The society’s annual garden competition was judged at the weekend with five trophies and 353 certificates of merit awarded.
President Trevor Gamblin said changing the format of the competition two years ago had paid dividends and there was evidence gardeners awarded merit certificates last year had encouraged their neighbours to make more of an effort too.
Society members drove every Ashburton street last month and selected gardens to be viewed by judges from the Christchurch Beautifying Association. The four judges saw over 350 gardens on Sunday as well as outstanding displays of flowers, lawns and special features.
The best street was Reighton Drive and the best cul de sac was Balmoral Place. The best floral display and best lawn were at 15 Balmoral Place, while the best special feature was at 87 Oak Grove.
Among the Reighton Drive residents are Yvonne and Graham Matthews, who have lived in their house mid-way along the street for the past 14 years. When they moved in they were the last house on the street and their property was bordered by an empty section.
Since then the street has been developed and established with many new properties.
Their tended garden, considered one of the best in the street by neighbours, is full of coloured blooms and established shrubs and trees. It has been a labour of love they have grown and improved since moving in.
Mrs Matthews enjoys lots of colours in her garden and is partial to white and red together.
The couple each have their own roles in the garden: Mrs Matthews tends to the maintenance of the flowers and roses, which she prunes twice a year, while Mr Matthews does the pruning of the 50-plus shrubs on the property, including keeping the buxus (hedging) in order using a hand shear.
It’s a job he says gets done when Mrs Matthews is not around to supervise, and direct.
Mrs Matthews says to keep their garden growing abundantly, and to bring out the colour in the roses and hanging baskets, they use a combination of compost and retail purchased sheep pellets.
In last year’s new format, the horticultural society judges awarded 240 certificates of merit to gardens in the district and this year that jumped to 353.
Some 259 certificates were presented to gardens north of the Ashburton River, while 46 went to Tinwald gardens and 48 to gardens in the Lochlea Lifestyle Resort.
Mr Gamblin said a number of neighbouring gardeners had emerged, suggesting that many certificate recipients last year had encouraged their neighbours to help raise their community standard.
"A win-win situation as far as the horticultural society is concerned," he said.
"The visiting judges also made the comment that our better gardens were on a par with their Christchurch counterparts."
Gardeners receiving certificates of merit in their letterboxes will be encouraged to attend the society’s next monthly meeting, when the five trophies will be presented.
That meeting will be on February 24, at the Walnut Avenue sports pavilion, at 7.30pm. Mr Gamblin is hoping some will return as new members.
