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How to apply

• Applying for gardener of the year couldn't be easier. Simply print off and fill in our application form, enclose four recent photographs of your garden and then return to:

• Gardener of the year 2009

• ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Birmingham

• The Mailbox

• Birmingham

• B1 1RF.

• Alternatively if you don’t have printing facilities please call our free telephone number on 0800 1383243 and we’ll post an application to you. The closing date for applications is on Wednesday 29th July 2009 midnight. Good luck!

• You can download the application form .

Competition Terms and Conditions

• 1. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Gardener of the Year Competition is open to amateur gardeners only who have not been finalists in previous years. By entering the competition you confirm that you are not a professional gardener and that you do not earn a living from gardening, horticulture or closely related activities.

• 2. The competition is not open to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Employees or anyone connected with the competition or their immediate families.

• 3. The competition is open to UK residents only over the age of 16.

• 4. Entrants must complete an application form which can either be downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/gardenersworld, or obtained by telephoning a freephone number 0800 13 83 243 - where it will be sent to them. Calls are free from most landlines. Some networks and Mobile operators will charge for these calls. For mobile charges information, please contact your service provider. The completed application forms must be received by midnight Wednesday 29th July 2009. By entering this competition, if shortlisted, you are agreeing to be filmed for television and online.

• 5. All application forms must be accompanied by photographs of the garden (maximum four). The photographs should show the garden and not feature any people. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is unable to return photographs. We cannot accept transparencies.

• 6. At all stages the judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

• 7. All application forms will be judged by a minimum panel of two horticulturally qualified judges who will assess and mark the entrant according to the set criteria.

• 8. The highest-scoring entrants will then be visited in their garden/allotment etc. by a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ production team. A short interview will be filmed including footage of their garden/ allotment. All entrants will be asked the same questions with regards to the set criteria, e.g. gardening skills, tips etc and will need to show how their garden/ allotment fulfils the criteria. This footage will be used in the judging process to determine the finalists, and could be used for broadcast in the Gardeners’ World television programme or online.

• 9. Once gardens have been visited and filmed, a panel of judges will select the five finalists. If any selected finalist is unavailable for filming, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ reserves the right to substitute the next best entrant(s) at its discretion.

• 10. Each of the five finalists will be further revisited by a professional judge(s) and filmed for television and/or online broadcast. Each finalist will need to demonstrate propagation techniques and complete a planting challenge. This will also be filmed. The footage will be edited into a short film about each candidate. This film will be broadcast on the Gardeners’ World programme and/ or online. It will also be voted on by a panel of professional judges and a public vote in order to determine the ultimate winner.

• 11. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will provide a brief to each of the finalists stipulating details and schedule of the final competition; the nature of the competition, and any challenge to be undertaken.

• 12. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will reimburse reasonable costs incurred by the finalists on plants for their challenge (up to £50), provided they produce all receipts.

• 13. The final judging will take place in October 2009. The five finalist films will be shown over five successive weeks. Following transmission of the fifth candidate’s film voting will be opened to the public. The announcement of the winner will be revealed at Greenacre and broadcast on Friday 16th October. All five finalists will be present.

• 14. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will provide accommodation for each finalist during the period of the final competition in October 2009. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will also provide hot drinks and meals during the day and an allowance of £15 contribution per person towards the cost of each evening meal.

• 15. Each finalist must complete a contributor consent form.

• 16. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ reserves the right to cancel or vary the terms of this competition at any stage and to disqualify any entry which breaches any of these rules and to withhold the prize if in its opinion entries do not reach the required standard.

• 17. By submitting your entry you are agreeing that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ may use online, publish or broadcast all or parts of your entry and supporting documents as it thinks fit.

• 18. All entries must be the entrant's own original work and not breach any rights of copyright.

• 19. The prize is the opportunity to make a television report for the Gardeners’ World programme at a time relevant to the gardening calendar and subject to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ’s editorial control. The winner will also receive a trophy. The prize is as stated and cannot be transferred. There is no cash alternative.

• 20. Each entrant must give permission to film in their garden or have obtained permission from the owner if the site does not belong to them.

• 21. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will only ever use your personal details for the purposes of administering this competition, and will not publish them or provide them to anyone without your permission. If you would like to know more about the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's privacy policy, please ask for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ privacy policy document.

• 22. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any on-line, system, server, provider, problems with the post or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded.