A GARDEN designer with offices in Monmouth is part of the team that won a prestigious Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week.

Now with 10 gold medals from Chelsea to his name, Peter Dowle has also won numerous prizes from shows at Malvern and Hampton Court.

The gold medal winning garden was called A Perfumer's Garden in Grasse by L'Occitane and was built by Peter from a design by James Basson, who primarily works in the south of France – the area where sponsors L'Occitane en Provance started.

He has a base at Raft Courtyard on Monnow Street, Monmouth, which features a design office and has a range of stock available to buy. It is run as an extension of the Howle Hill Nursery Peter has near Ross-on-Wye.

The garden was designed to evoke the sights and scents of Grasse, considered by many to be the perfume capital of the world.

It recreates the Provencal hillsides and draws on the history of the perfume industry in the area, with plants such as lavender, thyme, bergamot, fig, rosemary, iris and osmanthus.

James said: "I am absolutely thrilled to receive such a prestigious accolade from the judging panel at Chelsea. The award is especially heart-warming as Grasse is my home town which has made this project even more special."

"We are so proud that the judges at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show have honoured L'Occitane: A Perfumer's Garden in Grasse with a prestigious gold medal," said Maddie Smith, managing director of L'Occitane UK and Ireland