Results in from this year's Aylesbury in Bloom Garden school competition

The Aylesbury in Bloom Garden competition school award-winners have been revealed this year.

Mayor of Aylesbury, Councillor Anders Christensen completed school visits to hand out awards to this year's competition winners.

Every year Aylesbury Town Council runs the contest which is designed for residents, schools, organisations and businesses of all gardening abilities to enter.

Due to the COVID-19 guidance in place at the time, the Town Council had to reduce the number of categories schools could enter. Two judges, Rosemary Brown and Sue Wright, visited each school to see the hard work students had put into their entries for the best garden in a pot (container gardens).

Points were given for various criteria and the overall number determined if the school would get a bronze, silver, silver gilt or gold award.

The judges were looking for the use of colour, texture and scent, horticultural maintenance, the choice of plants and overall design and decoration.

An Aylesbury Town Council spokesperson has outlined this year's award winners and what these young gardeners did to stand out from the crowd below:

Aylesbury High School were a new entry for 2021. The judges commented on the good selection of plants and the student’s knowledge of the plants. Using a recycled pallet as a plant container was a great idea as it doubles up as a bug hotel.

The plants were colourful, healthy and there was a good range of them. Aylesbury High School was awarded with a silver gilt award. Congratulations to Mrs Vikki Burt and her students.

Another new entry for 2021 was Elmhurst School who were awarded a Silver Award and a Special Newcomer Award. They showed a good use of containers and were

complimented on their use of colours by judges who are looking forward to their progression in next year’s competition. The rainbow themed display was well received. Well done to Ms Sond and all the children involved.

St Edward’s Junior School’s was awarded with a Silver award. The judges liked the tyres with poppies and the use of the containers. The children showed they were

keen to learn about the vegetable plants they were growing, for example, leaving the radishes to go to seed so they can grow more next year. Well done to Mr Stokes and his students.

You wouldn’t have known it was St Joseph’s Catholic Infant School’s first time entering Aylesbury in Bloom’s Garden Competition. They were awarded a judges’ commendation for creativity and imagination as well as a silver gilt award.

The judges loved the themed containers e.g., Jurassic Garden, fairy garden, beehive. The pre-school area was tidy and well maintained. All pots were colourful and looked healthy. Congratulations to Ms Tobin and all the children involved.

A silver gilt award was given to Jane Stokes (childminder) and children. The judges saw great achievements since their last entry. The standard was good, pots were well painted by the children and the bug house for insects was a nice touch. These were the youngest entrants and they did a fantastic job painting and decorating pots and planting for wildlife.

Haydon Abbey School and Pre-School had brilliant ideas, showed great use of plants in recycled containers and even made a chair into a plant container. They had

a good display of different colours incorporated into the topics.

Each pot was a different theme: time for tea, the picnic, take a seat, each displaying a useful gardening fact. Congratulation to Ms Hutt and her students for being awarded silver

gilt plus winning the overall award for best garden in a pot (container garden).

The judges were delighted to see some newcomers this year and look forward to seeing their future entries. Thank you to all who took part. Competition organisers are

looking forward to offering all categories for schools to enter in next year’s Aylesbury in Bloom Garden competition. These include best edible garden, best learning/recreational garden, best wildlife/nature garden and best garden in a pot.