visitors to Scone Palace Garden Fair.
The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Joy.’ The theme is deliberately open to interpretation, offering designers endless opportunities for creativity and personal expression. Designers are invited to interpret the theme in their own way, creating a garden that reflects, represents, or evokes what joy means to them.
Gardener Brian Cunningham said: “The Small Space Gardens are incredibly unique. Every year we receive very high-quality submissions and the creativity is fantastic. I cannot wait to see this year’s finalist gardens.”
The Scottish Garden Design Competition is redefining the concept of the traditional show garden through its Showcase Gardens category – the only UK garden design competition to judge gardens over the course of an entire year.
Unlike traditional garden shows, where designs are assessed during a short exhibition period, Showcase Gardens are installed at Scone Palace and remain in the Walled Garden for 12 months. Judges assess each garden as it establishes, matures, and evolves through the seasons, providing a rare opportunity to evaluate long-term design thinking rather than simply a garden’s peak presentation.
The extended judging period challenges designers to consider sustainability, planting longevity, seasonal interest, and practical maintenance – qualities that are increasingly important in contemporary horticulture and landscape design.
Visitors to Scone Palace can enjoy the three finalist Showcase Gardens throughout the year, observing how each designer’s vision translates into a real-world garden and performs as the seasons change. For designers, the category offers sustained public exposure and professional recognition beyond the constraints of a conventional garden show.
By prioritising duration and seasonal assessment, the Showcase Gardens category represents a significant departure from the traditional model of temporary show gardens and places Scotland at the forefront of innovative garden design competition formats.
The competition is judged by Paul Hervey-Brookes, Lesley Watson, Dougal Philip, Lewis Normand and Mario M. Milligan-Nagy.
https://www.scone-palace.co.uk/scottish-garden-design-competition
