TRESA directors were out and about in June delivering Front Garden Awards to those of you who have been brightening up the streets of Totterdown with your gardening ideas. Whether you have been planting in front gardens, pots and window boxes, or on the roofs of bicycle sheds and bin stores, you have helped to make our streets attractive for people and wildlife.
This year we gave out 350 awards – some to people who obviously have experience and skills in gardening, and some to those who may be just starting out. Each award is to say “thank you” for cheering up our streets.
Everyone who received an award is a winner, but each year we also give three prizes. This year the prizes were for ‘Best Garden’, ‘Best Mini-Garden’ and ‘Wildlife Friendly’.
We were delighted that Andy Dean, Director of BlueSky Landscape Design & Build, agreed to undertake the final judging. In 2017, Andy and his team helped on the second series of BBC’s Garden Rescue – with Charlie Dimmock and the award-winning garden designers the Rich brothers.
A number of gardens and spaces were commended: great use of small space, with some productive gardening at 5 Park Street; nice use of tricky, hard landscaped space at3 New Walls with pots on steps and an insect house on the landing; pots outside several homes at the far end of St Lukes Crescent; good use of the pavement to brighten up the street at 4 Dunmore Street; a green and lush basement at 76 Richmond Street; great screening, storage ideas and vertical gardening ideas at 33 Summer Hill; trees in pots, a timber bench, and use of colourful pots near the door at 45 Arnos Street; lovely hibiscus and nice planters at 38 Cambridge Street; an interesting cottage garden with a hardy tropical planting scheme at 44 Cambridge Street; a sweet cottage garden with some productive pots at 104 Oxford Street; pretty roses at 28 Stevens Crescent, and; a nice contemporary space at 7 Windsor Terrace.
An ‘honourable mention’ was given to 2 Oxford Street for very stylish use of the exterior space including upper windowsills, although the eucalyptus will need regular pruning!
And now we come to the prize winners.
Best Mini-Garden goes to 93 Hawthorne Street for a sweet space incorporating alpines in a gravel garden and a bin store with a green roof. Best Wildlife Garden goes to 25 Green Street with nice planting for wildlife and a special mention for the barley. Best Front Garden goes to 96 New Walls for lovely, full, low-maintenance planting which is also good for wildlife, and great use of space.
