7/26/09

2009 WINNERS

Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association
FIFTH ANNUAL GARDEN CONTEST
2009 Winners

We had several additions to our team of judges this year. The team found the task of choosing the best gardens in the complex rewarding but very, very challenging. There were so many wonderful gardens, from large ones belonging to end units to attractive diminutive displays. There were over forty gardens in the running for the ten honorable mentions and ranking them was no easy task.

We have some gardens in Gwynedd Pointe that would have placed differently later in the summer, depending on the bloom time of their predominant flowers. So as you stroll around the development, look at all the gardens, not just those on this list. Your efforts will be visually rewarding.

And for those of us complaining about the rainy, cold weather we experienced during the June judging period, here is a note from the 2006 judge: “The weather this year was a real challenge as well with the heat, humidity, draught in early spring, and floods in the summer.” Sometimes the weather is favorable, sometimes it’s not. That’s gardening!

Thank you to the Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association and to Frank DePace of Continental Property Management for supporting our contest for five years in a row! Thank you to the Garden Contest Committee members for their dedication and hard work. Thank you to all of our gardeners who make Gwynedd Pointe such an attractive place to live! And last but not least, congratulations to the winners!!

Complete information on the first five years of our garden contest can be found at www.gwyneddpointegardencontest.blogspot.com.

1st Prize - $100 Rhoads Garden Gift Certificate
805 Evergreen Court
Second year at the top! Everything is in the right spot. Two iron trellises with clematis made a beautiful showing this year. There was a period in June when this garden looked so perfect, you’d want to set up a chair on the sidewalk and just stare at it.

2nd Prize - $50 Rhoads Garden Gift Certificate
6500 Rolling Hill
Could be the most colorful garden of all! Fourth time in the Top 3! Love the butterfly house!

3rd Prize - $25 Rhoads Garden Gift Certificate
6600 Colonial
Wonderful mix of plants and colors. Lavender, lilies, clematis. Has won honorable mentions in the past. Looking at it from the side, you’d think you were in Nantucket.


Honorable Mentions (in no particular order) - $10 Rhoads Garden Gift Certificates:

2400 Grist
A new, well-designed garden where finishing touches were still being put on it during the judging period. The basket of yellows and pinks in the tree is a nice touch.

2501 Grist Mill
Fourth time HM, nice rock walls in front and around the rear deck facing Bell Run.

5905 Constitution
View this one from the rear, from Rolling Hill. Nice birch in the front. Pergola in the rear contributes to a beautiful outdoor room.

2204 Harvard
A 1st, 2nd and two HMs in the past. A lovely naturalized garden. Nice butterfly bush in rear. Deserves lifetime achievement award.

2905 Harvard
Most geraniums and impatiens in the development. This garden’s annuals are becoming a perennial favorite (no pun intended).

1701 Old Mill
The flagstone wall makes this garden. Nice, neat display.

1301 Kenwood
The classic garden look. The statue of the girl is a nice focal point.

6501 Rolling Hill
This is a newer garden giving its neighbor at 6500 Rolling Hill a run for the money. Nice red maple. Good use of rocks and the little bike holding a yellow marigold is a nice touch.

6105 Rolling Hill
Can you make a cottage garden work in a modern townhouse setting? You betcha! Planned informality at its best.

4603 Congress
Impatiens provide color, as do hanging baskets. The evergreens make a nice backdrop. If you’re lucky, you’ll pass by when the water is spouting from the frog fountain.


Judges’ notes: The gardens in the 1300 block of Kenwood and the first place winner across the street, 805 Evergreen, work well together visually. ... The 6600 block of Colonial rivals the 1300 block of Kenwood, boasting several beautiful gardens.