Image courtesy of Lizzie Schofield
We’re delighted to announce that Lizzie Schofield of @cuthbertsbrae_garden scooped The Alan Titchmarsh New Talent of the Year Award 2024 at this year’s Garden Media Guild ceremony. Sponsored by T&M, this fiercely contested accolade celebrates the ease with which Lizzie delivers interesting horticultural advice while encouraging everyone to try new things.
Living in the north-east of Scotland, Lizzie is a proud ambassador for Scotland’s Garden Scheme and a television presenter on BBC Two’s Beechgrove Garden. Here’s what she had to say about her love of gardening and her reaction to winning the award…
Tell us how you got into gardening?
I suppose I really got into gardening when I first had my children. We wanted to create something special for our family to enjoy and spend time in so we bought the small piece of land and the hillside around our house (which was covered with thick brambles) and slowly started to transform it into something beautiful.
What’s been your greatest gardening achievement?
Lizzie’s coastal garden in Scotland
Image courtesy of Lizzie Schofield
My greatest gardening achievement apart from transforming our garden is being part of the presenting team for Beechgrove Garden and being able to share my passion with that audience. In relation to actually growing things, I would have to say successfully growing a luffa in the northeast of Scotland – after 4 years of trying!
How has using social media impacted your gardening journey?
Dahlias are one of Lizzie’s must-have flowers
Image courtesy of Lizzie Schofield
I love being part of the gardening community on Instagram! Everyone is so lovely and supportive and it has offered me a platform where I can share my successes and failures of the growing season and also share my passion for garden crafts.
If you were stuck on a desert island and could only take three plants – one practical, one beautiful, and one unusual, what would they be?
The highly attractive, bright red stems of Scarlet Willow are ideal for weaving and crafting
Image: Salix alba ‘Chermesina’ (Scarlet Willow) from T&M
My three desert island plants would be:
- Practical: Scarlet willow so I could weave it into a shelter.
- Beautiful: It would have to be dahlias ‘Totally Tangerine’ or maybe ‘Cafe au Lait’.
- Unusual: Echium pininana
What’s next?
Lizzie’s gorgeous coastal garden at sunset
Image courtesy of Lizzie Schofield
In the future, I would love to write some gardening books for children. Before becoming a gardener I was a primary school teacher for 19 years and would love to inspire young children and also their parents to have a go at growing!
More about the Garden Media Guild Awards
Each year, the Garden Media Guild celebrates talented gardening professionals with a selection of awards. The competitive shortlist features authors, journalists, photographers, vloggers, podcasters and gardening influencers.
This year, Thompson & Morgan is delighted to sponsor ‘The Alan Titchmarsh New Talent of the Year Award 2024’. This special award is for “the person that has made outstanding first steps in the world of garden media, demonstrating talent and potential in his or her field.” Find the full list of GMG awards here.
Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.
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