Got a great idea for a gorgeous garden? Why not bring your design to life at next year’s BBC Gardeners’ World events. Applications for the 2026 Beautiful Borders competition are now open for the flagship BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC Birmingham (18-21 June), the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at Beaulieu in Hampshire (1-3 May) and the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at Audley End House and Gardens in Saffron Walden in Essex (11-13 September).
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. The 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.
The 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 film 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 build and to final reveal. Borders are assessed on site by expert assessment panels, with medals, awards and constructive feedback for every entrant. The top awards are Best Beautiful Border, Best Interpretation of the Theme, 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 Borders and Platinum awards in 2025 were:BBC Gardeners’ World Live: The One to Three Border, designed by Anita Rose (pictured above) to foster connections between oneself, others and nature. Anita’s Border featured different seating scenarios for reflection and quiet contemplation. BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair: The 160th Unbirthday of Alice in Wonderland by Briony and Jonathan Dakic. This floral take on the Mad Hatter's Tea Party was a colourful celebration of 160 years of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair: Conversation in Bloom by Charlotte Hugh was a stunning, nature-inspired space to talk.
Alex Valk, a BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025 Gold award winner, said: “The Beautiful Borders gave me a chance to test myself and the freedom to explore my own creative ideas. The atmosphere on-site was brilliant; everyone shared ideas and helped each other. I met fantastic new plant-y friends and winning the Gold gave me a much-needed confidence boost.”
Entries are now open at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com and www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com. Application deadlines for 2026 are 23 January for BBC Gardener’s World Live and the Spring Fair, and 1 May for the Autumn Fair.
Tickets for BBC Gardeners’ World Live and the Spring Fair are on sale now, with Autumn Fair tickets available in the spring. Event highlights include inspiring Beautiful 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. There are garden tours and talks, workshops and demonstrations, and great food, drink and live entertainment.
www.bbcgardenersworldlive.comwww.bbcgardenersworldfair.com
