SPEAKER_01 0:00

BBC Gardeners World Live at the NEC, day two, an incredibly busy show. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and Kate McCallum, you're smiling because you are a winner here at this show. You must be delighted.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

I'm absolutely overwhelmed. It was such a shock, and it's it's amazing. It's been amazing.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

So you've won the Best WFGA, which is the Working for Gardeners Association Award. Tell me about your garden by the light of the moon.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

So it's it's a garden for the evening, it's designed to be seen in the twilight when um the white flowers will pop and glow. It's got a lovely hammock so you can lie down and relax among the evening scents.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Absolutely. You've used your beautiful border space incredibly well because it's not just got depth, it's got height as well with it with a trellis at the back. When you started with your piece of paper to design it, what was going through your mind? What was the story you were wanting to tell?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Um well the scene this year was Once Upon a Time, and that to me just brought to mind the fairy tales when I was young, and there's so much moonlight and the witching hour, and I I just wanted to convey that kind of magical, calm twilight time.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Absolutely, and I think you have beautifully. Um just talk me through the planting here.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Um so we've got I've gone for um things that have evening scents. So at the back on the trellis, I've got the Star Jasmine, and that's evergreen as well, so that gives you some green in the winter. And then we've got foxgloves for some kind of magical, magical fairy tale vibes, and then Hesperus, Nicotianus, Valerian, these are all evening scented, white flowers that glow and sleep associations with the valerian as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

That that's an amazing um sensory uh, I was gonna say overload, but not it. It's a beautiful way of doing it because so many people rely on the look of a garden, don't they, without necessarily thinking about the other senses, the textures and the and the scents that you can get from it.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Um yes, I suppose so. I think there's more moving towards that though, and there's a lovely garden further down that's um for for visually impaired, and it's got it's got that those textures and those scents. I think it's coming a bit more to people's awareness.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, absolutely. So, what's your background? I mean you end up here winning with a big smile on your face, and quite rightly too. So, what's your background in horticulture?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Um, well, I I was an accountant and uh This is very different. Yeah, I I think after after having children I just wanted a change and I found the the WFGA which does this Rags trainee scheme. Uh you do a year's placement with experienced gardeners, uh, you get paid for it, which is great, and and then that's sort of been my introduction to this.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, absolutely. Uh there is a lot of talk within the world of horticulture about young people not wanting to go into professional gardening because perhaps it doesn't pay as much or where it sort of sits in the hierarchy of of professions. There are apprenticeships available, of course. How would you encourage young people, and there are many here at the show, um, to to look at that as a profession?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Um I'm not sure really. I think for me it's that uh it opens it opens some doors. So you you have the the kind of health thing of being outside all the time in the sun and enjoying yourself outside. Um but there's also there's a lot of flexibility. You can become self-employed, do it part-time, which when you have a family is is very very important, can be very important. So there's a lot of different routes you can go down. You can work for charities, community gardens, you can you can work for private estates. So it it's um it's a I think it's a good career to get into. It has a lot, a lot going for it.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Do you miss accounting? No, no disrespect to all the accountants out there, but you you seem obviously happy in your choice.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Yeah, it's it's just amazing not to be behind a desk all day, just being out there. I go out, I eat my lunch in the gardens in the summer. It's just wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

I I often say to a lot of the award-winning gardeners here, of which you're now one, of course, is what's your garden like at home? Is it a stunning uh garden? Is it an award-winning garden?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Um no. I think I think like many people, you sort of you you do it as your job and you come home and you're not necessarily weeding. What uh what I would say about my garden at home is it's a wonderful wildlife space. And I think that that is actually something I've really come to appreciate that spending less time on it and letting it grow a bit wilder, I've seen so much more activity in it with the with the insects and foxes coming in, and it's so I love it.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yeah, of course you do. Um and just finally, what what does it mean to get the recognition of the award win here at BBC Gardeners World Live?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Um it's been a huge confidence boost. I this is my first time trying to design anything, doing a planting scheme, and it's it's been very affirming.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

So, where do you go next? Now you've got this accolade uh and people are admiring, there's loads of people admiring your garden. What next?

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Um I'm not sure I might redesign my front garden.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Fantastic. What happens to all of the the plants here? Do they go back into your garden? Are they going into another display somewhere?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Um my my garden's been donated to uh Field Studies Council Centre, Junica Hall, near me and Dorking. Um I volunteer there and they kind of encouraged me to enjoy being outside and um they're a wonderful, they're a wonderful charity and they deserve it.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

They are indeed, and and it's a lovely gift to them as well. By the light of the moon, K McAlman, congratulations uh on your win. Enjoy the rest of the show.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Thank you very much, thank you.