GARDEN designer Emily Sharpe wowed the crowds at the Blenheim Palace Flower Show to land the event’s biggest prize.

The Bladon designer came away with a gold medal and Best In Show award for her garden, which was inspired by Swarez’s contemporary painting Still Got The Blues.

The garden was designed as an antidote to the hustle and bustle of city living, and was based on the painting’s blue and green linear stripes.

Mrs Sharpe said: “I am just delighted. It is my first year of entering garden shows and to win this award was absolutely fantastic.

“I wanted to create a design that was contemporary but also natural so it could be part of a courtyard or long narrow garden.”

Judging took place on Friday by a panel including Jim Buttress, presenter on BBC programme The Big Allotment Challenge.

At first, Mrs Sharpe was told she had been given the wrong award and was given a bronze award, only for judges to reveal that she had won the Best In Show prize instead.

Earlier this month, the 36-year-old won two awards at the RHS Malvern spring festival, scooping a silver-gilt award for her design and the People’s Choice award for Best Festival Garden.

Silver-gilt awards are presented to designers whose gardens reach between gold and silver standard.

Previously an IT project manager, Mrs Sharpe quit her job to become a garden designer in 2011.

After studying ecology at university, she took a part-time course in horticulture.

She said: “The last few years have been a whirlwind, from registering for an entry-level course in horticulture at Waterperry Gardens in 2010 to leaving my role in IT in 2012.

“I’ve loved every minute of it and even though show gardens can be enormously stressful, the end result is always worth it. To have such a positive reaction to my gardens made me glad I changed my career.”

She now owns a gardening business, Garden Stories, which helps transform gardens for people across the UK.

She said: “Most of us have a personal style when it comes to decorating our homes. But when it comes to gardens, many people don’t know where to start.

“I believe that just like our homes, our gardens can reflect who we are and what makes us the people we are today.

“I design personal gardens, taking inspiration from each client: a favourite colour or plant, a much-loved retreat or holiday, a treasured book or piece of art.”

Mrs Sharpe lives with her husband Rob, 37, who works for IT company Esri to create online maps.

She said: “Rob has been amazing, he has been very supportive.

“He came to every day of the flower show and talked to all the visitors to learn the names of the plants.”