From 35-foot sunflowers to monster tomatoes – the wildest gardening records ever

To get a Guinness World Record in gardening you have to be committed: to grow a giant sunflower, you'll need the right seed, a giant scaffold and a detailed care regime. To transport a giant pumpkin to be judged, you'll need a fork lift truck. The World Record for heaviest pumpkin (1,278kg) was broken in 2025 by two brothers in the UK. The World Record for the heaviest onion – weighing in at 8.97kg – is also a UK record and was broken in 2023 by Gareth Griffin, who had been attempting to beat the record for 13 years.

Do you fancy your chances at growing a record breaking crop or are other gardening trends more your style? From tomatoes with more than 1000 fruits on one stem to a gnome collection reaching four figures, here's a selection of our favourite gardening World Records.

Tallest sunflower

Grown in Indiana, USA, the tallest sunflower ever recorded reached the size of a three-storey house last year, at 10.90m tall. The previous record of 9.17m hadn't been beaten since 2014. Record breaker Alex Babich had been growing sunflowers for seven years, but this was the first to get above 8m. His success this time might be down to the plant's lineage – he sourced the seed from a sunflower grown by Burkhard Grendel, which was not far off the record itself at 8.58m. To support his giant sunflower Alex designed his own scaffold, sketching the design on a napkin at a Thanksgiving dinner. It's not often you have to climb a 30ft ladder to tend to your plants.

• Measured 10.90m
• Grown by Alex Babich, 2025

Top tips for sunflower growing:

• Sow indoors and plant out once all danger of frost has passed
• Pick your strongest seedlings to pot on
• Grow in rich soil and feed weekly

Largest tomato plant

The largest tomato plant was grown in Japan in 2013 and produced an incredible harvest of 11,484 tomatoes. It covered an area of 85.46m² – about the same area as seven parking spaces. It was grown hydroponically (without soil), with the branches supported by a square steel trellis. This record has remained unbeaten since 2013.

Another impressive tomato record was broken in 2021 when Douglas Smith in the UK grew a tomato with a whopping 1,269 tomatoes on a single truss.

• Covers an area of 85.46m²
• Grown by Aleph Inc. in November 2013

Tips for a good tomato yield

• Choose a disease resistant variety
• Feed and water plants consistently

Largest vertical garden (green wall)

This enormous green wall was built by a waste disposal company in Taiwan, to disguise a landfill site. The wall is made up of more than 100,000 plants, which have been planted to display a sunset scene.

• Measured 2,593.77m²
• Created by Cleanaway Company Limited and Shine Green Energy Enterprise Co., Ltd. (both Chinese Taipei) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• Created in June 2015

Tips for creating a green wall

• Use plants that don't reach a height of more than 50cm
• Good plants include bacopa, petunia and scabious for sun, or heuchera, ajuga and viola for shade
• Use perennials if you want year round interest or bedding if you want to change the look each season

Longest beetroot

Joe Atherton is renowned as a grower of long vegetables, known as 'King of the Long Veg'. He has had World Records for the longest carrot (6.245m in 2016), parsnip, radish, turnip, leek and beetroot. He puts some of his success down to sourcing the right seed and a lot of it down to the support of his wife, who cleans the veg ready to be judged. He beat his own record for the longest beetroot in 2020 when he grew one which tip to root was 8.56m, longer than two cars parked end to end.

• Measured 8.56m
• Grown by Joe Atherton (UK) in 2020

Tips for growing beetroot:

• Choose a bolt resistant variety
• Sow direct once the soil warms up in March to April
• Unless trying to grow giant veg, harvest when beetroot are the size of a golf ball for tender roots

Largest collection of gnomes and pixies

Ann Atkin amassed a collection of 2042 garden gnomes and pixies, which were originally displayed in her four-acre gnome reserve in West Putford, Devon. They were a feature there for over 40 years but have since been rehomed. They can now be found displayed around the gardens at the Merry Harriers Garden Centre in Woolsery. Gnomes have been used in gardens for centuries and are thought to bring good luck and to protect plants.

• 2042 gnomes and pixies, owned by Ann Atkin
• Record held in 2011