05.07.06 - Magna in bloom

Magna’s annual residents’ gardening competition has produced a fabulous display of horticultural talent again this year.

The south west based housing association runs its gardening competition every year at around this time. It always proves to be a big success and this year was no exception.

The competition saw one big change this year with new judges, who were also Magna residents. Martin Kendrick of Lyme Regis is a tenant representative and also sits on the organisation’s board of management. The second judge was John Foot from Piddlehinton, is a keen horticulturalist and has won first place in Magna’s competition on many occasions.

Judges were more than pleasantly surprised by the abundance of colour, the thought and hard work that had quite obviously gone into all of the gardens.

Winners of the private garden category this year were Chris and Mona Norris of Dorchester. Their garden was full of colour, making good use of space with begonias, busy lizzies and geraniums to name a few. Salvia had also been used to reproduce an England flag in the centre of the display. Judges were impressed with the overall attention to detail in this garden.

Second place was taken by one of the competition’s younger contenders, Nichola Calvert of Beaminster. Nichola had created a lawn which closely resembled a carpet and had segregated parts of the garden using a mixture of materials including, logs, slate and bamboo. Nichola says, ‘The children are asked to stay off the lawn until after the competition which helps it stay in such good condition. They’re very supportive and look forward to finding out if we’ve won anything.’ The garden was well stocked with fuscias, marigolds, lavender, nemesia and honeysuckle. Even a banner created by the local youths for Beaminster festival had been put to good use.

Last but certainly not least in this category, third place was taken by Marlene and Graham Stantiford, also of Beaminster. This was a more mature garden with an incredible array of plants and flowers, including a chocolate smelling cosmos. There were lots of surprises in this garden, not all apparent on first inspection, including a mirror embedded in an ivy covered wall.

The next category in this year’s competition was for patios and containers. Martin Kendrick, says, ‘Not all of Magna’s residents have their own gardens so it’s nice that more people can have a go and enter with this category.’

First place was taken by familiar faces Betty Galpin and Brenda Chant from Sherborne, for the third year running. Another stunning arrangement this year was put on for judges. The ever popular busy lizzies helped provide a wall of colour, planted along with begonias. Geraniums, double petunias and lillies also played their part in the display.

Close behind in this category was Douglas Gardner of West Stafford, near Dorchester, winning second place. Douglas used a butterfly theme in his garden this year supported by roses, freesias, lavender, lobelia, sweet williams and various other wonderfully scented flowers.

Third place was taken this year by newcomers to the competition, Tom and Mildred Fitches from Dorchester who put to good use a very small space using petunias, pansies, begonias and busy lizzies.

The third and final category was for communal gardens. John Foot, said, ‘It’s lovely to see people really making the effort to brighten up the places where they live for the enjoyment of not only themselves but others as well.’

First place for communal gardens was taken by Eunice Malcolm and Pauline Arney and their friends, who all live at Fairfield in Chickerell. These ladies managed second place last year so were really pleased with their win. Judges were impressed with the obvious team effort that had gone into producing a fine display using flower beds, pots and hanging baskets. This included some flowers not seen in many of the gardens including, verbascum and blue thistle. Fuscias and chrysanthemums provided just some of the colour in this beautiful garden for the enjoyment of many.

Second place was clinched by Catherine Barrell and her friends at Symonds Court in Charminster, near Dorchester. The team effort again impressed judges here and in particular the massive amount of ground that is worked on to brighten up the whole site for so many people to enjoy.

Third place was awarded to another newcomer this year, Keith Williamson of Sandringham Court in Dorchester. Keith used a compact display of salvia, new guinea busy lizzies, dianthus and petunias. Some of which were shown off in wooden wheelbarrows.

All in all the competition was a huge success. Martin added, ‘We were really impressed with all the gardens that we saw. This is such a worthwhile competition and we hope to see more people getting involved next year.’

A presentation evening to pass on prizes and certificates to the winners is planned by Magna later this month.

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Last updated 05.07.06