GARDEN designer Kate Gould struck gold at the Chelsea Flower Show last week with her show garden The Wasteland.

Champagne flowed as Kate, from Radlett, celebrated getting a Gold Medal at the prestigious show following 12 months’ determination and hard work .

And it was not built for sponsors like most of the gardens in the show – Kate took the almost unheard of decision to self-fund the garden herself.

Designed as a community space imagined on an abandoned industrial site, the garden made use of the harsh industrial materials already in place and softened them with planting, water features and trees.

It received a hugely positive response from visitors to the show, many of whom were fascinated by the recycled shopping trolley screen and the bath tub chair.

The garden was a departure from Kate’s usual style of contemporary and sleek city gardens and was inspired by her experiences working in and around London.

A regular exhibitor in the urban garden category, The Wasteland is the sixth garden she has designed for Chelsea.

In previous years she has been awarded several gold and silver-gilt awards along with the much coveted ‘best in category’ for her 2007 Upstairs Downstairs garden and 2009 Eco Chic Garden.

After the presentation of the awards, Kate said: “We are absolutely delighted to be awarded Gold; the Chelsea Flower Show is the most prestigious gardening event of the year and a Gold Medal is an enormous honour.”