Local Gardening Competition Results

Last year's Winning Hanging Basket (Mr. and Mrs. Bunn)

We have been very proud to sponsor Wombourne’s first ever Best Kept Garden Competition and Best Hanging Basket Competition introduced by the Parish Council to help Wombourne’s bid to win South Staffordshire’s Best Kept Village Competition 2014. The village subsequently was ranked as the third  Best Kept Large Village in the competition.

Winning Front Garden: John Poultney

Julie Lawton, Chairman of Wombourne’s Best Kept Village committee said  of the new Front Garden Competition and Hanging Basket Competition: ‘By promoting pride in each individual’s own patch we managed to create a sense of pride within the wider community’

‘We are very grateful to Howard Drury, gardening lecturer and writer, for judging the competition on behalf of Ashwood Nurseries. He has a vast knowledge of gardening and did a great job on the day.’

Entrants were judged on their front garden or hanging basket, which had to be visible from the roadside.

Ben Fieldhouse was ‘Highly Commended’ for his young but colourful basket of white petunias and blue Scaveola while  Rebecca Thorne  was ‘Runner-up’ with an outstanding begonia filled basket. The winners of this class were Mr and Mrs Bunn ( prize £25 voucher) whose baskets were beautifully planted with a good mixture of plants beautifully arranged: they were full of flower and in the peak of condition.

‘Highly Commended’ in the Front Garden class went to Marilyn Markham with a begonia edged front garden of dwarf shrubs. ‘Runners up’ were Val and Norman Parks with a long and colourful garden of mixed shrub and flower borders . The winner (prize £50 voucher),  was John Poultney with an immaculately manicured front garden that was well designed and attractively planted, set off by a superbly maintained lawn.

In a time when front gardens are disappearing fast, Ashwood hopes that this annual competition will help to highlight the importance of gardening in the community as well as bringing awareness that, not only is a well- kept garden much prettier than tarmac, it also helps the environment and benefits wildlife.

Gallery of Prize-winners’ Gardens and Baskets: click on image to view a larger picture