The highest accolade of the Society of Garden + Landscape Designers (SGLD) Awards for 2025, the ‘Garden of the Year’ award was presented to Sarah Eberle FSGD for her Anglo-Japanese Strolling Garden in Oxfordshire which was designed to create a sense of peace, meditation, and immersion in the healing complexities of nature.
Designed with water, paths and rocks and an abundance of naturalistic planting the contemplative garden was cleverly conceived to feel very intimate with beautiful vignettes throughout. The judges described Eberle’s project as ‘a garden of national importance’ and said it would surely become ‘one of the most important gardens in England’. Despite the age of the project, the judges felt the garden had ‘a confident maturity’ that reflected the designers’ skill and expertise in creating such an extraordinary space.
Eberle’s garden design was recognised in several additional categories including the Large Residential Garden Award and the Planting Design Award. The planting was a key feature of the project. The plot, which is mostly woodland and woodland edge planting, features a palette of 850 species with highlights of spring flower and autumn foliage. The judges described it as ‘immensely skilful’ and praised the designer’s ‘beautiful eye and incredible expertise’.
SGDL 2025 award winners
- The Judges’ Award was awarded to Japanese designer Haruko Seki, for a garden that transformed a vacant London parking plot into a beautiful, tranquil space. The garden is made of 13 moveable planters and can be viewed, like a painting, from inside a London apartment. The judges praised the designer’s brilliant design skills, clever use of materials and the exquisite planting to create, what they called, ‘a beautiful tableau in a forgotten space’.
- The People’s Choice Award went to Colm Joseph for an imaginative walled garden in an historic East Suffolk site. The judges were impressed by the skilful modulation of the garden over three interconnecting spaces and remarked on how beautifully they flowed as you transitioned through each of them. They commented on the ‘expertly handled planting’ that provides interest throughout the year, saying it was ‘definitely a garden you would want to live with’.
- Adolfo Harrison MSGD won both the Small Residential Garden Award and the Roof, Podium or Raised Courtyard for two gardens in London. His multi-layered roof garden on Florence Street was described by the judges as ‘a clever and cunning design that has transformed an awkward space into an impressive garden’, while the small garden he designed on Cleaver Street was called ‘a completely delightful garden with a great sense of luxury.’
- Stefano Marinaz MSGD won the Garden Jewel Award for his self-styled ‘Edgy Woodland Wonderland’ garden. The judges called the plot ‘a quirky, playful garden with a huge personality’ adding that this ‘joyous urban space’ offered a great response to climate-change issues.
- The Big Ideas, Small Budget Award went to Awards newcomers Lucie Conochie and Jane Heather for a well considered garden that the judges said was ‘a great illustration of how to treat a tiny space.’
- A grandiose rock garden in South West Germany received the award for best International Residential Landscapes & Garden. Created by Peter Berg, the garden is designed to capture and enhance the breathtaking views of the Moselle valley within which it is set. The judges praised the designer’s ‘masterful use of materials’ which mirrored the geological origins of the rocks and the ‘skilful design’ which allowed the garden to feel perfectly balanced within the surrounding landscape.
- Two designed public spaces were recognised by the SGD Awards judging panel this year, both of which were designed by McWilliam Studio under the guidance of Gavin McWiliam MSGD. St Mary’s Peace Garden received the award for best Healing or Learning Landscapes & Gardens. The judges thought the garden was ‘a great asset to the local school’ and had brought much needed greenery into an otherwise harsh environment. While the Public Realm Landscapes & Gardens Award was given to a peaceful garden surrounding a contemporary temple in Hampshire (above). The judges were particularly impressed by the inclusion of a series of Chakra gardens along the main axis of the garden that fostered a sense of calm and wellness and remarked on the ‘balanced planting’ that softened the architectural features of the building.
- Andy Sturgeon FSGD received the Award for Medium Residential Garden for the transformation of an inaccessible and unusable sloped site on the Isle of Wight. The garden, described by the judges as ‘an exquisite piece of work with skilful detailing’, now features winding paths leading down and across the slopes and curved retaining walls like scattered petals to create level seating areas, shelter and shade, surrounded by Mediterranean planting.
- Tabitha Rigden was named best New Designer for the Hestia Garden at The Plough in Shiplake Oxfordshire – the first pub garden to win a SGD Award. The judges thought the garden was a perfect example of how creative thinking and investment could transformed a grey space into a welcoming destination for visitors, while praising the great use of local views, planting and materials.
- The Built Landscape Award was given to Clare Greener for her Folly Garden in Kent, which the judges described as a ‘very complex and sophisticated piece of design for a steep and challenging site.’
- Newcomer, Sally Bowyer picked up the Design for the Environment Award for a wildlife rain garden. The overall composition and recessive use of hard landscaping materials throughout was particularly pleasing to the judges and they thought the garden was both a safe and engaging place for children to play.
- Barbara Samitier MSGD of Moss Studio received the newly named Virtual Landscape Design Award for a piece of design communication that really impressed the judges. With positive feedback on the choice of imagery and graphics that they felt ‘clearly captured the spirituality of the project’, the scheme was considered a clear winner.