"Stories of Memory"
BBC Gardeners' World Live 2026 - Gold Medal

This garden captures a single moment shaped by memories shared between generations — stories of wartime resilience, everyday gardening, and the familiar spaces that stay with us for life.

Informed by conversations with people living with Alzheimer’s and their families, it reflects how memory can remain practical, sensory, and comforting, even as it begins to change. At its heart sits a recognisable Anderson shelter, recalling safety, family life, and the ingenuity of “Dig for Victory” gardens.

Around it, edible planting and familiar garden species appear not as a working allotment, but as remembered fragments — the look, scent, and texture of plants that once shaped daily routines and childhood gardens.

Painted colour accents are used deliberately throughout the garden, helping define key features and edges, supporting depth perception and orientation for those with sight or memory challenges. The layout is calm and accessible, designed to be easily navigated and suitable for visitors with limited mobility.

A Pear tree and a simple seat anchor the space, offering a place of pause and grounding. Softer planting and grasses introduce movement and touch, while scent, texture, and sound create memory triggers across the senses. Rather than telling a linear story, the garden holds everything at once — shelter and openness, clarity and softness — inviting visitors to reflect on how connection and comfort endure.