TV's Alice Roberts Wins at Gardeners' World Live

Professor Alice Roberts and designer David Stevens are the proud winners of Best Show Garden and a Platinum award at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2026 for their immersive Garden of Evolution. This educational show garden is inspired by 500 million years of life on Earth, and academics from the University of Birmingham have played an active part in its development. Visitors to the garden can journey through dramatic prehistoric landscapes, ancient forests and evolving ecosystems, discovering how plants and animals have adapted and survived through the ages. BBC Gardeners’ World Live takes place at the NEC Birmingham from 18-21 June.

The Garden of Evolution was constructed by West Midlands-based Design It Landscapes, led by Dan Ryan. It combines science storytelling and design to create a thought-provoking experience, with striking rock formations, cascading water, fossil-inspired features and richly textured planting. Alongside life-sized prehistoric creatures and references to Earth’s changing climate, the garden highlights the importance of biodiversity, conservation and our relationship with the natural world today. It features a model of BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute of Forest Research Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment programme), one of the world’s largest climate change experiments. Experts from plant suppliers, Hillier, will be on the garden to share information about some of the plants featured.

There are more than 45 show gardens, Borders and floral displays at this year’s event, all brimming with inspiration and ideas for real gardens. Last night’s awards took place at BBC Gardeners’ World Live’s spectacular Floral Marquee, sponsored by L&G. David Hurrion, the horticulturalist, writer and presenter, hosted the awards ceremony at the Hillier-sponsored Let’s Talk Plants Stage.

Chair of the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Show Garden assessors’ panel is award-winning garden designer and horticultural expert, Roger Platts. He said: “The Garden of Evolution made a strong impression on the Assessors with its skilful construction and high-quality planting. The impressive specimen trees and ferns enhance the presentation and clearly tell the story of evolution. Expertly designed, the garden combines education and horticultural excellence to provide a memorable visitor experience.”