Council invites residents to enter gardening contest

By Connor Steel

FAREHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL have invited their ‘green-fingered’ residents to enter an annual community gardening competition as they announced details of ‘Fareham In Bloom’; which will see people and business within the town mark the warmer summer in a floral way in hope of winning a selection of unique prizes during the ‘Golden Anniversary’ year.

The competition was formally opened yesterday (May 7) and is to be open for entries until July 2 (Tuesday); thus giving gardeners seven weeks to prepare their creation without the need to rush. Displays of any size can be entered into this competition in 5 categories: Best Garden, Business & Schools, Something Small, Community and Sustainable Garden.

Entrants are required to complete a ‘short online form’ alongside a brief written description and a photograph to be fully considered; an only exception being the Community category where three images can be sent. All residents / Business Owners in Fareham are entitled to enter with all entrants recieving a 10% discount voucher for St Margaret’s Nurseries.

All entries will be subject to a public vote once the closing date has passed and is scheduled to run until August; where the top two displays will be visited in each category by a member of the judging panel and community volunteer. But in the Something Small category is due to be judged by photographs and short descriptions with no visit this time around.

The winners in the ‘Best Garden’ category will recieve an annual subscription to the council’s “Garden Waste Scheme”, whilst the remaining category winners are set to be awarded with a £30 voucher for St Margaret’s Nurseries and runner ups will similarly each get £15 vouchers. The winners will be invited to a reception in the Mayor’s Parlour in September.

A new additional prize has finally been created and has been called the Mayor’s Gold Award, which has been designed to celebrate Fareham’s 50th Anniversary. The winners from each category will be put forward to decide an ‘overall best’ entry which will be chosen by the Mayor and is to be rewarded with an extra £50 voucher from St Margaret’s Nurseries.

Readers can read a statement from the Executive Member for Streetscene, Councillor Ian Bastable, by clicking via this link; whilst they can explore more information about each of the five categories and crucial contact details viewed here.

PICTURED BY FAREHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL: Photograph showing the winning Best Garden entry in 2023 edition.