Residents and community groups in east Hull are being urged to say it with flowers and bring some colour into the neighbourhood for this year’s Park Area in Bloom. The charity Environmental & Management Solutions (EMS) Ltd is running the competition which this year has been funded by the Park Area Ward Councillors and is delivered in partnership with the Park Area Team. Park Area in Bloom is open to residents, businesses, community groups and schools and it is part of the overall city-wide competition, Hull in Bloom.
Martha Wilson of Belle Vue in Southcoates West is a dedicated gardener and has been entering Park Area in Bloom for a number of years with great success. Martha is so committed to gardening she now has a number of her neighbours sprucing up the street with colourful displays. Despite Martha spending hours tending her own front and back gardens she still takes the time to help her neighbours plan and build theirs, she is a one women flower planting army!
Martha said “We are only a small street and a splash of colour really makes a difference it lifts the area as well as people’s spirits. I love gardening and would happily do it twenty four – seven, even though the weather has been so bad this year to the point where it may have hampered the time I’ve been able to spend in the garden but it hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm and I am really looking forward to Park Area in Bloom this year.”
The competition categories are:
Best Displays by a public house, commercial organisation, community group, and school;
Best Front, Back or Full Garden; and Allotment Garden;
Best Planted Container or Hanging Basket;
Best Contribution to Wildlife.
The closing date is Friday 5 July and judging will take place the following week, with an awards ceremony at the Freedom Centre, Preston Road Village Centre, in mid-October. Park Area winners will also go forward to the city-wide Hull in Bloom competition and the winners of this are announced during September in a ceremony at the Guildhall.
EMS Chief Executive Jan Boyd says: “The level of entry and the work people put into their gardens goes from strength to strength and I really look forward to judging and talking to entrants on how they design their gardens and source their plants. I have learnt over the years that people don’t have to spend a lot to produce fantastic displays, the competition costs nothing to enter and colourful plants and flowers have a hugely positive environmental impact on the area.”
“The Park Area did fantastic in the city-wide Hull in Bloom Awards in 2012 with six overall winners. Since we started running the competition in 2004 we have had over 115 gardens entered and I am very grateful to the Park Area ward Councillors for supporting this year’s competition.”
Entry forms are available from EMS on 01482 709810, email info@emsyorkshire.co.uk.