Pursuit of Excellence Deck and Planters
BBC Gardeners World Live Autumn Fair
29 - 31 August 2025
APL Garden Wins Platinum Award and Best in Category
"The Pursuit of Excellence" wins platinum and best in category at this years BBC GWL Autumn Fair.
The judges said " the design celebrated "the APL's 30th anniversary, showcasing the skills and craftsmanship of professional landscapers. to have the skills to build such an impressive 60m2 garden in just 3 days is a testament to the people involved and the industry"
Read the BBC Press release below.
To celebrate the APL's 30th anniversary, The APL have built a series of gardens in shows around the UK, all displaying quality, design, build and beautiful planting schemes. Our aim is to provide you with inspiration, but also to educate you on what quality design and build look like. Whilst the garden hopes to be a showcase for our members, it is also packed with small take-home ideas as you walk through this show garden. Details of the garden below.
The Garden: Pursuit of Excellence
A long walk through garden that is dominated by large-format geometrical shapes and colours. The start of the journey brings you into an area of calm and beauty. The 4 planting zones provide height and structure, framing the tranquil water feature at the centre of the zone. Planting is bio-diverse, encouraging wildlife, and areas for other wildlife will be incorporated in the first half of the garden, making this a beautiful and restful place to explore. The vertical planks not only offer privacy to the seating area, but also provide you with a glimpse of the contemporary area ahead. Within this zone, planting still exists, but the planting will complement the contemporary materials it is surrounded by, whilst also giving the visitor suggestions of architectural and drought-tolerant planting.
PLANT LIST
Shrubs and Trees
Berberis thunbergii "Harlequin"
Caryopteris "Heavenly Blue"
Ceratostigma willmotianum
Cistus purpureus
Eucalyptus gunii "France Blue"
Pachysandra terminalis
Parahebe Avalanche
Pinus Mugo Pumilo
Pittosporum Tom Thumb
Rosemarianus officinales prostratus
Olea Europea
Liquidamber Worplesdon
Perennials
Agapanthus "Black Jack"
Agapanthus "Twister"
Anemone x hybrida "Pink Cloud"
Aster "Island Samoa"
Bergeia cordifolia "Purpurea"
Brunnera "Alexander Great"
Crocosmia "George Davison"
Echinacea "Pow wow wild berry"
Echinacea "Sombrero Blanco"
Erigeron karviskianus
Erigeron "Sea Breeze"
Euphorbia "Silver Edge"
Geranium Havana Blues
Heuchera "Forever Purple"
Liriope "Big Blue"
Penstemon "Arabesque Red"
Sedum "Autumn Joy"
Verbena Bonariensis
Grasses
Carex "Everlime"
Miscanthus "Red Cloud"
Pennisetum "Hamelen"
Stipa giantea
Plants and trees kindly sponsored by Premier Plants and Barcham Trees
Planting Plan by
Part 1 of Garden Planting Walk Through
Sarah Plested of Bramley Apple Garden Design discuss planting of award winning garden.
Pursuit of Excellence
Pursuit of Excellence Thermo Press Uprights
Pursuit of Excellence Tranquil View
Pursuit of Excellence Long View
Pursuit of Excellence Evening Shadow over Porcelain
Pursuit of Excellence Receiving Platinum from Adam Frost
Pursuit of Excellence The Awards
Pursuit of Excellence The Build Team (A Team)
Pursuit of Excellence Rachel de Thame visits
FAQ's from BBC Gardeners World Live Autumn Fair Visitors
The decking is from a company called Composite Prime.
The range used here is their brand new Elements range. Find out more HERE
Porcelain is relatively low maintenance, but will still need cleaning and can stain. It is extremely dense and will resist scratched and offers a large consistent colour across large areas. Today it can also be quite cost effective, although try not to buy really cheap porcelain as it is often brittle and can chip.
Natural stone holds a timeless beauty, with it changing in colour over the years.It is repairable if chipped, by polishing out scratches. It holds up well under heat (Granite in particular) and can offer a wide range of colours and textures. But beware, porous stone like sandstones can stain, so pre sealing may be an option.
Our supplier for this garden was Bradstone
Caryopteris Heavenly Blue
A compact, upright shrub to 1m tall, with arching branches bearing toothed, grey-green leaves. Clusters of small, dark blue flowers appear in the leaf axils in late summer and early autumn.
Our supplier was Premier Plants
Eucalyptus Gunnii "France Blue"
A dwarf form of the species, growing to a maximum height of 2m (6½ft), making it ideal for smaller city gardens and growing in containers. Juvenile foliage is ovate and an intense blue-green. Adult foliage is sickle-shaped and sage-green. Foliage is aromatic. Hard pruning is required every year in early spring to maintain the production of the more ornamental juvenile foliage. White flowers appear in autumn and are attractive to bees and other pollinators.
Our supplier was Premier Plants
The A Team are a group of 8 landscape and design professionals based in the SE of the UK. They created this stunning showcase garden in just 3 days, to an exceptionally high spec. They are time served experts of the industry. To contact them email [email protected] and request "The A Team".
The gardens could not be built without the support of our members. This includes Designers, Landscapers and Suppliers. This fantastic collaborative trinity comes together to deliver something that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also something the visitor can use for inspiration.
