2022 WINNERS

 

Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association

18^th Annual Garden Contest - 2022 Winners

Co-Sponsored by the Gwynedd Pointe Homeowners Association

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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. If you are wondering what the judges look for, see the criteria at http://gwyneddpointegardencontest.blogspot.com/2016/05/. 

 There are a dozen or more gardens that are beautiful every year. In the spirit of encouraging newer gardeners, and because we only have thirteen prizes, we can’t always provide the recognition they deserve. We all know who they are – we see their handiwork – and hope they know we appreciate their contributions to the attractiveness of our community. And remember to judge for yourself as that is part of the fun! We won’t be upset if you disagree with our choices. 

Primarily, we 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.

Grand Prize - $100 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden

1002 Kenwood – We first noticed this well-tended garden a couple of years ago, and it gets better each year. It is all of a piece, with all elements seemingly in the right places, with sophistication, elegance, and even a peacefulness. We saw lady’s mantle, Japanese ferns, coreopsis, gorgeous spiderworts, Cranesbill geraniums, pansies, lobelia, hellebores, hostas, small Japanese maple, creeping blue juniper, and astilbes along the walkway. Nice repetition of colors throughout. Touches of yellow add nice, bright accents.

Second Place – $75 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden

3503 Carriage  – A perennial favorite, excuse the pun, the gardener here changes things up every year and is an expert with playing with the sloping topography and plant height to produce a dramatic effect. We saw rose campion, hibiscus, a tall sunflower which is already a focal point and not even blooming yet, butterfly bush, lantana, creeping Jenny, ornamental fruits and berries, Joe-pye weed, and an interesting-looking elephant-shaped watering can.

Third Place - $50 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden

6104 Rolling Hill – The sign identifies it as “Greg’s Garden,” and you may recognize the name because we’ve honored it before. Similar to 1002 Kenwood, above, in that there are visual reasons why plants are where they are planted, so to speak, and this year it looks really good. From our perspective, the left side of the walkway contains the perennials and the right side has the annuals. We saw astible, black and blue salvia, heather, bee balm, coral bells, lantana, pansies, geraniums, and sundrops. Our feathered friends surely enjoy the birdbath.

 

Honorable Mentions (in order by address) - $15 Gift Certificate for the Rhoads Garden

401 Evergreen – This garden is a couple of years old and is coming along nicely, with well-chosen placements within a smaller space. We saw petunias, pentas, bee balm, rose, hydrangea, coneflower, zinnia, and oxalis. There is also an attractive basket of begonias and lantana.

903 Kenwood – The whitish stone mulch makes for a neat, orderly display. Many who use stone mulch place landscaping fabric or plastic under it and expect that maintenance will not be needed. But the stones catch dust and leaves that soon decompose and become soil, and weed seeds, and then the garden needs tending. This one is well-cared for. The coneflowers, euonymus and salvia farinacea look great among the stones.

Judges’ Note: There are many fine gardens on Kenwood.

3404 Carriage – This smaller garden has a nice, neat border and a birdbath as focal point. We saw liriope, penta, lantana, and petunias surrounding a Kousa dogwood.

4100 Quaker – There are some nice gardens in this row and this one sits back a bit. A wonderful display of violas, impatiens, Stella D’Oro lilies, daylilies, coneflower, balloon flower, perilla leaf (a Korean mint) and rhododendron.

4304 Congress – This is a nice garden that has to deal with limited sunlight. We saw hosta, white azalea, yellow lilies, gladiolas, coneflower and begonia.

5905 Constitution – An attractive garden inside scalloped edging. The St. Francis statue provides focus. We saw boxwoods, liriope (we think), coral bells, abelia, a white potted geranium, a sundial and an ornamental sphere.

6105 Rolling Hill – We’ve honored this garden quite a few times. It’s back because we’ve never seen a display quite as thoughtful and attractive of what almost looks like a plant painting in the middle of it all. It includes Scotch moss, celosia and dianthus.

6501 Rolling Hill – A beautiful display of Shasta daisy, geraniums, vinca, azalea, holly, and marigolds in pots. A couple of boulders provide a nice contrast.

6803 Colonial – This whimsical garden certainly makes you stop and look, particularly the metal lizards and other garden art pieces among the brightly-colored flowers, all contained within a nice piled fieldstone border.

Judges’ Note: Rolling Hill and Colonial are gardening paradises.

7103 Union – Overall this garden has an interesting yellow tint, from the grasses and the sea oats along the wall. We saw orange snapdragons, celosia, orange lily, hosta, lemony lace elderberry (we think), a Japanese maple, and a baseball player sculpture.

Judges’ Note: Union is a good place to see nice gardens, some of which belong to board or committee members who are ineligible for the contest.

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/. Happy gardening!