Judges from the prestigious Britain in Bloom competition were in Aberdeen today having a ‘blooming’ good tour around some of the city’s parks and green spaces.
The visit was started by judges Ann Holland and James Cordingley at the community garden at the Duthie Park Ranger Station followed by a tour of the David Welch Winter Gardens.
Other places the judges visited on their tour included the schoolchildren-designed flowerbeds on Great Southern Road, Victoria and Westburn Parks, Old Aberdeen, and Seaton Park.
Britain in Bloom is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and is the top gardening competition for councils and other community organisations across the UK. Major winners from regional competitions including Beautiful Scotland are put forward for the UK-wide finals.
In 2020, Aberdeen was a finalist for Champion of Champions award in Britain in Bloom but the competition was cancelled due to pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, Aberdeen won gold medals in Beautiful Scotland and was also crowned Best City and Overall Joint First in 2022.
The city has won a medal in either Britain in Bloom or Beautiful Scotland every year since 2008 and has been award-winning in the competitions since 1964.
Aberdeen City Council In Bloom Champion Councillor Neil MacGregor said: “It is fantastic to welcome Britain in Bloom judges back into the city as we always enjoy showing them around including meeting many of the people involved in ensuring our green areas look great.
“The community groups and City Council staff have done a wonderful job of ensuring our parks and green spaces are at their best and contributing towards our beautiful city for everyone to enjoy.
“It is a tremendous accolade to all the hard work that we are asked to take part in Britain in Bloom as it’s only the best in the country which are asked to apply and we can all take a lot of pride in that.”
The city will be judged on its horticulture which is our amazing parks and green spaces, community involvement which is all our fantastic green partners and volunteers including Friends groups, schools, businesses, community groups and the thousands of volunteers who help us, and environmental responsibility which is the work carried out for the Council’s climate plan, carbon reduction, and other similar projects.
The winners for the various categories will be announced at an awards event in October.