Recent weeks have been a very busy time for the Gainsborough in Bloom (GIB) team as they prepared for judging on 1st July. The very warm weather is great in many respects but posed challenges for them to keep the plants and flowers looking healthy and blooming in the various sites on the judging route. Thanks must go to the council team who helped with watering and volunteers for dead heading etc. They managed to clear and tidy the North Street corner site behind the railings in the last couple of weeks of June with the help of The Conservation Volunteers and Darren Nortcliffe. The modular planters were also installed in the market place and planted up in the last week in June by West Lindsey District Council (WLDC) and added another feature for the judges to assess as part of their scoring criteria. Judging day was fine, dry and warm and started with a meet and greet at the Town Council’s offices at Richmond Park. There was a presentation to the two RHS judges, Liz Alun-Jones and Griselda Kerr, on the work GIB has been doing over the last year and the theme of Heritage and the VE Day celebrations. Guests included the Mayor and Chair of West Lindsey District Council and a question and answer session was followed by photos and a tour of the park, with a visit to the newly refurbished Lodge and polytunnel looked after by the Hastings Group.
A visit to Spital Hill allotment followed and then the Hickman Hill Hotel gardens which were entered in the Best Hotel Garden competition hosted by the owner. There was also a short trip to Marshall’s Yard, entered in the Best Retail Park competition. A walk through the town took in the Heritage Centre, Roseway and Market Street planters and then the newly rejuvenated market place. From there, everyone took a walk down to the riverside via Caskgate Street and the Rotary wheel highlighted the recently landscaped Whittons Gardens, the new cafe, Pilgrim Lady statue, before they headed to the newly built Baltic Mill site. They then visited the Parish Church school to look at their horticultural project and the planters GIB had provided them to help the children learn about how things grow. The tour ended with a visit to the Old Hall and a tour of its gardens, now managed by English Heritage and their garden team. Thanks to the staff at the Old Hall for providing very welcome refreshments and sandwiches along with everyone else involved in making the day a success. The GIB team now wait for the results and reports from the judges at the East MIdlands awards ceremony being held in Grimsby in September.