On the road again

Blimey, it's like I've never been away. Away from judging the Garden News Gardener of the Year competition that is. The last time I did this was in 1999 when I was Gardening Editor for GN. Some things just slot into place, no matter how long you've been away from doing them - the old 'riding/falling off a bike' syndrome.
So, photographers Tim Sandall or Pip Warters & I have been zooming up and down the country looking at some of the country's finest private gardens owned and looked after by some of the country's finest gardeners.
And interestingly, some of the gardens and gardeners I met back in the 1990s are still there, still reading GN and still entering their gardens into the competition. But the nice thing is most of them have made radical changes to their gardens - so it's a bit like deja-vu, but not quite. It's also really nice to be welcomed back by the owners, all of which have recognised Tim & I and welcomed us with open arms - not to mention open coffee cups, cookie jars and cake tins! Yes, we're piling on the pounds!!
As to the winners? Well, that would be telling and we're only half way through judging. Tomorrow we hit Oxfordshire and then for the rest of the week we're 'up North'. All I can say is that it's going to be difficult as some of the gardens are absolute belters.