Welcome to the Henchman Topiary Awards Hall of Fame
This page brings together the annual results of our UK and EU competitions, celebrating winners and runners-up across every category as well as our honorable mentions. Whether you’re a professional gardener or a passionate hobbyist, we’re proud to showcase your achievements - and we invite you to join our next competition.
Winners
UK Professional Gardener Category
Winner: Harrie Carnochan
Taking home first prize in the Professional Gardener Category is Harrie Carnochan from West Sussex, who maintains the topiary garden pictured above.
The immaculate symmetry wowed the judges, with Harrie’s expert attention to detail and skill evident in the high-impact finish.
Small topiary balls sit atop perfectly sculpted columns to welcome visitors to the garden, with rounded trees standing proudly around the lawn.
UK Home Gardener Category
Winner: David Hawson
The winning entry in the Home Gardener Category goes to David Hawson from Aberdeenshire. His fantastic design features a whimsical scene with countryside animals and marine creatures carefully sculpted into a continuous hedge, resulting in a high-impact horizon.
Divided by a central archway, the design artfully contrasts earthbound creatures with those of the sea, creating a striking dual landscape that captivates with its charm and symmetry.
This remarkable topiary creation began forty-five years ago as three-inch yew seedlings, initially planted as a natural barrier to keep livestock out of the garden. Reflecting inspiration from Herman Neville's “Moby Dick”, the topiary features scenes from the novel, including the stern of Captain Ahab’s ship and Queequeg poised to harpoon the great white whale.
David’s expert techniques, like plaiting stems and utilising the sun’s changing angles, enhance the garden’s enchanting atmosphere. His hope is that this living form of art brings a smile to all who pass by.
EU Professional Gardener Category
N/A
This category was not present in our inaugural awards, please see 2025 onwards for results.
EU Home Gardener Category
N/A
This category was not present in our inaugural awards, please see 2025 onwards for results.
UK Professional Gardener Category
Winner: Chris Reeve
Returning after placing second place in last year’s competition for a detailed frog, Chris Reeve from Suffolk claimed the top prize in the professional category with a whimsical living sculpture that inspired a children’s book for young families visiting his workplace – the gardens of Helmingham Hall.
His winning entry – a giant work boot – forms part of a playful trail of topiary creations that Chris began in 2003, which also includes a hat and crown. A passionate author as well as a seasoned gardener, Chris’ topiary inspired him to pen a children’s book, “Dan the Giant and the Lost Woolly Hat”, featuring his art throughout the story and combining storytelling with horticulture.
UK Home Gardener Category
Winner: Paul Everden
Paul Everden won the Home Gardener Category with a topiary garden he has nurtured for over 35 years.
Based in Norfolk, his design is centred around a 17th century farmhouse and features high hedges, pleached walkways, and a three-level knot garden laid out with precise visual diagonals. With 500 carefully planted stems, intricate gravel patterns, and a central fountain, Paul maintains his garden to an exacting 5mm tolerance, showcasing remarkable dedication and skill.
EU Professional Gardener Category
Winner: Cédric Bronnimann
Cédric Bronnimann from France won the Professional Europe category for his exceptional work at the Château du Grand Jardin in Haute-Marne.
The Renaissance-style garden features 56 architectural yew shapes – from pyramids to spirals – maintained with traditional hand tools and meticulous attention to symmetry and form.
The work reflects centuries-old French topiary heritage and continues to be refined under Cédric’s expert care.
EU Home Gardener Category
Winner: François Vandangeon
François Vandangeon impressed the judges with his imaginative boxwood and yew topiary that depicts Jeanne de Belleville’s boat sailing from a wall, complete with Taxus baccata soldiers charging toward defenders behind sculpted battlements.
Based at Château de Villeneuve in France, François combines creativity with traditional craftsmanship, managing these towering three-metre-high sculptures that require careful, and sometimes daring, maintenance.
UK Professional Gardener Category
Winner: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
UK Home Gardener Category
Winner: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
EU Professional Gardener Category
Winner: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
EU Home Gardener Category
Winner: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
Runners-up
UK Professional Gardener Category
Runner-up: Chris Reeve
In second place is Suffolk-based Chris Reeve, whose topiary creation brings a touch of magical enchantment to any garden.
The design features a carefully crafted frog that seems ready to leap into life. Its intricate details include rounded eyes, a pronounced mouth and gracefully arched limbs, showcasing exceptional skill, creativity and a keen eye for detail.
UK Home Gardener Category
Runner-up: Petra Hoyer-Millar
In second place is Petra Hoyer-Millar from Oxfordshire, whose design features a series of perfectly clipped hedges crafted into large, rounded shapes that flow sinuously to create a cloud-like effect, guiding the eye along their length with artistic precision and skill.
UK Professional Gardener Category
Runner-up: Darrell Adams
Darrell Adams secured second place with his remarkable restoration of a formal topiary garden, a design featuring meticulously clipped hedges that forms geometric patterns around a central circular water feature, complemented by taller, sculptural topiary elements.
From Hampshire, Darrell has spent a decade transforming the garden from a neglected state into a showcase of traditional craftsmanship and horticultural excellence.
UK Home Gardener Category
Runner-up: Angela Hawkins
Peterborough-based Angela Hawkins took second place with her beloved holly elephant “Mungo”. Over the past 25 years, Angela has patiently trained and sculpted this unique topiary, named after an elephant-shaped hill in Spain.
Mungo now towers as high as the neighbouring bungalow, with Angela only recently passing on clipping duties as he grew too large to manage alone.
UK Professional Gardener Category
Runner-up: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
UK Home Gardener Category
Runner-up: TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
Honorable Mentions
Highly Commended
Hugh Johnson
Hugh Johnson from Somerset received highly commended recognition for his display of intricate sculptured shapes.
The garden includes a variety of traditional topiary designs, such as spiral and cone shapes, punctuated with vibrant purple flowers to add a splash of colour.
Henchman's Choice
Keith Miles
The Henchman Choice Award, voted for by the Henchman team, goes to Bedfordshire-based Keith Miles for his impressive life-size tractor sculpture, crafted from densely trimmed shrubs.
The lush greenery creates a striking three-dimensional form, complete with the figure of a person sitting proudly behind the steering wheel, resulting in an unmistakable depiction of the agricultural machine.
Highly Commended
Grant Orchard and Jordan Kilby
Grant Orchard and Jordan Kilby both from East Sussex, were highly commended for their outstanding entries.
Grant’s entry maintains a famous topiary garden with playful forms and sculpted hedges. The garden features large, undulating hedges, bird-shaped topiaries, and sculpted grass mounds that create a sense of movement.
Meanwhile, Jordan impressed judges with his skilful use of box and yew to create a freehand topiary, shaped instinctively without a set design. Originally just an overgrown mass, the piece was gradually sculpted into a flowing form that plays with light and shadow throughout the day. He also presented a tall, elegant topiary of a peacock, perfectly capturing its regal posture in greenery.
Henchman's Choice
Kim Palmer
Selected by the Henchman team, the Henchman’s Choice award went to Kim Palmer from Suffolk for “George” – her extraordinary 36-foot-long yew dragon.
Started in 2009, Kim imagined the dragon as a place to one day read stories to a grandchild – a dream recently fulfilled. George is trimmed twice a year with lightweight shears, and Kim is now building castellated battlements and a tower around a nearby pond to complete the scene.
Highly Commended
TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
Henchman's Choice
TBA
Applications for the 2026 competition are now open!
Entries can be submitted from our main topiary page
The results will be announced at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May.
Tempted by topiary?
If the Topiary Awards have left you feeling inspired, why not give topiary ago? Our tripod ladders and gardening equipment make light work of the task. Whether you’re keeping it simple with a perfectly trimmed box hedge or trying something more whimsical, you can work hands-free without strain while standing on top of a safe and sturdy platform ladder. Explore our ladder range here or read our guide to topiary for more information.
