THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2024
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to James Hitchmough at The SGD Awards 2024.
Speaking on behalf of the SGD Council, SGD Vice-Chair & Treasurer - John Wyer FSGD, said:
“James Hitchmough has been one of the most remarkable and influential people in the landscape industry in the last quarter century, both in the UK and internationally. As a longstanding professor (now emeritus) at the University of Sheffield he inspired and trained a generation of students. However, to describe Hitchmough as a landscape academic hugely undersells this man’s influence and the breadth of his achievements.
"His work on pictorial meadows has provided great spectacle in many cities, but as he argued over and again, spectacle is not the answer to our problems. He reasons that the biodiversity and climate crisis not only needs a long view, but also continual re-engagement with sites. Hitchmough is also not afraid to pose difficult or unpopular views – he has always questioned the status quo – usually with great humour. Although he has stepped back from active academic life, do not think for a minute that he has retired."
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2022
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer Sarah Eberle FSGD at The SGD Awards 2022.
Speaking on behalf of the SGD Council, SGD Co-Chair, Lynne Marcus MSGD, said:
"Sarah Eberle has been passionate about landscape and garden design since she was a child and her hugely successful career has influenced and inspired many designers to enter our profession. Her love of horticulture and the natural world and her instinctive design talent has produced an impressive legacy of gardens and made her one of the most successful designers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. As a keen communicator she is exceptionally generous with her knowledge and experience of the industry and the enjoyment she brings to supporting young designers is evident for all to see. Sarah is a Fellow and long time member of the SGD and supporter of the Society's initiatives and values, in particular her advocacy of sustainable garden design. There is no one more deserving than her to win the Lifetime Achievement Award this year."
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2021
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer David Stevens FSGD at The SGD Awards 2021.
Speaking on behalf of the SGD Council, SGD Chair, Lynne Marcus MSGD, said:
"David Stevens has been designing gardens worldwide for over fifty years. He has 26 RHS Chelsea medals, 14 of which have been Gold, and he has won three 'Best in Show' awards. He has also written 21 books on garden design and is one of our leading Educators.
David has had an immense influence on the growth and development of garden design both through his own work and as a teacher. He was there at the inception of the Society of Garden Designers; he is ‘one of our own’. There can be no one more deserving as a representative of our profession and values to win the SGD Lifetime Achievement Award in our 40th Anniversary Year.”
The Award was announced at The SGD Awards 2021 Ceremony in London where a short film, made to mark the occasion, was shown to the audience.
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2020
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer Penelope Hobhouse MBE at The SGD Awards 2020.
The SGD Council said:
"Penelope Hobhouse has influenced and inspired garden design for decades through her plantsmanship, design and writing. Self-trained in practical horticulture and design she nevertheless forged a hugely successful career, thanks to her love and knowledge of plants and instinctive design talent.
Developing her own family gardens nurtured her practical skills, plant knowledge and design flair. Hadspen House in Somerset is where she reclaimed long neglected land, battling against pernicious weeds and learning the practical side of gardening through tough hands-on experience. Moving onto the National Trusts’ Tintinhull where, as tenants, she and her second husband John Malins worked 7 days a week to create an intimate, planterly garden that was visited by thousands each year. Then, following John’s death, moving to Bettiscombe in Dorset where she gardened in a milder climate, growing tender plants and developing a more naturalistic style.
Through the 1980s Penelope Hobhouse became enormously popular in the United States, through her writing, lecture tours and designing. She worked for a wealthy clientele in States with huge climate diversity, embracing every opportunity to learn new plant palettes along the way. But it was when she was in her 70s, some 20 years ago, that she found her spiritual gardening home in the Islamic gardens of Iran, a country and culture she came to love with a passion. Already a keen garden historian and respected author on garden history, she discovered on her research trips to Iran a sense of sanctuary within its formal green garden oases, many of which had been created centuries ago.
In terms of legacy and inspiration, Penelope’s public design work can be seen at Walmer Castle, Aberglassney, RHS Wisley and the New York Botanic Garden, and her many books provide valuable resources for anyone studying garden design and garden history as well as giving inspiration and practical instruction on plants and planting design.”
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2019
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer Piet Oudolf at The SGD Awards 2019.
The SGD Council said:
“We are particularly proud to honour our seventh recipient of this most prestigious award. From the age of 25, this plantsman has made a phenomenal contribution to new ways of thinking on naturalistic planting using grasses and herbaceous plants. Using all the sound principles of good Planting Design, his work sits comfortably in formal and informal settings, town and country, without losing any of the design integrity of structure and balance.
From the Highline in New York to Pensthorpe Natural Park, from the Wisley borders to Olympic Park, his work is both impressive and intimate. His determination to find out more about his ‘performers’ by opening up a nursery and astutely observing his palette at all stages of development has taken Planting Design to another level of horticultural science and experimentation and has launched a whole new appetite in the industry for a wide range of quality herbaceous plants.
His plant combinations, brought to life through his seminal books written alongside Noel Kingsbury, have fast-tracked many a fledgling designer to add something quite magical to their projects and made his lifelong research accessible to others"
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2017
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer Fernando Caruncho at The SGD Awards 2017.
The SGD Council said:
“Since the arrival of his first garden in the early 1980’s this designer has created timeless gardens in Spain and internationally with a simplicity and lightness of touch using geometry, light, water and connection to the wider environment at the heart of his projects. He is an inspirational philosopher, landscape architect and gardener who continues to inspire with his philosophical approach to garden creation and the SGD is delighted to present him with this years Lifetime Achievement award."
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2016
The Lifetime Achievement Award is an award granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer Christopher Bradley-Hole FSGD at The SGD Awards 2016.
The SGD Council said:
“Christopher Bradley-Hole FSGD has been at the cutting edge of the garden design industry since the mid 1990’s. His contemporary RHS Chelsea Gold Medal winning gardens of 1997, 2000 and 2001 lead the direction of garden design into a new era and inspired us all. His work has raised the profile of the garden design profession and the importance of garden design in the planning of new buildings and urban spaces. We are delighted to be able to honour him with this Award."
THE JOHN BROOKES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2015
The John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award is an award, named after one of the Society’s Life Members and granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to designer, author and teacher Robin Williams FSGD at The SGD Awards 2015.
The SGD Council said:
“As a founder member of the SGD, Robin Williams has spearheaded and actively supported ground-breaking work within the Society of Garden Designers to ensure that the Landscape Design is taught and implemented to the highest possible standards and professionalism. His design work, which exemplifies this classic attention to detail, has been most generously and humbly shared with students, mentees and members alike. He communicates these timeless qualities of good design in his written works and in the many gardens that have stood the test of time and still delight today.”
THE JOHN BROOKES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2014
The John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award is an award, named after one of the Society’s Life Members and granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award, which is gifted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers, was given to plantswoman and author Beth Chatto at the SGD Awards 2014.
Philippa O’Brien MSGD, Chair of the SGD said:
“Beth Chatto was a natural choice for the John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award and the SGD Council was unanimous in its eagerness to grant the award to her. Beth Chatto has influenced generations of gardeners and garden designers through her passion for plants, her ecological approach and her inspired garden writing, continuing the important cycle of sharing and learning about plants. To a whole generation of garden designers, she is considered the guru of shade planting.”
THE JOHN BROOKES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2013
This Award is named after one of the Society’s Life Members and granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the landscape and garden design profession. The Award is gifted by the Society of Garden Designers Council members. This year the award was given to the leading garden and landscape photographer, Andrew Lawson.
Juliet Sargeant MSGD, Chair of the SGD said:
“The Council of the Society of Garden Designers was unanimous in its eagerness to Award the John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award to Andrew Lawson this year. Through his beautiful work, Andrew has not only highlighted the achievements of many garden designers over the years, but he has also inspired a generation to greatness in their designs. When I see one of Andrew’s photographs, I take a deep breath, and allow my eyes to feast on the colours, light and forms; stresses drain away and I am grateful to be working with landscape and plants. We all felt he was a very worthy recipient of the Award.”
THE JOHN BROOKES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2012
The John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, and is gifted by the SGD Council.
Juliet Sargeant MSGD, SGD Chair, says:
“The mission of the society of garden designers is to support designers in their pursuit of excellence and so it is very apt that in our first sgd Awards we should have a special John Brookes Award.
John continues to be an inspiration to generations of garden designers and garden owners. His passion for improving garden design is demonstrated by his generosity in sharing his knowledge and wealth of experience with students and designers who are keen to hone their skills.
John has helped us to recognise the place of gardens as an integral part of modern living and he has been instrumental in making good design accessible to every garden owner.
Charles Jencks is the first recipient of the John Brookes Award. His work stretches designers to think deeply about their art; what it means; what it can achieve and what it can mean to the people who experience it. Charles’ writing and work emphasises the importance of gardens and landscape to all our lives. Increasingly, research is confirming that access to landscape and good design not only has measurable positive effects on our physical, mental and social well-being, but it also improves physical and psychological healing. His work in combining the skills of health professionals, architects, artists and garden designers to create the Maggie Centres is a lesson to us all in what can be achieved through creative collaboration.”