Blooming marvellous!

8/12/2009

Magna’s annual gardening competition lived up to the high standards that have been seen over recent years and the judges were thrilled by the sights they saw right across Dorset and into Somerset.

Every summer, Magna invites its residents to enter the competition to show off the wonderful things they have done with their gardens. This year it was particularly hard to judge because of the high standard of entries. The sheer number of entries meant the judges had to take two days to get round them all.

For the fourth year running, John Foot was the expert judge. John, who has over 60 years’ experience and is Show Secretary of The Dorchester Horticultural Society, says "This year I have seen some of the best gardens and containers in the history of the competition."

Taking first place in the Your Garden category were Mr and Mrs Johnson of Crewkerne. Mr Johnson says, "This is the first year I have entered and it is thanks to Magna that I entered at all. They have installed a fence which has meant that I had some room to do some planting. It’s been great this year, the flowers have been beautiful and we have produced enough vegetables to feed an army."

Even more amateur gardeners were impressed with what residents had achieved with their gardens. Lisa Williams, resident involvement officer for Magna, said, "It’s amazing how many of the gardens this year incorporate vegetables and fruit. We have seen full vegetables patches, fruits and vegetables dotted amongst flowers, even vegetables grown in pots and containers! So many people are embarking on home growing that we are considering creating a specific category for this next year!"