Rothwell residents win county-wide gardening competition for second year running!

There must be something in the soil in Rothwell where two people who live on the same street beat nearly 1000 other gardeners across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire to win top awards in a gardening competition for the second year running.

Mr Stuart Howcroft, of 108 Pasture View Road, was judged Best Overall in this year’s York Housing Association (YHA) in Bloom competition, making him YHA’s 2015 gardener of the year, and he also won the title for Most Creative Garden.  His neighbour, Jennifer Hammill, who lives down the road at number 140, won the Best Container category for the third time in the last six years, bringing her total tally of trophies in the competition to seven. 

Most of the flowers and vegetables in Stuart Howcroft’s garden have been grown from seeds he saves from the previous year’s crop, such is his passion for gardening.  “I’m always planning the next stage of my garden and I’m always looking out for new ideas.  I follow all the gardening shows on the telly and always have some paper, a pencil and a tape measure on me when we go out anywhere in case I see something I want to try and recreate at home.  I like the garden to have a bit of colour and I get a kick out of seeing everything grow and flower.  And when my neighbours opposite wake up they’ve got something nice to look at too!” says Stuart. 

In a garden that is packed with beetroots, carrots, courgettes, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, raised flower beds, and feature displays, it’s hard to single out a favourite aspect but Stuart is particularly proud of the bank of hanging baskets that adorn half the back wall of the house.  “It sets off the whole garden and transforms the look of the house during the summer – it’s like the house becomes an extra part of the garden,” he says.

Jennifer Hammill has used hanging baskets, pots and troughs to provide a vivid blast of colour round the front door, over the balcony railings and up the steps to her first floor flat.  The planting scheme includes a vibrant mixture of fuschia, honeysuckle, clematis, geraniums and busy lizzies, that climb up and tumble down, blanketing the area.

“I do it for the pure joy of it and seeing the flowers, in fact the doing is better than the winning.  When I first started doing my hanging baskets in 2008 I won the runner-up prize and that encouraged me to try again, and each year I got a bit braver, and it’s gone on from there,” comments Jennifer, who hasn’t let undergoing treatment for cancer stop her from tending her flowers.

“What Mr Howcroft and Mrs Hammill have done with their gardens is absolutely amazing.  It just goes to show it doesn’t matter how big or small your garden is you can still create colourful displays that literally stop people as they walk past.  They obviously put a lot of thought and hard work into planting and looking after their plants and really deserve their prizes,” comments chief executive, Julia Histon. 

The award was presented by YHA board member, Sue Walters-Thompson, who was fortunate to visit all the prize-winning gardens.  “It’s such a privilege to be able to see these beautiful gardens and meet the people who create them.  I’m always inspired by these gardeners and what they manage to achieve whatever the weather!  Not only do they get a lot of pleasure from their efforts but they give a lot of pleasure too – there’s nothing like the sight of a colourful mass of beautiful flowers to brighten up the day,” says Sue. 

For more details, or to see some of the photographs of the winning gardens, please visit www.yorkha.org.uk

ENDS

Links to photographs can be found below, with many more images of YHA In Bloom 2015 winners available from http://news.cision.com/york-housing-association

For further media information or photographs, please contact:

Jay Commins or Samantha Orange

Pyper York Limited

Tel:         01904 500698

Email:    jay@pyperyork.co.uk