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Tonight there's a chance to revisit those gardens - from the evergreen football posts of James Alexander-Sinclair to the haven of tranquillity at the back of Cleve's West's home.
It is not just professional designers that can inspire, however. On December 5th there is an invitation to see gardens owned by five of the previous winners of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Gardener of the Year. All agreed this year to go head to head in a champion of champions contest; Gardener of the Decade, down at the Eden Project. That competition is on ´óÏó´«Ã½2 on December 12th but before then there is a chance to meet the competitors again and see how they earned their titles.
I've been lucky enough to visit some of the winners in the past. Katherine Crouch - the 1999 winner has a wonderful cottage garden down in Somerset which she is lovingly restoring since moving there a few years ago. I remember visiting in a torrential rain storm when she was first excavating it. We tied plastic bags around our legs and ventured out. Today you wouldn't recognise it as the same garden and she says there's still more she wants to do. I also adored Edwin Rye's Buckinghamshire garden. Edwin won in 2002 and his home is a chocolate box of planting which filled me with great excitement. It was Edwin that introduced me to cerinthe for the first time - something for which I am eternally grateful. Diana Guy (2004 winner) has moved from her magnificent garden in Dorset to a new home, but has wasted no time in creating a plant lover's paradise in the space of a few short months. I take off my hat to her.
Finally I've never been lucky enough yet to visit Sue Beesley's (winner 2006) nursery or Bob Tridgett's (winner 2007) gorgeous garden in County Durham but the films I have seen make me jealous of both - they're stunning. All five are worthy adversaries and I'm definitely sitting on the fence here - they all deserve to win!