Guildford in Bloom

Best Front Garden

Gardens had to be visible to the public from the footpath. These gardens were judged on design, colour, quality of plants and all-year-round interest. Gardens were divided into a small or large category.

Best Allotment and Vegetable/Kitchen Gardens

Allotments and vegetable gardens were judged on the variety and quality of vegetables grown, use of good horticultural practice, use of space and sustainable management. 

Best Garden for Wildlife

Open to all gardens including private, businesses and community projects, this category focused on design, choice of plants and management that were especially welcoming to wildlife.

Best Pub in Bloom

The best Pub in Bloom category looked for a well-balanced design, good use of colour and quality planting.

Best Container Garden

This category was for balconies and gardens based on pots and baskets, which were visible to the public.

Best Neighbourhood Project

This category recognised projects that 'greened up' their local area. Judges looked for good design, colour and plant quality as well as input from residents or the community.

Best School in Bloom

The theme for 2017 was 'The Seaside' and judges looked for children's involvement with the design, planting and upkeep.

Best Public Building in Bloom

In this category, gardens had to be open to the public to visit or walk through. Judges looked for a good overall impression, with good design, colour and plant quality.

The Dorothy Walden Award

This award was for the best 'first time' entry into any category.

Guildford Nursery School and Children's Centre (Hazel Avenue)

Silver Gilt

The children transformed their 'sand area' into a seaside garden. Pots had been planted up with flowers, fruit and vegetables, including mange tout, carrots and beans. The strawberries looked particularly 'yummy'. Children had a good idea of what they had planted. There was a lovely 'Punch and Judy' Theatre and photos of the children planting were used to create bunting. During our visit the children played imaginatively in the seaside garden.

Guildford Nursery School and Children's Centre (York Road)

Silver

Different containers were planted up on the seaside theme. The lovely hand-painted wooden beach huts had formed an edging. A boat planted with water underneath with a dolphin and octopus was called HMS York Road! All the flowers were planted from seed. A wonderful homemade lighthouse sat on a rock on a blue lobelia filled tyre. Seaside planted buckets hung on a wall with shells strung on string and there was a 'surfer dude' made by the children.

Jigsaw School

Silver Gilt

The students had planned their seaside garden and it included a submarine, fish and chips and sharks - the Great White and Hammerheads. The 'Jigsaw Titanic' had been beautifully made. Shells had been collected and displayed on a sandy beach. Carnations were used to create white foam and blue lobelia for the sea. Seaside buckets had been planted up with lavender and a small octopus was nestling in a shell.

Lanesborough
Pre-Prep

Silver

The idea for this themed garden came from the Gardening Club which meets regularly each week. They had a designated area for their seaside project. Wooden troughs were reused from last year and there was an ice cream kiosk with flowers in cones. Ice cream flavours included strawberry, raspberry ripple and vanilla. There was a dingy made out of a tyre with a handmade sail, which had faces on. Tomato plants were used as palm trees. The boys made figures so that they could enjoy the seaside garden and they had to follow the advice of the sun safety posters.

Peaslake Free School

Bronze

Containers were dotted around the outside area with seaside coloured plants. Handmade lollipops decorated fencing. Deck chairs and a windbreak were behind a blue rock pool which was filled with sea creatures and colourfully decorated pebbles. The flourishing vegetable patch reminded us of a boat and the children had made beautiful silver fish that dangling over the top of it. There was great community involvement - the school's seaside garden was shown in the Peaslake Open Garden Scheme.

Shalford Pre-School

Silver Gilt

Different areas had been planted up around the school. Shells had been collected by the children and were used to decorate the area around the sand pit. There was great use of recycling. We particularly like the planted swimming costume! Children had conversations about the seaside and quotes were hung from branches on a tree. There was a boat with a pirate flag and tyres surrounded a plot. There was lots of imagination and we were told "It can be whatever you want it to be".

Shawfield Primary School - Year R

Silver

A seaside café, selling crafty made ice creams - we tried an ice cream and it was delicious. A blue cloth representing the sea flowing into the sand with a rock pool close by. Pebbles were collected by children on recent seaside trips. Flowers were succulents and planted in pots. Homemade bunting decorated the area. There was a wonderful boat too and a 'flip-flop flower'.

St Joseph's Specialist School and College

Silver

The students had planned their garden with lovely art work which we saw in the art department. They created their seaside garden in the allotment area and they started by digging over the plot - hard work but they did it! A beautiful mermaid was sitting on the beach. She had a lovely hand painted tail. Blue lobelia was used for planting the sea and Marigolds for sand. Photographic bunting was hung above the garden showing the students at work creating their special garden.

St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School

Silver

A lovely seaside area with chairs and an umbrella. Conical shaped hanging baskets were used as ice cream cones. Petunias, strawberries, marigolds and carnations were used as ice cream to fill the cones, representing flavours such as raspberry ripple, strawberry and honeycomb. Children were able to visit Clandon Park Garden Centre to choose their plants. Beautiful hand decorated pebbles lined the outside of the seaside garden.

Weyfield Primary Academy School

Gold and Best in Competition

What a wonderful seaside creation with two distinct areas separated by a beach hut and a boat donated by a sailing club. The boat was full of planted-up pots painted to represent seaside colours. Bird boxes were also painted by children, except for one which had a Wagtail in it. A bug hotel was underneath the boat. A delightful mermaid was relaxing and holding a cone filled with birdseed.

Worplesdon Primary School

Gold

The children had really embraced the theme. Great support from parents as children had made miniature themed gardens at home and bought them into school. Great imagination, there was a dinosaur themed one. The outside planters had flowers that had been chosen to reflect seaside colours. A lovely wooden planter was planted up to look like a fish, with the tail being pebbles and shells. Flip-flops were used to hold flower posts and sweet peas will slowly trail up string to represent a sail on a boat.