TOM AND EMMA CROWNED THE UK’S NEW GARDENING SUPERSTARS

Thomas Islip from Leeds and Emma Plunket from London are the UK’s new gardening sensation after winning Ronseal’s ‘Garden Gurus’ competition – a nationwide search to unearth the nation’s next generation of green-fingered talent.

Tom and Emma are on course to follow in the footsteps of celebrity TV gardeners such as Charlie Dimmock and Alan Titchmarsh, after scooping the male and female category judged by a panel of gardening experts.

Both Tom and Emma each received a £1,000 cash prize, a year’s supply of Ronseal kit and have been crowned Ronseal’s Garden Gurus – putting them on the first step to gardening stardom. They were recently presented with their prize at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London.

Tom impressed judges, having developed a green-fingered passion at an early age. He worked on friends’ gardens at school, before attending Askham Bryan to study a degree in Horticulture, Landscape and Garden Management. He now designs, builds and maintains gardens as a full-time job with his brother and feels winning the competition is the break he needs to showcase his skills on a national level.

Emma impressed judges, having run her own garden design company since 2002 - creating new and renovated gardens across London and beyond. Her story of creating her own garden in Hammersmith featured in BBC2’s ‘Open Gardens’ and Alan Titchmarsh’s recent ITV1 series ‘Love Your Garden’ and has opened to the public annually since 2008.

As the company’s gardening ambassadors in 2012, both Tom and Emma will get the chance to be involved in future publicity campaigns and provide expert advice and inspiration to fellow up-and-coming gardeners through various blogs and features.

Hugo Buggs, commented: "We had so many superb entries, but Tom and Emma stood out, having demonstrated excellent creativity, practical skills and most importantly – a genuine passion and enthusiasm for gardening. I hope this is the stepping stone they need, to help them build a long and successful career within horticulture.”

Kate Hodge, marketing manager at Ronseal, added: “We decided to search for the cream of the gardening crop after our research revealed that one in five of us admit to first picking up a trowel and fork at the tender age of five.

“I’d like to congratulate Tom and Emma and also say a big thank you to everyone who entered – it really has highlighted the wealth of up-and-coming gardening talent that we have across the nation.”