Berkhamsted in Bloom ready for judges

Three judges from Anglia in Bloom will visit Berkhamsted on 15 July to evaluate 11 sites for the town’s first entry into the competition.

Berkhamsted is in the large town category and volunteers will have 3¾ hrs to show them around.

The idea for entering the In Bloom campaign came after the dismantling and re-distribution of a community garden in October last year. This highlighted just how many volunteer gardens there were in the town. A WhatsApp group was created, there were a few meetings, and so the campaign by the In Bloom steering group began.

Some of the gardens are well established, some still in their infancy. They include the Millenium Garden on Canal Fields, Berkhamsted Station Garden, King’s Rd Wildflower Meadow, Lime Tree Walk, Swing Gate School, Greene Field Corner and St Peter’s Church.

All plants have been sown, split or gifted and nurtured by the gardeners at no cost. They are mostly herbaceous perennials and annuals not requiring regular watering and benefitting a wide variety of insects. There is so much going on: bird boxes, mason bees nesting, rare wild plants, vegetables growing in pallets, ponds in bowls, a group vegetable soup event, vintage car and cake event. It’s all happening in the town.

The campaign has been supported by Berkhamsted Town Council, Dacorum Borough Council and EcoBerko. The Yarn Bombers have also been busy. By judging day, the River Bulbourne will have been cleaned by a group of amazing volunteers.

Kate Campbell of Rectory Lane Cemetery (the community project part of the campaign) and a steering group member, said: ‘It’s brilliant to be part of such a community effort, with like-minded gardeners – that’s already a win from participating in the In Bloom campaign, whatever the results turn out to be in the autumn.’

Winners are announced in September.

You can contact the group at berkhamstedinbloom@gmail.com, and keep up with what’s happening on the Berkhamsted in Bloom page.