Ever dreamt of bringing a garden to life at BBC Gardeners’ World Live? Applications for next year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders competition are now open.

Entrants for BBC Gardeners’ World Live will be part of a very special moment as the event opens at its exciting new location at the Packington Estate near Coventry in Warwickshire from 17 – 20 June.

Why not take up the challenge and share your imagination and love of plants with tens of thousands of gardening fans.

Always popular with visitors, the Beautiful Borders are compact, 9m² gardens, brimming with fresh inspiration for small garden spaces. From first-time designers and amateur gardeners to experienced horticulturalists, the Beautiful Borders are a fantastic way to share a vision, express creativity, tell a story or realise an ambition. For charities and community groups, creating a Border is a memorable and impactful way to raise awareness or attract donations for a cause or campaign. Student teams and schools can grow their knowledge and skills, enjoy team working, and share a sense of purpose and achievement.

Every year, there’s a new creative theme to stimulate ideas. Celebrating 60 years of BBC Gardeners’ World, the Beautiful Borders theme for 2027 is ‘BBC Gardeners’ World Inspired Me To …’. Every Border is a blank canvas made from wooden sleepers, filled with topsoil. Entrants can select either a square or rectangular plot. The BBC Gardeners’ World events’ horticultural team supports entrants every step of the way, from application to build and final reveal. Limited bursaries of £300 are available for plants and props.

Completed Borders are assessed on site by a panel of esteemed professional show garden assessors, with medals, awards and constructive feedback for every entry. The top awards are for Best Beautiful Border, Best Interpretation of the Theme, and Best BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Border, with a People’s Choice award for visitors’ favourite designs.

Entries for 2027 are open at bbcgardenersworldlive.com. The deadline for applications is 22 January.

Tickets for BBC Gardeners’ World Live are on sale now. Highlights include show gardens, Beautiful Borders and the Floral Marquee, stage talks and top tips from the BBC Gardeners’ World TV presenters, the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine team and a host of gardening personalities, talks, garden tours and workshops, plant experts and specialist nurseries, plant, garden and outdoor lifestyle shopping, and great food, drink and live music at the Good Food Festival.