BRANDIS Corner garden designer Sheila Dearing has achieved a national award for her competition winning 'Forest to Fork' vegetable garden at this year's 'Gardeners' World Live' at the NEC, Birmingham.

This was her first exhibition show garden and the Royal Horticultural Society judges awarded it a Bronze medal. This is a national award and means the garden is judged to a series of exacting standards.

Sheila, who has her design studio at Brandis Corner, said: "I am very pleased that all the hard work in designing and building this vegetable garden has been recognised with this award; throughout the show I received many positive comments on the design innovations and planting plan."

The organic garden was designed around the ecosystem of the forest having seven distinct layers from the tree canopy to the roots. Every plant in the garden was in some degree edible, except the ivy which was planted to attract wildlife, and was designed to fit in the small space often found on new-build housing.

Raised beds containing salad crops, leafy and root vegetables and a variety of fruit trees and bushes were designed using a grid pattern at 45 degrees to maximise the feeling of space.

This was a modern vegetable garden and Sheila designed and commissioned a few contemporary touches; aluminium corner guards for the raised beds and movable coloured glass mobiles inserted into wire mesh panels to form a backdrop to the garden.

Sheila also wanted to take a little bit of the coast to the Midlands, and designed a rope support system for the climbing beans, a rope net for the roof of the arbour seat and chunky rope swags around the boundary of the garden.

"The show was a lot of work but to come away with an award is an achievement that makes it all worthwhile."

Approximately 100,000 people saw the garden over the five days of the show.