Glorious gardens impress

The couple are the winners of our Bloomin’ Marvellous competition after they impressed garden guru and judge Brian Kidd.

Colin and Chris, of Longmynd Drive, in Fareham, have a range of flowers in their garden as well as trees and shrubs.

Their U-shaped back garden was full of colour and greenery which Brian called superb.

Chris says: ‘It is fantastic to have won.

‘It is wonderful to think that we impressed Brian with our garden and the design of it.

‘We love showing our garden to people and we do work hard on it.’

The pair have won a £100 gift voucher for Garsons, a big garden centre in Titchfield.

Chris adds: ‘I am looking forward to spending the voucher and seeing what we can buy to add to our garden.’

As well as a beautiful lawn and flowerbeds Colin and Chris also have a pond, water feature and little garden ornaments.

They enjoy spending time in their summer house and Chris said looking after their garden is something they love to do.

In the past, they have held open days to raise money for charity.

During their last event, they had 500 people through the doors and raised more than £1,000.

Brian judged the gardens all on the same day earlier this week after people sent in their photographs.

The top 10 was chosen and after seeing them, Brian was impressed with this year’s entries.

He says: ‘It was very hard to pick a winner.

‘It was a very close competition this year.

‘For a lot of the top 10 gardens, their entry pictures did not do them justice.

‘They were lovely in person.

‘It just shows how good the pictures need to be when you first enter.’

Brian was also impressed with runner-ups Nick Pattenden and Meriel Sprake.

The couple, of Alexander Grove, Fareham, have a range of bright flowers in the garden including giant fuchsias and petunias.

They also grow a range of vegetables including runner beans and cucumbers.

Nick says: ‘I spend a lot of time in the garden and we like to move things around every year.

‘We moved the pond and put in some foliage and shrubs but we still like it to be bright with the flowers.

‘I like having different designs and the curved lawn makes it a little different.’

Nick and Meriel, who were last year’s winner, have won a £50 voucher for Garsons.

The final prize, a £25 voucher for Garsons, went to Peter and Shirley Nicklen.

Their garden, off Holybourne Road, in Leigh Park, has three circular flowerbeds which brightens up their neat lawn.

Brian called their garden interesting and liked the variety of colour including the bright pink of the first circular flowerbed.

Peter says: ‘We try to change the flowerbeds around every year.

‘We have got begonias but we like a range of different types. There are geraniums and petunias – we have around 1,000 bedding plants.

‘It is a high maintenance garden but we enjoy looking after it.

‘We sit outside a lot as it offers escapism and we can relax and enjoy it.

‘When we have friends round, we tend to sit outside.’