Blooming Brilliant

National green service provider Glendale has been involved in promoting brighter, greener places to live, work and play, in this year’s Phoenix in Bloom.

The annual gardening competition is hosted by Phoenix Community Housing and is open to the local community in the Lewisham area. This year saw a record number of 51 entries from local residents, schools and community centres.

In August, each green space entered was judged by Glendale’s contract supervisor for the Phoenix Community Housing contract, Carl Higgins, and two board members from the housing association. The judges were looking for winners for the following categories: best residential garden, best fruit/veg allotment, best balcony, best community garden and best young gardener.

This year’s winners included William Cowley who won best fruit/veg allotment, Sylvia Powell who won the best balcony, Daisy Rose who won best young gardener, and Farmstead Road which won best community garden. Five entries were awarded the accolade of the best residential garden.

Carl Higgins, said: “We were asked to bring our expertise and knowledge to the residents and their gardens as part of this competition.

“Our regional director, Adrian Wickham, was the first Glendale representative to be involved in judging the 2012 event, and it has been passed on to other members of staff since. Personally, I’ve been involved in judging for five years and I think it’s a great way of bringing the community together and making a difference to the places we live and work.”

Phoenix in Bloom is part of the wider Britain in Bloom campaign organised by the Royal Horticultural Society(RHS).