Tiny plot wins BBC Gardeners' World award

A tiny canalside garden inspired by David Hockney has won a gardening award voted for by the public.

The plot in Saltaire, near Bradford, which measures 4m by 2.5m (13ft by 8ft), was the only finalist from the north of England and claimed the Readers' Choice Award by BBC Gardeners' World magazine.

Kamal Hussain, who designed the garden - which faces the Leeds and Liverpool Canal - said it had been inspired by the colours local artist Hockney paints with.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds in December, he said: "All your lovely ladies and gents walk past and they often peek over the fence and have a little chat about their own garden. So it's a kind of meeting place for people who love nature."

The youngest gardener in the competition, Hussain never had a patch of his own until he moved to the canal cottage - and said he mainly buys bargain plants from local shops.

"On a summer's day as you're walking past, you might kind of see jasmine creeping up the telephone wires, or the verbena and the dahlias peeking up through the fences.

"It's what I call a haiku, so something that is small, perfectly formed and has a story."

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