It’s ‘NL in Bloom’ time again. Gardens and green spaces across North Lanarkshire are taking centre stage as our green fingered tenants get their outdoor spaces competition ready.
If you’re a council tenant, have a passion for gardening and enjoy improving your local environment, then our ‘NL in Bloom’ garden competition is for you!
This year’s categories include best individual garden; best shared or communal garden; best use of space; best garden transformation and best sustainable garden.
Applications can be made by individuals or groups, or you can nominate a friend, neighbour or relative you think has an amazing outdoor space. It doesn’t need to be a large area; we have some outstanding entries of window boxes, vegetable patches and are always amazed by the creativity of our tenants designing their outdoor spaces.
The closing date for entries is the 31st of July, so there’s plenty of time to work on your colourful creations. You’ll find more information and can apply here.
Last year’s overall winner, Adam and Anne Allerdyce from Bellshill, told us about their passion for gardening and the time spent maintaining their garden area. One of the highlights was the fresh fruit that was sampled by the judges from their apple and plum trees.
Housing Convener, Councillor Michael McPake, said: “With entries on the rise year on year our NL in Bloom garden competition is the highlight of our tenant participation calendar.
“I love seeing the fantastic display of colour across our local communities over the summer months and am always blown away by the dedication and high standards of entries we receive. It’s a fabulous event that covers the length of breadth of North Lanarkshire. I look forward to another successful year for our talented tenants and their glorious gardens.”
After the closing date our team of judges make a shortlist of the top gardens in each category and take to the road to view the entries first-hand. This also gives them an opportunity to hear the back stories behind the gardens and plants on show.
“We want this year to be our biggest and best yet,” added Tracy Lennon, Tenant Participation Manager. “Last year we saw a 13% increase in entries, and we introduced some new categories which proved popular. And with the fabulous weather we’ve had this month I’m hoping more gardens will be entered. Whether your garden is big or small, has greenery, flowers or vegetables they all count and contribute to making our communities brighter.”