This month’s Britain in Bloom awards is set to recognise the environmental credentials of councils’ horticultural operations, as much as the imagination of their floral displays.
The Royal Horticultural Society says its awards aim to encourage communities of all sizes to make positive improvements to local streetscenes, with entries from cities – Aberdeen, Oxford and Tameside – small cities and large towns, including Perth, the host, Bangor, and Halifax, and towns and villages of all sizes.
The judges made surprise visits to the 66 entries last month, pledging to consider general street cleanliness and sustainability issues, as well as the ‘imaginative planting of trees, shrubs and flowers’.
The use of ‘water-wise gardening’ – such as the re-use of swimming pool water in Haywards Heath, Sussex – and horticulture avoiding the use of chemical pesticides was noted, as well as the impact landscaping and plantings have had on improving local environments.
This year, competition was particularly fierce in the coastal town and large village categories, with 11 entries in the first and 10 in the second. Coventry and Leicester were among the entrants shortlisted for the ‘urban regeneration’ award.
The 2006 Britain in Bloom award winners will be announced at the official ceremony on 21 September at Perth Concert Hall, hosted by Perth and Kinross council. There will be a ceilidh the night before for the ‘more energetic finalists’.
~Jim Irons~ executive director (transport) of Perth and Kinross, added that plantings and landscaping were ‘a very important part of the streetscene’.