Amy Drewitt, a project manager and garden design student from Sunningdale has won Best Beautiful Border and a Platinum award at the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair, in association with English Heritage, taking place at Audley End House and Gardens, Saffron Walden from 30 August – 1 September. The designer scooped a second accolade as winner of the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border Award. Awards were presented to designers on the eve of the Autumn Fair before opening to the public.

Always popular with visitors to BBC Gardeners’ World events, the Beautiful Borders are compact 3m x 3m miniature show gardens, imaginatively designed and planted. They offer creative inspiration and achievable ideas for smaller gardens and challenging spaces. This year’s Beautiful Border theme was ‘Share My Space’, highlighting the power of gardening to create a sense of community. Nine designs were selected for the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair.     The winning Border, The Daisy Chain, was inspired by Amy’s thoughts on how a family shares a garden space. It is designed to connect all generations of a family through exploration, nature and play. Highlights include soft planting and sensory elements like sound cushions, a pool with a solar fountain, a buried trampoline, tree-hanging bells and birch tree trunk seating that doubles as a play tunnel and balance beam.

Amy, who is studying with the British Academy of Garden Design, said: “I wanted this space to feel inviting rather than somewhere children would be told to stay off the lawn or away from the plants. I’m blown away by winning this award and really can’t believe it’s happened. Creating a Beautiful Border for the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair has been an amazing experience and I’ve learnt so much from everyone involved.” Assessors for the Autumn Fair’s Beautiful Borders were gardening editor, horticulturalist and journalist, Ian Hodgson, and award-winning garden designers, Pip Probert from BBC Two’s Your Garden Made Perfect and Outer Spaces Landscaping & Design, and Mike Baldwin, landscape and horticulture lecturer at Derby College. Pip and Mike have built more than 75 show gardens between them, with Mike receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live for his exceptional contribution to horticulture.

Chair of assessors, Ian Hodgson, said: “Amy Drewitt’s The Daisy Chain is such a fun garden, we could really imagine children enjoying the trampoline and stepping stones. It is more than a garden, it’s a living space.”

Best Interpretation of the Theme was awarded to Chelmsford horticulturalist, Zoe Defoe, for her Border, Talk in Space. The design highlights the mental health and therapeutic benefits of sharing space and conversation, surrounded by nature, and features a central firepit with Phormium ‘flames’ surrounded by log seats, mounted planets and dry planting. Zoe lives with Addison’s disease, a rare adrenal disorder, and will use the garden to raise awareness and funds for the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group charity which supports people living with the disorder.

Receiving her award, Zoe said: “I’ve loved building the Border and it feels amazing to have won this award. I’m so excited that my interpretation of the theme was appreciated by the assessors. My Border is a space for people to sit together and talk which represents what the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group does.”

Head assessor, Ian Hodgson, said: “We loved the planetary theme and interpretation of ‘space’ and could picture sitting around the Phormium fire, arguing which planet to sit next to. The assessors have been astonished at the range of interpretations of the ‘Share My Space’ theme this year. No garden is the same and there is some very artful planting and real innovation.”

Visitors can vote for their favourite Beautiful Border throughout the Autumn Fair. The People’s Choice award will be announced on Sunday afternoon. Rachel Poletti-Gadd, Portfolio Director - Gardening Division at Immediate Live, organisers of the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair, said: “The Beautiful Borders never fail to impress and always inspire visitors with their creativity. We’ve been thrilled at the number and quality of entries this year. Each designer brought their own individual vision of the Share My Space theme to life which gave the assessors a very tough job. Our congratulations to Amy and Zoe for their fantastic Borders which we know will spark new ideas for Autumn Fair visitors.”

The BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair, in association with English Heritage, takes place at Audley End House and Gardens from 30 August – 1 September. Along with the Beautiful Borders, event highlights include a collection of inspiring new Showcase Gardens by designers David Hurrion, Pip Probert and Val Christman, a display garden by Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens, plant displays by specialist growers and nurseries, and the Association of Professional Landscapers’ Skills Competition and Design Clinic. At the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage, BBC Gardeners’ World TV presenters Adam Frost (Friday), Joe Swift (Saturday) and, new to the Autumn Fair, Rachel de Thame (Sunday) will be in conversation with the Magazine’s editors, sharing seasonal tips and advice.

At the new Get Growing Stage, TV chef Marcus Bean (a new face at the Autumn Fair) will be hosting a daily programme of sessions with expert produce growers, like Adam Kirtland on easy garden upcycling, Kim O’Brien on successful dahlia growing and Sara Ward on how to ferment pickles. There are garden tours led by the Autumn Fair’s Plant Experts, hands-on workshops like bug hotel making and autumn bouquets, and historical performances to enjoy. There’s plant and garden shopping galore featuring many exhibitors that are new to the Fair, and plenty of great food and drink to enjoy and take home at the Good Food Market.

Autumn Fair tickets include access to Audley End’s grand mansion with its great hall, state rooms, dressing rooms, servants’ wing, stables and chapel, and the organic walled Kitchen Garden, grounds, gardens, parklands and children’s play area. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in the grounds.

Advance adult prices for the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair start from £16.50 (concessions £15.50), or £13.50 for English Heritage adult members (£12 concessions). Find out more and book tickets at www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com. Tickets available on the day. correct at time of writing.