AS an accountant, Martin Anderson surprised the gardening world when as a newcomer he walked away from the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in 2008 with a gold medal for a garden inspired by a traditional Shetland croft house.

Now Martin, MBE-winning founder of the Motor Neurone Disease Association is back, with a garden inspired by his charity's most famous patron – Professor Stephen Hawking.

"We decided the main thing was to increase the awareness of the disease," said Martin, who is from Keyworth. "The more awareness there is, the more money we can get and the more research we can do, and then finally we can find a cure."

This year's garden will be bigger than the last and is again designed by Sue Hayward, a lecturer on garden design at Nottingham Trent University as well as running a garden design business.

"A very large number of people are involved with this garden and it needs a team-approach to be successful," Martin said.

As the most famous person in the world living with a form of motor neurone disease, Stephen Hawking has already done a huge amount to raise awareness of it.

The garden is called A Brief History of Time, after Hawking's best-selling book.

It reflects the passage of time and gives a possible glimpse into the future, while parts of it also represent motor neurone disease itself.

The central feature is an ancient clock set into a semi-circular dry stone wall. Water falls into a dark spiralling water feature from an opening in the rock. "This feature forms an analogy to a black hole in time and space," explains Sue.

"To be diagnosed with motor neurone disease can equate to falling into such a black hole.

"Professor Hawking made significant contributions to modern science with his discoveries on the origins of black holes. This made him an ideal ambassador to endorse the garden for the charity and bring publicity, awareness and hopefully help towards a cure for those who have the disease."

The journey through the garden starts with a path leading past some of the oldest prehistoric plants, such as mosses and ginkgo biloba.

"As the path spirals into the garden, time moves to a primordial swamp," said Sue. The bog garden, with petrified wood and decaying logs, includes plants such as primeval equisetums and rhynia surrounded by shady arching tree ferns.

Other ancient specimens include the Monkey Puzzle Tree and a recently rediscovered pine, Wollemia nobilis. "These ancient plants have persisted over time," said Sue.

As time moves on there are areas where man has made an impact on the garden. These include roses, one of the oldest flowering plants. Some plants discovered by Darwin also form a backdrop of textural shrubs.

The wall – a man-made folly – is embedded with fossils that glisten under the trickling water.

Wild flowers depict a part of the garden that nature has reclaimed.

And looking to the future, the plants at the front symbolise some of the productive Mediterranean type plants – such as olea europea, vitis vinifera and ficus carica – that may be grown to overcome a potential shortage of present food species due to climate change.

The garden will be built by a landscapers and volunteers from the East Midlands and is sponsored by investment managers Brewin Dolphin.

Prof Hawking has confirmed he will make a rare public appearance to visit the garden on the Monday of Chelsea Flower Show.

Martin is hoping the professor will meet the Queen, who took a look at his and Sue's Shetland Croft House Garden when she visited Chelsea in 2008, and has also been invited to see A Brief History Of Time.

"If the Queen comes and meets him that will be incredible," he said.