As I wasn’t certain if it would succeed, I hadn’t yet mentioned my act – which may surprise you – of nominating one of my adopted gardens for a county beautification award this past spring. You may recognize it from blog posts I wrote here and here!
Five years into my makeover project, I decided that some parts were worthy of being judged and nominated them to a competition. There’s no charge and perhaps some glory can be gained as well. Not to mention my ultimate goal – which is inspiring other gardeners with low maintenance gardens while imparting knowledge to help create gorgeous eco-friendly spaces!
All I knew about the award program was that nominated gardens are judged by Master Gardeners and I could select between spring or summer judging; summer was my preferred option as judges can visit at any point between July and August without prior notification of when exactly judges would arrive.
Gardeners know the challenge of getting their garden in tiptop condition for tours or parties can be overwhelming, so imagine trying to maintain this look for two months straight! That wasn’t so daunting until I realized that while my front facade looked fantastic, the ends and sides needed tending – untended by me or anyone else for months on end! So I spent most of summer sprucing up first one side then the other (blogged about here). While my eyes had been blind to any imperfections – they miraculously notice any little things others hadn’t noticed such flaws – whether weeds here or specks of trash there – making my work much harder!
At the award event! Everyone who had nominated a garden was invited, with an emphasis on dressing “business casual.” My attire can be seen above.
Women clad according to the dress code directive are seen here presenting and receiving the highly sought-after “Golden Trowel” award, bestowed upon gardens that have successfully nominated themselves five years in a row. My award – a paper certificate labeled “Year 1” – marked only the start of an effort that rewards gardening efforts over time.
And what an incredible idea it is! Just the opposite of what we see on HGTV; people must really want an award in order to submit their garden for consideration and maintain its judge-worthy condition over five years.
What criteria are used when judging gardens, you might ask? That is exactly my question too – as well. As the award website does not specify this detail, so I contacted my county to seek clarification but no one has responded so far.
So I turned to another source. Out of all of the judges listed in the event brochure, blogger/speaker/author Teri Speight stood out. After some questioning on her praise of the program and program ratings system – such as good design, general upkeep and “sustainable gardening” features like rain barrels and native plants – Teri informed me that judges have an extensive list of features and qualities they assign ratings for.
Therefore, I am encouraging the county to release their list of criteria which could both encourage good gardening among others within their boundaries and motivate more residents to nominate their gardens for awards. While I will do my best to promote the program locally, more information would certainly help.
Publicity could make a big difference. Since this program is not promoted anywhere – I follow various local garden groups on social media including my county’s Master Gardener group – surely more gardeners would join if they knew about it? Additionally, it would be great to showcase winners such as myself who earned their Golden Trowel prize instead of simply becoming “Year 1” winners like myself!
