I have predominantly used plants associated with the seashore or dunes that are able to cope with the conditions of the site.

The sleepers represent a groyne and the Olearia acts as a natural windbreak. The Cornus provides winter colour and together with the purple stems of Salix purpurea contrast with the dark wood of the sleepers.

Other plants like Crambe maritime, Crithmum maritimum, Festucas, Eryngiums and Armeria are all tough hardy plants of the seaside.

The canvas chair actually belonged to a naval officer. The chair inspired me to create the garden for a retired sea captain.

I came second in the competition with my garden titled 'Fish out of Water'.

The garden was created at Harlow Carr, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Most of my life has been spent within walking distance of the sea. As a child, long summer days were spent on the shingle beaches of Sussex.

The seemingly barren shingle was full of plants struggling to maintain a hold on life, coping with the salty gales and scorching hot summer sun.

In my design I have reflected the contours of the shingle beds sculpted by the tide; the driftwood and glass reflect the jetsam washed ashore.

The plants are the most important element.

If you watched the production on the BBC by Fiona Spur you may remember my face when I saw the early stages of the garden. It was to say the least a bit of a shock. Having gathered myself together I soon had a spade in my hand and set to work and with the fantastic and unstinting help from a group of horticultural students. Thank goodness they understood and were behind me 100%.

I had arrived at 11.30 on Friday and everything had to be completed by 7pm on Sunday. A huge amount of work took place in those few days. It's amazing what you can do when the adrenalin kicks in. Sleep, what is sleep!?

I had given a detailed list of plants but the only plant delivered was the Lavender, all the other plants were just what happened to be available and looked good at the time. Even though I say it myself, give me a selection of plants and I can create a garden, so rising to the challenge was something I relished.

But alls well that ends well and I was pleased with the finished garden and to get a Bronze Medal from the RHS was the icing on the cake. They are notoriously stingy with their medals so I was well pleased with all the hard work and loved every minute of it. I have come to the conclusion that I must be a masochist so until the next time……..

The article below was published in our local Parish magazine in Autumn 2002 and tells the story of how I came to enter the competition and what happened when I arrived at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show:

Judith Quérée has returned triumphant from her visit to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Readers of Lé Gris Ventre will recall that Judith won a BBC invitation to design a garden for the prestigious London flower show. After initial disappointment the project reached a most successful climax. Judith recalls her thoughts during and exhilaration after the events leading to her second national success at garden design.

Not another competition I thought, I don't think that I have either the time or the inspiration to design a garden entitled 'Where I live', but when Nigel returned from Radio Jersey with an application form an idea literally came from out of the blue.

What is more typically Jersey, I thought, than buying your potatoes from a farm house with an 'honesty box'. Where I have been buying, what I think are the best potatoes in the island for years, was the perfect inspiration. I asked Mrs. Rault if it was all right for me to send the design loosely based on her cottage at L'Etacq, never thinking that I would actually be chosen from over 200 entries from around the British Isles.

It was going to be very different from BBC Gardener of the Year 2000 as all the ordering and construction was to be arranged by the BBC and it was entirely up to me how much I wanted to be involved. I was in regular touch with the coordinator and builder I was soon to learn that the many phone calls was not sufficient to ensure my plans where adhered to.

Although far from the sea, the garden keeps alive his memories. The sail provides shelter from the sun and the seaweed allows him to forecast the weather. The open book and telescope give the feeling that he has just been there; but like a maritime garden so far from the sea, he is like a fish out of water.

The prize for the four winners was to have their garden built at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

The garden is based on a small fisherman's cottage at L'Etacq, St Ouen near where I live.

The lady that lives there sells Jersey Royal potatoes and other vegetables, which are kept in a box on the wall by the roadside.

It is a typically Jersey scene.

Delighted with the opportunity to have a show garden at such a prestigious flower show, to get a Bronze medal was the icing on the cake !