Dutch-born Smit rewarded for considerable contribution to world-class horticulture via his transformation of the Lost Gardens of Heligan into one of the most visited gardens in the UK, and creating a cradle of life at the Eden Project.
Tim Smit, the co-founder of the award-winning Eden Project in Cornwall has won the coveted Roy Hay Memorial Award 2008.

The award was presented to Mr Smit at the Glee Awards Dinner in Birmingham by Amanda Sizer Barrett, the director general of Gardenex.

In addition to his role as co-founder and chief executive of the Eden Project, Tim Smit is also a co-founder and current director of the Lost Gardens of Heligan, also in Cornwall.

In announcing the award winner Amanda Sizer Barrett said, "Tim Smit was one of the two prime movers in transforming the Lost Gardens of Heligan into one of the most visited gardens in the UK, and he was the man who achieved his dream in 1995 of transforming a disused clay pit into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture, which has become an international tourist attraction and inspiration to over 8 million visitors since it opened in 2000."

The Eden Project has contributed more than £800m to the Cornish economy; its biomes contain over a million plants representing 5,000 species from round the world.

The garden and leisure export federation created the award 17 years ago in memory of its founder, the celebrated gardening journalist and broadcaster Roy Hay.

The award marks outstanding service and achievement in the UK and international gardening industry, and previous winners include journalist Peter Seabrook, writer and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh and author Dr David Hessayon.