Residents help to judge garden competition

GREEN-FINGERED residents from Stafford have helped to unearth some of the prettiest gardens in the borough.

Four Stafford and Rural Homes customers have given up their time to judge the gardens entered in the first SARH garden competition.

Husband and wife John and Jean Richardson, who live at Tithe Barn Court, were two of the customers who put themselves forward to help with judging.

“I really enjoyed being part of the garden competition, and was impressed by the high standard of entries and the number of people entering the competition,” said John.

“It has inspired us to do more in our garden and take more interest in the gardens all around us. The judging was much tougher than we imagined but it was a pleasure to be part of the competition.”

Another husband and wife Ruth and Rod Knott were the other two customer judges in the competition – Rod and Ruth are chair and secretary of the residents’ association HERaTAGE (Highfields Estate Residents and Tenants Association for a Good Environment).

The customers were joined by Leslie Hanlon from SARH’s Investment Delivery Team, Sandra Shipperley from the Community Involvement Team and Tia Loving, from SARH’s grounds maintenance contractors Greenfingers to make up the judging panel.

Over 60 gardens were judged across five categories including the best garden (front or back garden), best communal garden, hanging basket/container or window box, best vegetable garden/allotment and best communal border.

Karen Armitage, SARH Chief Executive, said: “Our garden competition has highlighted how many customers take pride in their homes and want to make their local communities look colourful and attractive.

“I want to give my sincere thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and gardening expertise to help recognise and reward our customers for their gardening efforts.”

The winners will be announced at an awards event being held at Stafford and Rural Homes’ headquarters at the Rurals on Monday, September 26