v THE HERALD - INDEPENDENT AND PROUD OF IT v 11th December 2025 • The HERALD • Page 61 DOWN THE GARDEN PATH RYAN FENCING Quality Fencing & Gates 07769 706516 • 023 8084 1203 www.ryan-fencing.co.uk • Find us on Facebook A J GLEESON BUILDING & GROUNDWORK DRIVEWAYS EXTENSIONS BRICKWORK GROUNDWORK BLOCK PAVING Colours & Designs to suit your requirements Local Work Available to View CALL FOR A FREE QUOTATION New Forest & Southampton 023 8084 4180 Mobile: 07770 771475 Bramdene, Main Road, Dibden, Southampton Locally owned landscape and maintenance company who offer excellent workmanship, value, and customer service. Contact Ralph on 07775 726135 www.apex-landscaping.co.uk • rperry16@sky.com • Decking • Fencing and Gates • Complete Landscaping • Paving • Brick Work • Block Paving and Driveways • Hedge and Tree Work •Turfing • Shed and Summerhouse Bases • Shingle Beds and Artificial Lawns • Paving and Block Paving Cleaning and Repair Send your news to The Herald by email: editor@herald-publishing.co.uk Got a great idea for a gorgeous garden? Why not bring your design to life at next year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at Beaulieu in the New Forest (1st – 3rd May). Applications for the 2026 Beautiful Borders competition are now open! Whether you’re an experienced garden designer or amateur gardener, a student or school gardening club, or a charity or community group, BBC Gardeners’ World events want to hear from you. e Beautiful Borders are an exciting opportunity to share your talents and skills, imagination and love of plants with tens of thousands of gardening fans. Measuring just 9m2, the Beautiful Borders are miniature wonders, brimming with fresh inspiration for small gardens. e creative theme for the 2026 Beautiful Borders competition is ‘Once Upon a Time’, inviting entrants to show how even the smallest garden space can become a storybook. Visitors will be transported into a world where imagination blooms and every detail tells a tale. Whether inspired by a special memory, a journey towards health and wellbeing, a personal achievement, dream or meaningful moment, creating a Beautiful Border is a great opportunity to tell a story through plants, colour and design. It’s personal stories and lived experiences that the BBC Gardeners’ World events team are looking for rather than lm or book interpretations. Limited bursaries of £250 are available for plants and props. BBC Gardeners’ World events’ friendly, experienced horticultural team supports entrants every step of the way, from application through the build and to nal reveal. Borders are assessed on site by expert assessment panels, with medals, awards and constructive feedback for every entrant. e top awards are Best Beautiful Border, Best Interpretation of the eme, and Best BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border, with a People’s Choice award for visitors’ favourite design. Lucy Tremlett, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World events, said: “The Beautiful Borders are a hugely popular feature at our events, with visitors spoilt for choice for brilliant ideas for their own gardens. The designers put so much effort, planning and creativity into their Borders, many of them drawing on personal stories and lived experiences for inspiration. Gardens are great places for storytelling, and we can’t wait to see how this year’s entrants bring the Once Upon a Time theme to life.” Winners of the ‘best in show’ Beautiful Border and Platinum award at this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair were Arundel-based Briony and Jonathan Dakic for e 160th Unbirthday of Alice in Wonderland (pictured with Adam Frost). e pair’s oral take on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party was a colourful celebration of 160 years of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. Entries are now open at www.bbcgardenersworldfair. com, closing on 23rd January 2026. Tickets for the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair are on sale now at: www.bbcgardenersworldfair. com Event highlights include inspiring Beautiful Bring a Beautiful Border to life at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair Adam Frost with Briony and Jonathan Dakic winners of Best Beautiful Border 2024 Borders and show gardens, spectacular floral displays, plant and garden shopping, theatres and stages, and BBC Gardeners’ World TV presenters, Magazine edtors and plant experts. ere are garden tours and talks, workshops and demonstrations, and great food, drink and live entertainment.
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