On a hot Saturday afternoon Ellen, Leslie and I set out to consider the 2015 Home in Bloom nominations.
There were gardens nominated in every one of the HOME roads, but Mulberry Lane, as the shortest of all ‘our’ roads deserves special praise for having so many nominations! The Ashburtons were also very well represented in the nominations.
Despite a run of very sunny, dry weather, the front gardens we saw were looking beautiful and offered welcome green oases along the hot, dusty streets. This is exactly what front gardens are supposed to do – to delight the eyes and lift the spirits of passers-by! We were particularly impressed by a number of gardens which managed to combine off-street parking with a ‘proper’ garden – environmentally important as it allows rain water to sink into the soil instead of causing flooding.
It was good to see some really well planted and maintained gardens outside blocks of flats. Some cared for at the expense and by the effort of a particular resident, others maintained by the managing agents. These make a real difference to our streetscape and contribute to our roads being good places to live.
We were delighted to see some new gardens being developed where people had recently acquired their properties. Equally, there are some really beautiful mature gardens in our area which have obviously been lovingly cared for over many years. We looked for variety and imagination in planting.
We have chosen THREE equal prize winners this year: two houses and one block of flats.
The winners are:
College Court, Ashburton Road (flats);
2 Ashburton Close (house);
42 Havelock Road (house).
The following gardens are all commended:
Ashburton Road: Walcot Court; Furze Court (for its lovely border); no 4; no 6; no 21; no 27; no 30; Sullivan Court; no 34.
Ashburton Gardens: no 3.
Outram Road: no 17; no 74.
Mulberry Lane: no 1; no 2; no 3; no 7.
Havelock Road: no 13; no 27; no 31.
Elgin Road: no 8
The winners will be presented with a certificate and a prize of a small garden token.
Margaret Chan