David Domoney Prince Charles

This year, HRH The Prince of Wales visited the Ideal Home Show and I went down to London to meet him. We held a VIP reception to celebrate the Ideal Young Gardeners of the Year competition, where he was introduced to the tutors and student winners from Chichester College.

Prince Charles meeting the tutors

Prince Charles meeting the tutors

The competition is run in association with his charity, the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, which promotes the values of sustainable living and development through an array of projects and education programmes.

Prince Charles spoke to the students individually about their garden creation, and he was keen to know what they would go on to do in the industry when they left college.

Talking to Chichester college students

Talking to Chichester college students

He also noted the importance of teaching horticulture and encouraging more young people into the gardening industry.

It was wonderful to see the students’ hard work recognised, and to see them so encouraged to go on to undoubtedly fantastic careers in horticulture.

David Domoney The Prince of Wales

Students from Chichester College were awarded a gold medal and the Best at Show award by the judges for their ‘Refreshing the Pallet’ garden. It saw them crowned the Ideal Young Gardeners of the Year at the awards ceremony on the Ideal Home Show Super Theatre.

Chichester College Garden, Refreshing the Pallet

Chichester College Garden, Refreshing the Pallet