Saturday 26th June was in the diary way back in January for our first ever Balham in Bloom competition.
Now that day is over, how did it go?
Well, it was a challenge but exciting!
With Bedford Hill being closed to cars, we were able to attract more pedestrians than usual and our brand new ‘Beautify Balham’ gazebo was a focal point for signing up for our now regular litter pick.
Beata Allen from Think-Outside set up planters and veg trugs to encourage children passing by to plant seeds and take them home in order to instil an early interest in gardening and biodiversity.
The Mayor of Wandsworth, Richard Field, arrived at 2pm to present awards to the worthy winners and runners up of our first ever Balham in Bloom competition 2021.
Judges of the competition were chosen from professional gardeners: Cheryle Morison, Wayne Amiel, Gareth James and Lwin Millar.
A unanimous decision was made and the successful candidates were presented with a certificate and a variety of vouchers from local stores: (Robbies Photographics, Flower Sanctuary, Charlotte Cave, Love Triangle, Jefferson’s Ice Cream, Audley’s Nightingale Place, and Waitrose) plus a bottle of champagne kindly donated by the Coop. A voucher was also given to purchase plants at Petals, our local Hildreth Street market stall at a discount of 15%.
A photoshoot with the Mayor then ensued and a good time was had by all.
We hope to go from strength to strength with ‘Balham in Bloom’ each year, increasing the number of participants amongst residents and businesses. A communal garden category may be added too.
In the meantime, we have other issues to tackle in Balham: more tree planting, pollution level monitoring, petitioning for Balham Station Bridge to be painted and encouraging more businesses to green up their frontages. Ongoing litter picks will take place on the first Saturday of each month and may become more frequent.
The next one is this Saturday 3rd July at 11am Bedford Hill Place, at the back if Sainsbury’s. So see you there!
– Jean and the Beautify Balham team
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