When, in the depths of lockdown, we came up with the idea of a virtual garden competition we had no idea how enthusiastically many of you would join in, nor how many absolute hidden gems there are tucked away in quiet corners of the parish.
We eventually received photos of 47 gardens, which made the judges job a difficult one, but they rose to the challenge, and have now reached the following conclusions.
The winner of the ‘Large and Lovely’ category is Fiona Tidbury, of West View.
The winner of the ‘Abundant and Productive ‘ category is Bill Nicholson, for the allotment that he shares with Barbara Runkel:
The winner of the ‘Petite and Pretty’ category is Dave Fernie, of Raven Ghyll:
The winner of the ‘Wonderful for Wildlife’ category is Ruth Griffiths of Roods Drive:
Ruth Griffiths is also awarded the overall prize.
In addition the judges highly commended the gardens of:
Pamela Bonnick, Scalehouses (Large and Lovely)
Margaret Harper – allotment plot (Abundant and Productive)
Sheila Small, Renwick (Petite and Pretty)
Nicola Kirby, Scalerigg (Wonderful for Wildlife)
Congratulations to all of our winners, and thanks to all of you who took the time and trouble to enter. We would like to pay particular thanks to our judges, Shelagh Todd and Mary Macgregor and also to Howard Quinn for taking photos and organising the gallery, where the winning entries are on display at www.kirkoswald.org.
We would like to record our thanks to Kirkoswald Parish Council and Kirkoswald Environmental Group for sponsoring the competition.
The judges kindly made comments about all of the winning gardens, which will be uploaded to the gallery and provided to the winners.
Ruth and Nick Anderson
