Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association
16th Annual Garden Contest - 2020
Winners
Co-Sponsored by the
Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association
&
The Rhoads Garden,
570 DeKalb Pike, North Wales
We say it every year – it gets harder and harder to judge the wonderful gardens in Gwynedd
Pointe because there are so many great ones. We usually complain about the
weather, but this year we’ve had a pandemic to worry about. Gardening has been
a welcome diversion for residents, although obtaining supplies has been difficult.
(The judges regret not including the many brand new gardens created when our
county entered the “green phase” at the end of June, after we had already made
several sweeps through the development. They’ll certainly be contenders in
2021!)
We again considered the five Fs of great garden design:
form, foliage, flowers, fruits (bird food) and fragrance. We did our best to
identify plants, but it’s not always easy. There were superb gardens throughout
Gwynedd Pointe, but there can be only thirteen winners. Please judge for
yourself, as that is part of the fun!
Grand Prize
- $100 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden
6901 Colonial –
This gorgeous garden has earned honorable mentions, and this year everything
about it clicked, raising it to first place. Cheerful colors, no wasted space, with plants that invite bees
and butterflies. Has a nice sitting area reminiscent of a Parisian café, potted
pansies on the table. Neat Belgian block border, statuary and bird bath in the
right places, ivy-covered lattice work hiding the utilities. Includes a big
potted red begonia, candytuft, lilies, peonies, marigolds, and dicanthus, with the
annuals in the front.
Second Place
– $75 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden
7102 Union –
All about texture and color. The yellow twig variegated leaf dogwood shrub is an
elegant touch. We saw blue star (amsonia), choral bells (heuchera), yarrow,
hydrangea, roses, potted geranium, petunia, astilbe, lupine, and coreopsis. The
hummingbird feeder surely gets visitors. Sundial adds a touch of class.
Everything is big and bold in a patriotic motif. Versatile, as the theme can
easily be altered by changing the door wreath and pot in front.
Third Place
- $50 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden
400 Evergreen –
Parts of this delightful garden are rebuilt annually, and this is its best year
yet. Great use of form and texture, even the shape of the garden. Well maintained, good groupings for color,
Japanese maple makes a nice focal point, clean lines, hosta on the side look
great.
Honorable Mentions (in order by address) - $15 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden
805 Evergreen
– This wonderful, well-maintained, formal garden always looks good. Crisp
shapes along the side lead to the front, where a shower of colorful annuals
splashes to the door, akin to a flower shop. The false cypress by the walkway
is a grand statement. Touches of
yellow contrast nicely with the red heuchera. Nicely scaled Japanese maple, and
white in the hostas plays off the white house trim.
1002 Kenwood – Love the pink and blue. Japanese painted ferns
are a great backdrop for the flowers, the front door with its pink astilbe
looks like a picture from a magazine. Hostas, wonderful lime-green foliage of
the ferns and spiderworts, all work together nicely. Great form and shape to
this garden.
1304 Kenwood –
A brand new garden, started from scratch! The front is framed by a pair of
English holly bushes. We saw begonias, hyssop, coneflower, phlox and St. John’s
wort. A Japanese maple is a nice focal point.
3503 Carriage
– Wonderful as always, nice garden
art, creeping Jenny in the pot looks great and the yellow just "pops,"
goes well with the yellow daylilies. The hot pink Rose Campion in the front emphasizes
other pink flowers. Beautiful butterfly bush. The small fountain is a lovely
touch.
4701 Congress
– This one is a Wow! It’s simple, tasteful, with nice
choice of plant materials. The basket stand fashioned from a tree branch is the
focus, a clever bit of folk art, really. A spread of river rock creates a
boundary. Great example of creativity in a postage-stamp size space.
5303 Plantation – Raised beds of shrubs and small trees create attractive
shapes and textures. We saw creeping juniper, cutleaf maple, azaleas, framed by
a pair of Alberta spruces. Non-plant material added for color arguably distracts,
as form and foliage alone carry this garden quite well.
5402 Plantation (rear) – Placed first in 2019, when it was the epitome of a
naturalistic garden. Complete
transformation for this year! This gorgeous display is almost as much about art
as gardening. What impresses the viewer initially is its busyness. Do your eyes
pass over it or are you compelled to stop and explore? It could go either way
depending on your sense of aesthetics. Take a chance on this one, from the Bell
Run sidewalk or from the adjacent common area to get a closer look. You’ll find
a storybook land, and a surprise that will greet you, you’ll know it when you
see it (her?). At first glance this garden appears chaotic, but inspection proves
otherwise. It is well-maintained and precisely created. Perfectly balanced with
low plants in front, getting taller gradually as your eyes work toward the rear.
Designed for the pleasure of passers-by, a most-generous perspective. And we
haven’t even mentioned the color splashes.
5600 Constitution – Form and foliage take center stage,
starting with the lime-green conifer. This is the garden an architect would
pick as a winner. Nice touches of flowers, such as variegated lilyturf, daylilies,
and big leaf hydrangea.
5701 Constitution – A burst of sunny, cheery oranges and yellows. The colors along the
walkway tie in nicely with those in the front garden. The primroses are perfect
for a June flower display.
6403 Rolling Hill – A newer garden, nicely designed and colorful. We saw salvia back and
blue, geraniums, rhododendron, lantanas, lilyturf, daylilies, sedum, barberry,
roses, a cutleaf maple and a watering can sculpture.
Thank you to
Hal Morley of Continental Property Management, our HOA board, The Rhoads Garden
for its years of support, and the judges. For contest rules and lists of past
winners, go to http://www.gwyneddpointegardencontest.blogspot.com/.
Judging criteria is at http://gwyneddpointegardencontest.blogspot.com/2019/03/.
Happy gardening!
