Unity in Bloom - The winners are revealed!

Unity thanks everyone who entered our gardening competition

The standard was exceptional which made choosing a winner very difficult. This task was left to our Tenant Panel, who took two days out of their busy schedules to visit 25 gardens around Leeds. The variety was spectacular and each of the participants deserves to be congratulated on their effort.

We saw some fantastic examples of neighbours working in harmony to make the best use of a shared space. Some residents had also gone to great lengths to attract wildlife to their neighbourhoods. Others had an environmentally-friendly element to their garden. Such was the standard and the variety that the Panel would like to introduce new categories next year.

The winners and the runners-up were each invited to an Awards Ceremony so that they had the opportunity to meet each other, the Judging Panel and the staff who had coordinated the event. The event served as a celebration of everyone’s hard work.

Please download our newsletter when it becomes available in August to see more pictures.

Flowers & Foliage Category

1st Prize – Mrs B, Little London

This couple have made exceptional use of an unusual shaped garden by cutting a terrace into it which serves as a seat and a step up to the top half of their garden.

Unusual and interesting features including hanging baskets attached to tree trunks and suspended from washing lines and a tree trunk used as a pedestal for a pot plant.

Their garden takes on a different appearance at night time when it is illuminated by candlelight. They have created a calm oasis in the area of Little London.

2nd Prize – Mr & Mrs B, Crossgates (pictured)

This couple has a front and back garden which are covered in a host of evergreen and deciduous plants. The back garden has a stunning water feature which is surrounded by a rockery, plants and ornaments. A bridge which spans the length of the pond leads to a playhouse which has been seamlessly incorporated into the design of the garden. The garden also features a decking area which seating.

3rd Prize – Mrs M, Meanwood

This shady garden has a mystical quality about it. It serves two purposes – on one hand it is a beautiful garden teeming with a vast array of plants and shrubs, on the other hand the Judging Panel identified a number of edibles including basil, rosemary, sage, rhubarb and gooseberries.

Fruit & Vegetable Category

1st Prize – Mr & Mrs L, Harehills

This couple have utilised nearly every inch of space to grow something either beautiful, edible or both! Their front garden is teeming with colourful flowers.

Perhaps even more impressive is their back garden which they have used to grow a wide variety of herbs, fruits and vegetables including potatoes, onions, garlic, peas and beans. They share excess fruit and vegetables with friends and neighbours and also harvest the seeds so that they can be planted again the following year. In addition, they have constructed a smoke house to smoke their own meat – the fuel for which comes from their garden waste.

2nd Prize – Miss R, Chapeltown

This garden belongs to a lady who has successfully nurtured potatoes, onions, carrots plus a whole host of other fruits, vegetables and herbs. This lady believes in encouraging children to grow fruit and vegetables and her daughter has taken a keen interest!

3rd Prize – Mr D, Little London

While this garden is still in its infancy, already the fruit trees (apple, cherry and peach) are bearing fruit. The Panel predicted that in years to come this will be a prosperous and bountiful garden!