Garden Of The Year 2011: Best front gardens

Once again the best small and large front gardens categories were keenly fought in the Garden Of The Year 2011 competition.

This year the large front garden winners were Shirley and John Furniss of Renhold.

Meanwhile the winner of the best small front garden was Rosemary Catt of Everton Road, Potton.

Click on the right for a selection of pictures from these two gardens by Tracey Goodacre.

Garden Of The Year is run by the Bedfordshire Times & Citizen and Biggleswade Chronicle with Frosts at Willington and sponsored by Bedford in Bloom.

Shirley and John Furniss have been cultivating their garden over the years, but this last year they decided to change its layout after hearing that experts had been asking people to grow plants to attract insects bees and insects.

Shirley, of Green End, Renhold, said: “Because of the harsh winter last year we lost a lot of our plants, so it all had to be re-planted. We had heard that experts were asking people to put in plants to attract bees and other insects, so we filled the garden with lots of perennial flowers, and it has just worked.

“So this season we completely changed our garden for that reason. When you go outside you just hear a constant hum of bees, which is lovely for the summer, It’s just full of flowers, it is a bed of flowers.”

The garden, which has been mostly planted this year by John, also boasts a plough that had been used by Shirley’s father to plough the fields years ago.

Shirley added: “We have been living here for about 16 years now and when we got here it was just shrubbery. Over the years the garden has gradually improved and now it’s just full of flowers.

“We were really pleased to find out we had won.

“We have worked hard at getting the garden to its best, so we were really delighted.”

The large front garden runners-up were Lois Jones of Francis Grove Close, Bedford and Mr and Mrs McDonald of Station Road, Langford.

Best small front garden winner Rosemary Catt, 68, has no real knowledge of gardening but does it as a hobby to fill up her spare time. However, she first began gardening when she was nine. “I went to boarding school and the grounds were beautiful. Although they were tiny there were small 4x4 plots which we were allowed to nurture.”

“In a garden, I absolutely love colour and fragrance. As long as I have got either of these aspects within my garden I am happy.” Rosemary explained how this is the first time herself and her husband have lived in a road as opposed to a close, meaning that neighbours and passer-bys are able to stop and enjoy their beautiful garden. “It’s absolutely lovely that people actually divert their walks and stop to talk to me about my garden.”

The garden is actually on a small slope and at an acute angle which can occasionally make it hard to maintain. Although she currently has no difficulties, Rosemary said: “As I get older it will become quite challenging.”

Rosemary loves the colour red so the most prized features of her garden are her Roses and Geraniums. “They look absolutely lovely at the moment as they are right at the entrance of my garden. They also don’t require much watering which is an added bonus. Whilst I take care of all the flowers and plants myself, I get my husband to mow the grass. He now calls himself the under-gardener! ”

On winning the competition for the second time, Rosemary said: “I was very surprised and extremely pleased to win. I had heard that there had been a lot of entrants this year so I was amazed that I actually won it again.”

Runners-up in the small front garden section were Mr T Cox of Laburnum Road, Sandy and Andrew Eriksson of St Andrew’s Road, Bedford.