Diarmuid, a forward thinking garden designer, has become famous through his work presenting television programs including Gardeners world, Gardens Through Time, and I Want A Garden. He also co-presented on the popular show Home Front with Laurence Lewellyn Bowen, which led to their collaboration on the book ‘’Home Front’’ Inside Out’, and later his own ‘Home Front in the Garden’.

TV appearances don’t stop at gardening, Diarmuid has also starred in celebrity shows Strictly Come Dancing, Only Fools on Horses and a Christmas special Come Dine With Me in 2010. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show has been the main stage for his very public fight against the establishment, a competition he has described as ‘vicious’ – although he does return every year and continues to win prizes!

Rivalry with fellow designer Andy Sturgeon became front page news when Diarmuid wrote a letter to Cancer Research UK, asking them to sack Sturgeon as their representative, thus leaving sturgeon short on funding.  This was only part of a string of arguments between the pair, which included accusations of plagiarism against Sturgeon in 2006 over a capsule design for a pavillion and  Gavin allegedly poaching staff from Sturgeons team.

Afurther public spat with Bunny Guiness, another established Chelsea figure, saw her branded as ‘two faced, snobbish, elitist and rude’.
The organisers called Gavin a ‘complete nightmare’ when he created a garden full of lottery balls in 2004, and it went over budget. All this controversy hasn’t stopped Diarmuid being popular at the show, and he is a charismatic and current designer that the public love.  He has won one bronze and two silver gilt medals.

He had a book published ‘Off to Chelsea with Diarmuid’ (by Valerie Duffy, Jackie Ball, Nicki Mathews, George Dunnington, Diarmuid Gavin). Diarmuids awards come in droves – he has won an RDS Gold award in 1991 and 1993, and he is a patron of Southport Flower Show.

His autobiography most recently, ‘How The Boy Next Door Turned Out – An Autobiography’ and before that books including: ‘Planet Patio’, ‘Outer Spaces’ ‘Diarmuid Gavins Big Ideas’ and ‘Design Your Garden: 10 Steps to Design Revolution in your Garden’, have made his career in writing bestselling. This is only helped by his collaboration with other well known figures such as ‘Planting’ and ‘Outdoors’, both with Terence Conran, ‘Gardens Through Time: 200 Years of the English garden’ was with Jane Owen. Diarmuid was born and bred in Ireland and is married to Justine Keane, with whom he has one daughter, Eppie, born in 2004, He lives happily in Dublin.