THE JUDGE
Tamsin Westhorpe
What does your role involve? I was asked to train as an RHS judge about ten years ago and have taken part in show garden judging at Chelsea every year since. A judging panel is made up of three assessing judges, four regular judges and a moderator and I've either been an assessing judge or a judge. Assessing judges visit the garden a day before the other judges and hear the designer give a two-minute presentation. It is a chance for the designer to share any changes to their submitted brief – they might have had issues with sourcing a particular tree, for example. The assessors then work through the criteria and come up with medal recommendations to share with the judges. Assessors and judges then meet the following day on the garden, to go through the criteria again and make a final medal decision.
The brief that designers submit in advance of the
