Where are the most beautiful private gardens in the German-speaking world? The Gardens of the Year competition provides a current overview.

As the largest garden trade fair in the world, spoga+gafa each year shows how the design of one's own green space is developing. This is also reflected in the Gardens of the Year award. Every year in February, the award presented by the Callwey publishing house together with the association of German landscape architects (bdla) and other partners honours the most beautiful private gardens in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This year too, an especially successful project was once again celebrated. However, the otherwise usual award ceremony at Castle Dyck had to be dispensed with due to the corona pandemic.

Landscape architects and garden designers, as well as horticulturists and landscapers are called upon in the context of the annual competition to submit extraordinary private gardens. A first prize and four honourable mentions are presented by a renowned jury. The prize is already being awarded for the sixth time this year. The recurring industry event thus also reflects current trends and tendencies in garden design. The documentation of the competition with the 50 most beautiful projects from all submissions is always a source of inspiration for garden planners and garden owners.

The first prize for the Garden of the Year is this time awarded to the project "Part of the Plant Kingdom" near Hannover. "Plants can do more than we think", the renowned landscape gardener Hanne Roth notes in the introduction to the documentation of the competition. With garden design close to nature, the winning garden confirms this statement impressively. The plant expert Petra Pelz and the garden design company GartenLandschaft Berg & Co. have joined to create a showcase project for biodiversity and sustainability. Everything seems close to nature in 1,900 green square metres, and yet nothing is left to chance.

The honoured garden planners allowed a living garden to come into being that is also worthy of the name. Perennials, grasses, trees and shrubs and natural stone harmonise with the unusual home of the garden owners. The single-storey bungalow is built of wood and connected with the garden by ground level windows, glass doors, as well as ground level access. The building materials originate from the region. The accessible roofs are also planted and thus make the architecture part of the garden landscape.

Various trees and shrubs protectively frame the garden and provide shade on hot days. A sophisticated mix of various plant types and sections ensure that insects and other animals find food as long as possible throughout the year. In interplay with the planting, a structure of ashlars, chunks and blocks of greywacke arrange the garden on a sloping site. There are no patios in the classic style, but instead carpet-like areas with non-slip ground-cover plants and perennials. The final point of the garden is provided by an unusual treehouse with a view into the landscape. A refuge was thus created for the inhabitants, in which they can recover and experience nature as part of their home.

In addition to the first prize, the Gardens of the Year competition distinguished four more garden planners with an honourable mention. Among the projects is the urban garden of an old Reinbek villa of the landscape architect Soeren von Hoerschelmann, inspired by French aspects. The own garden of the two landscape architects Helgard and Volker Püschel were highlighted, as was an urban roof garden in Switzerland, which was designed by the Lustenberger Schelling agency as a green oasis. A natural garden also located in Switzerland by Hariyo Freiraumgestaltung also received an honourable mention.

A documentation appearing for the award offers an overview of the 50 most beautiful Gardens of the Year in the German-speaking world. In addition to photos and plans, the illustrated book appearing with the Callwey publishing house contains detailed descriptions of the selected garden projects.