Yorkshire’s community gardeners are celebrating today after walking away with a category win and haul of medals in the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) annual Britain in Bloom competition, announced at a ceremony last night.
Four finalists represented the region following success in the Yorkshire in Bloom competition last year. A total of 68 groups from across the UK competed in 12 categories with each also vying for a gold, silver gilt, silver or bronze medal.
Yorkshire swept the board with all four finalists winning gold. First-time finalist Green Moor in South Yorkshire, this year’s smallest entry with a population of just 90, won the fiercely contested village category, seeing off six other challengers.
Green Moor impressed the judges with its top-notch horticulture and environmental dedication including a water-saving irrigation system and interactive nature trail. The parish has even bought a healthland area on former quarry land, dubbed the ‘Isle of Skye’, to preserve the biodiversity hotspot.
Victorian spa town Harrogate has a long track-record of success in the competition and picked up a gold for its beautiful bedding and basket displays and superb parks and green spaces including “jewel in the crown” Valley Gardens. Horticap’s horticultural training scheme for adults with learning disabilities was also praised.
Pateley Bridge, in the heart of Nidderdale, wowed judges with its eye-catching containers on the high street and project to improve the landscaping around the catholic church, while seaside town Whitby’s commitment to sustainability included a campaign against single-use plastic, beach clean-ups and a project to record the more than one hundred species of seaweed off its coast for a new herbarium.
The full results for the RHS Britain in Bloom finalists representing Yorkshire are:
| Entry | Category | Award |
| Green Moor | Village | Gold & Category Winner |
| Harrogate | Small City | Gold
Community Champion Award: |
| Pateley Bridge | Large Village | Gold
Young Community Champion Award: |
| Whitby | Coastal | Gold |
Finalists are judged not only on their floral displays but environmental and community efforts. Each was visited by a pair of RHS judges over a fortnight from the end of July.
Darren Share, Chair of the RHS Britain in Bloom judges, said:
Congratulations to all of this year’s UK finalists. It’s incredibly humbling to hear about the huge efforts they’ve invested in making our villages, towns and cities greener places to live, work and visit.
This makes a tremendous difference locally but has a wider impact too. Gardeners are increasingly having to respond to the changing climate, declining pollinator numbers and plastic waste and more communities are galvanizing people around these issues to bring about positive change.
The Yorkshire finalists collected their awards from Baroness Floella Benjamin, RHS Vice President, at the ceremony held in the RHS Lindley Hall, London.
The full results for RHS Britain in Bloom 2019 are here: www.rhs.org.uk/bloomawardsresults
