(DCMS) Gardeners from across London urged to branch out and design a 'Great British Garden' for London 2012 Olympic Park

As the biggest gardening event of the year - the RHS Chelsea Flower show - kicks-off, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell is urging amateur gardeners from across London to take inspiration from the gardens on show and help design a Great British Garden on the London 2012 Olympic Park.

A special stand at this year's show will give green-fingered visitors to Chelsea the chance to find out more about the competition and London 2012.

The nationwide 'RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition' run in partnership between London 2012 and the Royal Horticultural Society, is designed to showcase one of the nation's favourite pastimes of gardening, whilst commemorating the Much Wenlock Olympian Society in Shropshire, whose games inspired Pierre de Coubertin to found the modern Olympic movement.

Amateur gardeners from across the UK have been asked to submit ideas for a quarter acre site expressing the unique qualities of a British domestic garden within contemporary parkland, so that visitors feel like they are wandering through someone's garden.

Entrants are free to choose which ever plants they wish to represent Great British Garden whether roses from England, daffodils from Wales, Shamrock from Ireland, or thistles from Scotland.

Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics, said:
"We are known all over the world for being a country of gardeners. The RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition' is the perfect opportunity for all those amateur gardeners up and down the country to design and display a garden that can be enjoyed by thousands of people from all over the world, just like here at Chelsea.

"The garden will not only showcase the best of British gardens during the 2012 Games it will live-on as part of the Olympic Park in legacy."

Inga Grimsey, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, said:
"We know there is no easy answer as to what constitutes a British garden but this challenge makes this competition even more exciting.Gardening has been part of our social and cultural make-up for generations. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for the nation to celebrate its passion for plants, get involved in gardening and for the winners to literally get their hands dirty and help to build the Olympic dream.

ODA Chair John Armitt said:
"This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in creating a part of the parklands that will both form a green backdrop to the London 2012 Games themselves and new public space in legacy. The Great British Garden will celebrate both the heritage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and British gardening traditions, something that will be reflected throughout the Olympic Park parklands."

Six finalists will be shortlisted by a panel of experts before being put to a public vote in September 2009. Winners will be chosen from two categories, one 16 or under and one 17 and over.

The winners will work with the team of world-class landscape architects and garden designers on the Olympic park to design a great British Garden that will be in bloom during the London 2012 games and remain in legacy.

The competition, part of the London 2012 Inspire programme, will be open to all. Simple entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/olympicpark.asp. Entrants can submit their forms by post. All entries need to be in by July 31st 2009.

The inspiration for the modern Olympic Games can be traced back to British doctor, William Penny Brookes who held the first Much Wenlock 'Olympian Games' in 1850. It was after a visit to Much Wenlock in 1890 that Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the modern Olympic Games, was convinced to organise the 1896 inaugural Olympic Games in Athens.
Entrants will be asked to consider opportunities to incorporate a 'de Coubertin' Oak tree, currently being grown in Kew from seedlings taken from an oak tree de Coubertin planted himself in Much Wenlock, into their garden design.