YOUNG horticulturalists from Askham Bryan College are preparing to defend their championship title at one of the UK's most prestigious shows.

Students from the York-based college will be battling it out at this month's Ideal Home Show in London to retain their title of Young Gardeners of the Year, which they took at last year's event.

The competition celebrates green-fingered talent and sees students from six colleges go head to head at the famous event, which attracts national stars such as TV's MoneySaving Expert, Martin Lewis, and Candice Brown, winner of the 2016 Great British Bake Off.

The show runs from Friday, March 24, to Friday, April 7, and the students have five days before the doors open to build and plant their garden in readiness for the judges and the tens of thousands of visitors.

Students getting ready for the challenge are James Carleton, Tom Chilton, Natasha Golley, Tim Hunt, Max Pugh, Josh Thornton and Tom Todd overseen by Daniel Lambert, horticulture course manager at Askham Bryan College and Steve Prinn, senior lecturer.

Daniel Lambert said: “The standard of horticulture at the college has always been extremely high and we will certainly be putting up a stiff fight to retain our title. The design and planting scheme are innovative and eye catching and take the stunning Yorkshire Dales landscape as the inspiration.”

The theme for this year's competition is front gardens and each 5.5m x 4m plot must enthuse homeowners and passers-by on just what can be achieved. Askham Bryan College's entry creates a harmonious space with a wildlife corridor and clever planting to depict the rolling Yorkshire hills. Plants such as hellibores, the evergreen shrub Sarcocca Confusa, as well as a selectin of spring flowering bulbs and ferns are incorporated.

The college has won titles and awards at many of the country's top horticultural events, including the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show and Harrogate Spring Flower Show. Its courses range from floristry to arboriculture to horticulture to apprenticeships in sports turf management.

The Young Gardener of the Year competition is now in its seventh year and is organised by TV gardener David Domoney in association with The Prince's Foundation for Building Community.