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BBC Gardeners' World Magazine reveals winning garden in best-of-the-best gardens of the year competition

A greenhouse sits among tall grasses and colorful wildflowers at sunset. A logo for the 2026 Gardens of the Year competition is in the top right corner.

Tuesday 22 September 2026

Oxfordshire gardener Nadine Mitschunas has been crowned winner of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine’s Gardens of the Year Award, in a Best-of-the-Best edition marking the competition’s tenth anniversary. The awards are proudly partnered with Crocus, the UK’s most trusted online gardening retailer.

Since her original win in 2021, Nadine’s garden at Fir Tree Allotments in Wallingford has grown, now spanning three adjoining allotment plots and a shared space wildflower meadow. With thousands of readers entering their gardens into the competition each year, and 80 fantastic spaces being featured in the magazine and across digital platforms, Nadine claimed the ultimate winner’s title from a shortlist of 20 finalists drawn from every year of the competition’s 10-year history.

The panel of expert judges included garden designer and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, Arit Anderson; garden designer and author, Ann-Marie Powell; BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Editorial Director, Kevin Smith, and Head Gardener at Crocus and presenter, Ashley Edwards. The judges praised Nadine’s garden as a thriving ecosystem for wildlife and fellow gardeners, naming it ‘a garden for the future’.

“To put this much passion and hard work into a shared space says everything, with wildlife at the very heart of it.”

Kevin Smith, Editorial Director of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine

Black and white headshot of Kevin Smith, Content Director for BBC Gardeners’ World at Immediate. He is smiling at the camera, wearing glasses and a light button-up shirt, standing outdoors with leafy plants in the background.

Tuesday 22 September 2026

The October issue of BBC Gardeners’ World is on sale from 17 September, available in all major newsstands and supermarkets, and includes a full feature on Nadine’s win as well as advice on how to help future proof your garden for biodiversity, wildlife and people. To see the winning garden in full, watch Nadine’s tour of her thriving plot on BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine’s YouTube channel – alongside tours of the UK’s other most inspiring gardens – and hear more from Nadine on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine podcast.

Entries for next year’s competition will reopen in spring 2027.