A gardener from Middlewich in Cheshire has been recognised nationally for her green-fingered efforts during lockdown and has won a prestigious competition.
Diane Crimes collected the prize for the Best Use of Colour at the B&Q Gardener of the Year awards due to her bright and vibrant flower display in her back garden in Middlewich, Cheshire. And won £1,000 from B& Q after beating off thousands of entries.
While the country starts to lift lockdown restrictions, many of the nation come out of it with a newfound passion for gardening.
Around 80 percent of Brits have become more interested in tending to their window boxes, patios, balconies, and green spaces in the last year, and thanks to B&Q’s Gardener of the Year competition, many have been able to show off their newfound skills.
B&Q has been joined by comedian Jim Moir on a mission to showcase the ‘real’ gardens of the UK, with the winner of the competition taking home £10,000.
Crimes, 57, said: “The colour in my garden just cheers me up. I look at it and sometimes cannot believe that I have grown all that.
“I just love the poppies, the annual geraniums that come up. We have so many different types of poppies. We have a rule that nothing clashes - anything goes!
“Gardening is a therapy. When you are doing it, you can switch off. You are not looking at any screens or anything, and you are just away from everything.
“The competition was great because before I entered, I made sure everything was deadheaded and pristine, and it just makes people take a little bit of pride in their gardens as well and want to show them off.”
Crimes, who works as a part-time exam invigilator in the local schools, has always been passionate about gardening, and has been able to enjoy the extra time on her hands due to the lockdown to put her green fingers to the test.
“I didn't leave the house other than walking the dog when it was the proper lockdown,” Crimes added.
“I spent so much time in the garden because it was safe to do so. We get a lot of butterflies and bees because of the colour of the plants; they are very attracted to those. It is just nice watching the little bit of nature you have got in your garden as well.
“A few years ago, I won tickets to Chelsea Flower Show from a B&Q Facebook competition, and we saw the B&Q gardens down there. I found them quite inspiring. We went to Chelsea Flower Show four years in a row, but obviously couldn't go last year.”
Gardening has certainly been a refuge for many people who have struggled with the lockdown in the past year, and the competition comes as a relief to gardening enthusiasts who have missed out on the likes of the Chelsea Flower Show.
Joining Moir on the judges panel were award-winning garden designers, Matt Childs and Humaira Ikram, and B&Q Outdoor Category Director Steve Guy.
Guy said: “At B&Q, our mission is to cater for each of our customers individually by providing them with a great range of quality plants, enabling them to create amazing outside spaces. In launching the B&Q Gardener of the year competition, we sought to celebrate gardens of all shapes and sizes which is seen with all of our winners.”
Brits have taken inspiration for their gardens from many different places. 37% turned to gardening centres like B&Q for advice, while 27% asked their parents and 26% checking social media platforms as more young people tried their hand at gardening.
B&Q threw the rule book out the window when it came to what makes a garden ‘best in show’ – as proven by Crimes’ colourful paradise.
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