The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and BBC Gardeners’ World Live are delighted to be celebrating ten years of ‘APL Avenue’ at the NEC Birmingham this year (18-21 June). This creative collaboration was devised a decade ago to showcase ambitious design, quality workmanship, and professional partnerships between highly skilled garden designers and landscapers. Since then, more than forty member companies and individuals have been selected to create gardens for BBC Gardeners’ World Live, many of them scooping top awards along the way.

Introducing this year’s APL Avenue gardens 

The Umbrellas Garden by Dave Hodson Gardens from Usk, Monmouthshire

This colourful garden by Dave Hodson Gardens is inspired by the French New Wave film, 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ (1964), a bitter-sweet romance directed by Jacques Demy and starring a young Catherine Deneuve. The Umbrellas Garden reflects the film’s vibrant aesthetic, with bold colour incorporated into the hard landscaping, in canopies of strung umbrellas, and with jewel coloured planting that pops amongst a canvas of grasses. The inclusion of spiky plants hints that the course of true love is rarely smooth. 

The Constant Companion by TJ Kennedy Garden and Landscape Design from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire 

The Constant Companion by TJ Kennedy Garden and Landscape Design celebrates the relationship between human and garden, man and nature. This interactive garden features visual and audio elements that will connect visitors with simple but essential gardening tasks. Framed viewpoints highlight different aspects  - one wild, one productive and one contemporary, each with its own characteristics.

The Mill Ruins by Gunns & Roses Ltd from Spalding, Lincolnshire, designed by David Gisbourne from 3DG in Bury, Greater Manchester

The Mill Ruins by Gunns & Roses Ltd and David Gisbourne is inspired by the sites of old Lancashire mills. Once the powerhouses of the Industrial Revolution, the only remaining evidence that the mills ever existed are a few brick walls, old doorways, and the occasional heavily corroded remains of metalwork, poking out as nature reclaims the land. An imposing Corten steel moon gate stands at the garden’s entrance, with further Corten and reclaimed brick features providing a reminder of its industrial roots. Ninety per cent of the planting varieties in this evocative garden are native to the UK.

Phil Tremayne, APL General Manager, said: “Over the past ten years, APL Avenue has become one of the most important platforms for the Association of Professional Landscapers. The concept was to provide visitors with show gardens that were not just inspirational but, more importantly, achievable, packed with loads of take-home ideas. Beyond its public profile, APL Avenue has been instrumental in strengthening the APL community itself. It has created opportunities for some members to build their first-ever show gardens, providing a springboard on the show circuit. The Avenue’s ongoing success reflects APL’s commitment to championing excellence and ensuring the long-term credibility and growth of the professional landscaping sector. After ten years of APL Avenue, we will be developing a brand-new initiative for BBC Gardeners’ World Live in 2027 for its exciting new home at the Packington Estate.”

As well as marking APL Avenue’s tenth anniversary at BBC Gardeners’ World Live this year, Association members will be creating a stylish lifestyle garden at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at Beaulieu, Hampshire (1-3 May) and an apprentices’ garden at the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at Audley End House and Gardens, Saffron Walden (11-13 September). APL experts will also be on hand to share design and landscaping advice with visitors at all three events.

Lucy Ashworth, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World events, said: “We’ve had a long, supportive relationship with the Association of Professional Landscapers. Its members and officers are excellent ambassadors for quality and professionalism and we share their values. APL Avenue is always a popular highlight at BBC Gardeners’ World Live with stunning gardens that wow visitors. It’s wonderful to be celebrating a decade of APL Avenue and we’re looking forward to many more years of collaboration across all our events.”