2020 WINNERS

Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association

16^th 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!