Leeds scoops gold at Chelsea Flower Show

The entry brought the tallest trees ever into the show to frame a working water mill that highlighted the importance of water to the city’s industrial heritage.

The aim of Leeds City Council’s garden was to highlight the power of nature and water power, with the centrepiece being a traditional mill as seen in Yorkshire during the industrial revolution, with an eye-catching giant working water wheel pumping water around the garden.

The result means more success for Leeds after making history last year as the first local authority-produced garden to win a gold medal in the elite large outdoor show garden category.

Council executive member for leisure Adam Ogilvie said: “This is another absolutely fantastic result for Leeds and proves once again that in Leeds we have the talent to compete and succeed against the very best in the world.

“Congratulations go to the whole parks and countryside team for producing another sensational garden and we must also say a huge thank you to our sponsors Hesco Bastion for their invaluable support.

“It was always going to be incredibly difficult to match last year’s success but everyone involved was determined to do just as well again and this result makes all that hard work worth it. We are all very proud.”

The best show garden award went to the Daily Telegraph’s sunken garden with its traditional and modern materials such as Cotswold stone, sculpted columns and water pipes amid the planting.

Laurent-Perrier’s entry with planting inspired by rose champagne, the B&Q garden dominated by a glass tower block structure to highlight growing your own in urban spaces, and gardens from Monaco, Melbourne and Malaysia also got the top award.

Yesterday, the Irish sky garden’s designer Diarmuid Gavin defended the inclusion of the 16m-long hanging garden pod which is raised and lowered 25m on an enormous crane, as being in the spirit of the Chelsea Flower Show.

He said going up in the pod - named the Wonkavator, and inspired by the sci-fi epic - was a magical experience.

He added: “Chelsea’s all about showing off. You should have a bit of fun, and my pink Wonkavator garden is a bit of fun.”

Elsewhere in the show, a South Korean entry whose centrepiece is an outside toilet was named the best artisan garden award.

The Hae-woo-so garden, designed by Jihae Hwang, is inspired by the traditional Korean belief that emptying your body also means cleansing your mind, and was described by the designer as “a personal quest for relaxation”.

And a plot which embodies renewable energy and recycling materials was named the best urban garden.

The design for Stockton Drilling, which supports the installation of offshore wind farms, includes a series of industrial fans to represent wind turbines as well as a host of reused items including prison doors, a Victorian safe and recycled rugs.

The Royal Horticultural Society also announced that Anemone Wild Swan, bred by Elizabeth MacGregor, won the plant of the year in the second year it has run the competition.