John found a corny way to propose — when he asked his girlfriend to marry him by cutting his proposal into a field.

John Jardine, 29, surprised his girlfriend of seven years, Hayley Thomson with the romantic gesture last week.

After months of planning, John chose a harvested wheat field for his special message and cleared the bales.

Using a cultivator, he cut the words “will you marry me?” into the stubble on the farm near Denholm, Borders.

Engagement ring on the finger of Hayley with the proposal written by John.

Telling Hayley he needed help rounding up some sheep, he took her up to local monument Fatlips Castle in a quad bike and told her to look in the field opposite.

The surprised 24-year-old then saw John on one knee with a ring in his hand, before she said ‘yes’.

John said: “I’m from a farming background and I wanted to do something outside the box – not what everyone else has done.

“I thought that was very apt and farming-related. It’s something unique.

“And she liked it, luckily for me.

“I planned it out in my head for a long time.

“I had to wait on the field getting harvested and then get the bales cleared.

“I was nervous. She was speechless for ages. She just had her hand over her mouth and was tearing up.

“We went up to Fatlips Castle which is where we had one of our first dates. That’s why I did it there.”

John and his bride to be Hayley.

John had mapped out two tram lines in the field that were 24 metres apart so the letters were level and during the day made three trips to Fatlips Castle to make sure the message was visible.

Beauty therapist Hayley said: “When we got to the top of Fatlips I spotted the message in the field opposite and turned around and he was down on one knee with the ring in his hand.

“John said that he had been planning this whole proposal since spring but he couldn’t do it until now because of the crops.”

The couple have a three-year-old daughter called Larissa, who was “loving life” when she was told her parents were getting married.

Hayley added: “When I showed Larissa the ring she said she was so excited to be a flower girl.”