A WHARFEDALE couple are celebrating making it to the semi-finals of a TV garden design competition.

Catherine and James Burrage of Pool-in-Wharfedale based Kingdom Gardens were one of six teams chosen to take part in Channel 5’s The Great Gardening Challenge.

The teams were asked to transform underused, outside spaces for charity organisations around the country.

The Burrages impressed judges Carol Klein and Mark Gregory on their first challenge - broadcast on July 9 - which was to transform a horse paddock into an outdoor sanctuary for the users of Knightswood Day Care Centre, in Essex.

Kingdom Gardens’ victory earned them a place on the semi-final which aired on Tuesday, July 30: and saw the top four teams creating spaces for staff and patients at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.

Catherine and James’s design didn’t earn them a place in the final, but they are proud of their run. Catherine said: “Taking part in the series was an incredible experience. Everyone we met was so amazing, Nicki Chapman and Carol Klein were so lovely and friendly and Diarmuid Gavin was so passionate and enthusiastic about our designs.

“The highlight was meeting the hard-working staff at Knightswood Day Centre and Glenfield Hospital – their sheer delight and excitement for the new gardens was really rewarding. It was a really special feeling that we could use our skills make such a difference.”

Their semi-final design - inspired by the hospital’s history and architecture - featured an oak pergola and a symmetrical layout with lots of corners and seating areas.

Catherine said: “The biggest challenges were working with a team we had never met before and trying to achieve the ‘show garden’ polish the judges were looking for in 48 hours. We were really gutted we didn’t win - the judges said it was very close.”

The hospital, meanwhile, has thanked the Burrages for creating a ‘truly beautiful’ garden - and asked the couple to design a further two spaces for it. The Great Gardening Challenge final will be shown on Tuesday, August 6.