IN a year where British hopes for international competition glory are high, Wisbech garden designer Richard Miers has been invited to compete for world cup glory in Japan’s third Gardening World Cup.

Richard will join ten of the world’s best designers to build peace gardens at Huis Ten Bosch in South East Japan. Last year Australia took home the cup but the year before Britain won it!

Named as one of the top ten up and coming garden designers by House & Garden magazine in 2011, Richard said: “My design has a very English subtext. There is symmetry and a use of numbers that challenges the way the Japanese think about outdoor spaces. The gravel is unraked, most un-Japanese, but provides a practical solution to surfacing on a budget.

“I’ve deliberately put a table and chairs in the centre of the design. It calls us together to sit down and talk, the start of any peace process whether it is in the boardroom or a more informal community.

“I am not under estimating how hard this competition will be. Even the whole process of sourcing trees and plants is difficult; done over the internet with no nursery visits. Invitations like this are incredibly rare. It gives me a chance to work in Japan, and hopefully see a bit of it, plus produce a garden where I am the client.”

The results will be televised from an Oscar style awards ceremony on September 28, and the event opens to the public on September 29.