Thousands of members of the public voted online to choose twelve-year-old Hannah Clegg from Malmesbury as the winner of the young people's section of the RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition, and Rachel Read from Colchester joined her from the adult category.

They beat off competition from hundreds of rivals to work with the ODA's landscape and planting designers to help create the quarter of an acre riverside garden overlooking the Olympic Stadium in the London 2012 Olympic Park.

"Hannah and Rachel are making a fantastic contribution to London 2012 and it's great to see their garden go from design to reality with the first tree being planted," said Edwards, who won his gold medal at Sydney in 2000 and is now a member of the London 2012 Board. 

"The Great British Garden celebrates two of the country's favourite past times, sport and gardening and will be much enjoyed during and after the Games."

Clegg and Read's combined plan for the RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden, which has been unveiled for the first time, celebrates the unique British qualities through 2012 themed gold, silver and bronze gardens.

The 20-year-old tree planted was grown in Hampshire and has been planted in the centre of the Gold garden, where it will be surrounded by a spiral of golden flowers.


"The Great British Garden that Hannah and Rachel have designed is a fantastic addition to the parklands that are taking shape and will provide a green and colourful setting for the Games in 2012 before becoming a new public park in legacy," said Armitt.

"Their unique design is creating an intimate, fun and sustainable garden that can be enjoyed by people of all ages for years to come."

The RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden also features a "de Coubertin oak" which is currently being grown at Kew Gardens from an acorn collected from the tree that modern Olympic Games founder Baron De Coubertin planted to thank the citizens of Much Wenlock for inspiring the founding of the Modern Olympic Games.

"It's amazing to stand in the space that we've planned out on paper and to experience it in reality," said Read.

"Trying to imagine how it will be in three dimensions when you're at the design stage isn't easy."

Young people's winner Clegg added: "It's amazing actually seeing the garden in person.

"It's completely different to how it looked just on paper, it's really great."

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