A garden designer from Hitchin has been selected as one of the four finalists in her field at Grand Designs Live, and is set to have her work judged by industry experts led by TV design guru Kevin McCloud – and she’s looking for suppliers and contractors to help her put her show garden together next month.

Jenny Huckstep of Cultivate Design and her team will contest the Garden Designer of the Year category in front of the TV cameras at London’s ExCeL from April 30 to May 8, and the winner will be announced at the show.

“I’m still desperately trying to put this project together,” said Jenny.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of companies and contractors, trying to get things together at minimal cost – I’ve got a lot of interest but no agreement yet.

“Having someone local would really help at the planning stage. I’d like to develop relationships with local contractors and suppliers rather than relying on London.”

The 39-year-old was over the moon at having got through to the last four – but after suffering a slight technological blip she thought she might have imagined the whole thing.

“I received an email from the judging panel on Friday, March 4, a few days after entering, and I basically just went into a mild state of shock.

“I called my husband and I went to read the email out to him, but I couldn’t find it – I thought I must have imagined it!

“In fact I’d deleted it by accident, and I did find it later.”

Jenny has designed a small, contemporary courtyard-style garden with a professional couple in mind.

“I looked at it from the point of view of a typical Grand Designs client, a young couple wanting to work from home to create more of a work-life balance.

“There are two areas of the garden, one for work and one for relaxation, and they are separated down the middle by a rill – a shallow water feature.

“One thing I’m hoping is that I’ll be able to use laminated bamboo for the timber – this is a really sustainable resource that grows very quickly. I don’t think there’s enough awareness about it. It’s such a useful product and it’s great for construction.”

If you think you could be part of the team, you can contact Jenny on hello@cultivate-design.com.