For the past 25 years the Daily Mail has held its annual garden competition. For the past 15 of those years I have written about it.
If I am honest, my advice and encouragement has altered very little over the years, and at its core will not change for the coming competition this year. But 2020 is different.
Life has changed for each and every one of us. I personally believe that we will not return to ‘normal’ and slot back into the world as we knew and lived it until March.
We are going to have to adapt in ways we are only just beginning to imagine.
British gardening expert Monty Don (pictured), reflected on the time spent in his garden during lockdown, as he encourages entrants to this year’s National Garden Competition
This need not be all bad. In fact, some really good things have come out of having our daily lives turned on their heads. For most of us it has meant we’ve spent more time in our gardens than ever before.
For me, this was the first May when I’ve spent every day at home since I was five – 60 years ago – and the first for more than 30 years when I have not spent at least ten days of the month away.
June followed the same pattern. As a result I’ve developed a new layer of intimacy with the garden that has been deeply enriching. I know many others have shared this experience.
Our gardens have become a solace and a link to the natural world to a greater degree than ever before.
This extra daily connection with our gardens coincided with glorious spring weather. April was the sunniest on record, then May had more sunshine than any calendar month since records began.
Our gardens blossomed in a manner that was a joy, day after day – at a time when joy was in very short supply.
Monty explained that the competition is open to every garden, regardless of size. Pictured: Cherry and Jeremy Hiles reached the final in 2015 with this plot
So, for the first time, gardens have taken on another layer of meaning and importance. They have become more than the bit beyond the house.
They offer possibilities of growing fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit, of watching fascinating wildlife of an amazing diversity, and of providing a sense of creative satisfaction.
To many of us this is nothing new. These are all reasons why we love our gardens. But rather than say, ‘I told you so,’ I am more interested in welcoming new gardeners and perhaps helping and guiding them to keep enjoying their gardens as much as possible for the rest of their lives.
I would also love some new gardeners to share their gardens with us as part of this year’s National Garden Competition.
This launches today and, subject to a few rules and obviously keeping to strict government guidelines, it is open to every gardener and garden, regardless of size, experience or type.
Monty said gardens have been a source of delight during the past months. Pictured: Malcolm Bescoby and Michael Blood won in 2016
Your garden may be simply a balcony filled with plants, a rooftop plot, or one of 20 identical spaces in a street with 20 such streets nearby. It could be surrounded by countryside, by the sea or halfway up a mountain.
All are welcome. As long as the garden has been made by you and you have no professional help maintaining it other than one part-time helper, you are eligible to enter – and win.
The judges will be assessing gardens on their own merits rather than comparing them side by side. A tiny back garden is just as likely to win as a sprawling rural one.
A patch filled with rare flowers might do very well – but is not especially favoured over a much-loved, exquisite space that uses plants bought from a garden centre or swapped with friends.
This competition is about your garden, wherever you live and whoever you are.
Whereas during the past months gardens have been a source of delight, sustenance and a vital outdoor space that we are allowed to use however we like, they have had an enforced privacy.
Monty who has had his garden photographed for more than 30 years, said he’s learned lessons to make the most of what you have. Pictured: Martin Thurston and Fabrice Aru’s plot was shortlisted in 2017
I have shared my garden with millions every week on Gardeners’ World without ever once sharing it with a member of the BBC team. It has all been done by remote control.
One of the beauties of this garden competition is that it is an opportunity to share our own pleasure in our gardens with others. It is not just about us locked away in our homes but all of us, everywhere, sharing our lovely spaces with each other.
The rules are laid out on the left, but essentially you send in photos of your garden and these will be shortlisted for the first round of visits by the judges, headed by the renowned garden designer Tim Sharples.
The really empowering thing is to share your garden not as a display of your skills as a gardener – although there’s nothing wrong with that – but as an act of sharing the pleasure it gives to you.
As well as all the rest of us admiring and learning from you – and I learn something from every single garden I see – it will undoubtedly inspire others to use and love their gardens too. Everybody wins.