The 57-year-old won a silver medal in the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at the end of August.
He was given two and a half days to build a garden from scratch at the competition at Audley End House and Gardens in Saffron Walden, Essex, calling his ‘The Making Sense Garden’.
It was thoughtfully created to explore the powerful connection between the mind, body, and natural world – something which was appreciated, with Stuart winning silver.
He said: “My wife at one point worked at 1point, the counselling service in Bolton. A couple of years ago they invited me to go down and look at a piece of ground at the back of the offices.
“I made it a place for staff to come out and decompress. I did that a couple of years ago and that was really successful.
Stuart’s garden(Image: Public)
“Then I saw the opportunity for the Gardeners’ World live event, they were inviting applications for designs.”
Stuart, of Bromley Cross, applied and was accepted.
He spoke about the competition itself, saying: “I had two and a half days to go from an empty plot to the finished garden. It was a challenge, especially after the summer we had – some plants I had earmarked had suffered because of how hot it had been, so I had last minute logistical issues.
“When you see those makeover shows on TV, it seems to go a bit chaotic at the last minute with lots of rubbish, that is what it was like for me. We had to finish at 2pm and I was still changing plants around at 11am.
“I was delighted (to win silver), I have never done these sorts of challenges before, and gardens look better as they age, I normally design them and think they will look good in a year, but with this it had to look good there and then.”
The garden(Image: Public)
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He said his idea resonated with members of the public, with some who had been through counselling identifying with the idea behind his garden.
The garden, which would usually be dismantled and not put back together after the competition, has found a home alongside Stuart’s previous work at the 1point counselling service off Bradshawgate.
He is looking to change career from working in law enforcement to full time garden design, having started his own business, Stuart Lloyd Garden Design.
In its new home at 1point(Image: Public)
He can be contacted on: stuartlloydgardendesign@gmail.com
He said: “In 2012 I decided that I would like to retrain, so I went to college and got a degree in horticulture.
“Family and life got in the way, but then last year I thought I wanted to revisit this, as I have a really keen interest in it, so I created the company.
“I do everything from garden design right the way through to consultations to explore the options available to people.
“I like to realise visions that people have, right the way through the design process to construction of the garden.”
He works with organisations and private customers.
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