A BEARDED gardener was awarded a golden spade for his hipster-themed plot.

Monty Richardson, aged 33, showed the It's Not Just About the Beard garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live with his business partner Peter Cowell, aged 32.

The pair were chuffed to be one of only a handful of gold medals awarded at the show in Birmingham.

Mr Richardson, of Holthouse Road, Tottington. said: "It's pretty amazing, it's what you strive for your whole career and gardening is a massive part of English culture, so to be recognised in this way is brilliant."

Their hipster garden was ideally for a couple living on the fringes of a town and took inspiration from areas like Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Mr Richardson explained a lot of their inspiration was from the decor of local bars.

The duo, who cultivated their facial hair for the show and have been going by the nickname the Hairy Gardeners.

Staying true to the hipster-theme, the hirsute horticulturalists decorated their garden with a pergola made from scaffolding boards and poles, reclaimed pallet decking, bean bags and hessian sacking planters.

The garden also featured a bar and barbecue area and a wall of thyme, Gardeners' World host Adam Frost called it a space 'he wouldn't mind coming home to'.

Gardeners' World Live was run at the same time as the Good Food Show and this year celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Mr Richard said: "You spend two weeks building a proper garden and then you have to smash it down the day after."

Mr Richardson and Mr Cowell run Living Gardens Ltd, a landscaping and garden maintenance service, established in 2008.

They build show gardens around the country and have won medals in the past.