This year HC-One’s annual Gardening Competition saw a number of outstanding creations submitted from across its care homes in the UK. This year’s Gardening Competition has been even more significant in bringing joy and excitement to Residents and Colleagues, during what has been a difficult time for everyone due to pandemic.
It has been a fantastic year for entries, and the judges thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many gardening projects from across HC-One’s homes.
The judges for this year’s competition were Karen Johnson, Clinical Director and Chief Nurse; Gary Reed, Property Director and James Tugendhat, Chief Executive Officer at HC-One.
This year there were four categories that care homes could enter and a number of prizes to be won:
· The best pot/basket - five prizes of £100.
· Best first impressions - prize of £500.
· Best outdoor visiting area – five prizes of £250.
· Green fingers award for Residents who showed outstanding gardening skills in their projects – seventeen prizes of £100.
One care home that stood out and submitted an exemplary entry was also selected as the overall Gardening Competition winner winning a prize of £750.
Karen Johnson, Clinical Director and Chief Nurse at HC-One stated,
“I thoroughly enjoyed being a judge in this year’s Gardening Competition and it was my pleasure to review the entries submitted by our care homes. We had such a high volume and standard of entries this year. Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to our winners.”
The
overall winner of this year’s Gardening Competition was
Elmwood House Care Home. The judges loved the welcoming atmosphere of the garden, surrounded by colourful flowers and vibrant wildlife. The garden has been transformed into a relaxing space to sit, unwind and reflect. The garden has now become a talking point in the home and the Residents enjoy spotting and recognising the different items in the garden that have been turned into quirky garden features. One of the features is an old BBQ which was spray painted, decorated and now contains flowers that Residents helped to plant. Kitchen Colleagues saved tins for Residents to paint which were turned into attractive vases to hold stunning flowers in.
Tracey Klue, Home Manager at Elmwood House Care Home said,
“We are delighted to have been chosen by the judges as the overall winner of this year’s Gardening Competition. Our Colleagues and Residents thoroughly enjoyed transforming our garden area and I’m delighted to see their hard work to enhance the outdoor areas of our care home for visitors and our Residents to enjoy all year round has been recognised.”
The winners of the
best pot/basket category are:
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The Elms Care Home – The homes gardening club got stuck in and enjoyed spending time being outdoors. The Residents planted a variety of seeds including tomatoes, sunflowers, marigolds, peppers, chives and pumpkins. Everyone got their hands dirty and the results turned out fantastic.
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Berry Hill Park Care Home – A wonderful selection of colourful flowers were proudly presented in an array of containers alongside hand painted pebbles and stones that Residents had decorated. The winning pot was designed by Resident Barbara Grime and her family generously donated £100 worth of vouchers for her and the home to buy new plants and flowers for this and to spruce up the garden area.
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Sutherland Court Care Home – A keen group of Residents helped Colleagues to replant the hanging baskets in the garden areas around the home. They also tended to the herb and vegetable garden and planted fresh seeds into plant pots that are dotted around the garden.
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Cradlehall Care Home – Residents and Colleagues at the care home recycled wood and upcycled drawers of furniture through sanding, painting and decorating the items to transform them into planters for their amazing flowers and plants. Some Residents even got creative with transforming and decorating teapots into flower planters, and growing roots into shoots.
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Pennwood Lodge Care Home – Residents enjoyed choosing, planting, nurturing and watering the plants as they grew in their new cottage-themed garden. Lights, garden ornaments, artwork and bird boxes that Residents made were also added to the garden area. Residents also brought their green fingers indoors through planting indoor plants, including sensory plants and flowers, and helped with painting the containers and decorating the communities of the home. Residents now enjoy sitting in these areas to relax and there are future plans to add a water feature to the area.
These homes were exceptionally creative with their gardens and it was lovely to see so many of the Residents involved with the creation of the flower pots and baskets. A fabulous effort from all involved.
For the
best first impressions category the winner is
Elmwood House Care Home. The judges were particularly impressed with the upcycling of tired and dull old garden furniture. In 2011, the home had a bench donated in memory of one of their Residents which became a significant garden feature. Over the years, the bench had become worn and weathered, so with the consent of the family that donated the bench, the home transformed it through sanding and painting it bright blue. The bench is now surrounded by a vibrant and colourful selection of plants. The team created a gorgeous and wonderful garden that certainly didn’t disappoint in their presentation entry.
The winners of the
best outdoor visiting area category are:
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Seabrooke Manor Care Home – Residents and Colleagues enjoyed transforming the outdoor area of their care home to make it a pleasant setting for everyone. Residents participated in digging and planting the flower beds as well as ensuring they were cared for and watered in order to grow.
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Bankwood Care Home – Colleagues and Residents transformed their garden into a charming and relaxing area for visits to take place in, with a beautiful array of flowers, an artificial lawn and a wooden gazebo to make the outdoor area comfortable and picturesque for visitors and Residents to enjoy.
·
Alexander Court Care Home – Residents renovated the garden area by spending time in the fresh air planting flowers and ensuring these are watered to make sure the garden is looking its best. Car tyres and old tins were turned into beautiful flower and plant containers. Residents also painted small ceramic plant pots and gnomes to accessorise the garden shelf.
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The Birches Care Home – Residents and Colleagues have been working on ensuring the canopy areas are set up and filled with a range of colourful plants and flowers for visitors to take delight in when visiting the home.
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Llys Newydd Care Home – The home has turned their garden area into a beautiful and welcoming environment, including a gazebo area, for visitors and Residents to enjoy spending time in together creating new memories during their visits.
These care homes have worked very hard to transform their outdoor areas, which has played an even bigger part in the lives of Residents and their loved ones whilst certain types of visiting have been restricted. They have created a comfortable picturesque environment for all to enjoy and create special memories in.
Last, but certainly not least, this year’s
green fingers award category winners who are Residents living in HC-One care homes are:
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Joan Mullin, Cedar House Care Home
Joan created her own outdoor vegetable garden including peppers and a herb garden to use for savoury or aromatic purposes. She also helped to plant hanging baskets and enjoyed taking care of the garden by watering and pruning the plants, as well as general tidying of the garden each day to ensure it is kept looking nice.
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Jackie Howick, Oakhill House Care Home
When Jackie first moved into the care home earlier this year, her room overlooked a patio area that needed some tender loving care. Jackie took on the challenge and volunteered her time to transform this outdoor area with colourful plants and shrubbery, including three raised containers with petunias and geraniums. Due to Jackie’s hard work and the fruits of her labours, the bedrooms now benefit from amazing views of picturesque flowers and plants, with Residents enjoying visiting the patio area.
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Christopher Trusler, St Christopher’s Care Home
Chris is delighted to have won a prize in the HC-One Gardening Competition this year. Chris spends a lot of time tending to his plants. He grows a range of flowers and herbs on his window sill. Chris also helps maintain the outside space for all of the other Residents to enjoy and he is a valued honouree of the Wellbeing Team. In his spare time, Chris grows lettuce and pansies for our Resident tortoises, Del Boy and Rodney, which he also takes care of. Next summer, Chris plans to begin planting oranges and lemons from seeds.
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Michael Measham, Willow Brook Care Home
Michael used to work for Nottingham County Council and has been a gardener all of his life. When he moved to Willow Brook Care Home four years ago he continued to enjoy spending time gardening and helped to plan and maintain the flower beds in the garden. Michael planted a beautiful Dalia and has helped to transform the outdoor area with colourful baskets containing plants and flowers. In the greenhouse, Michael has grown tomato plants and bedding plants for baskets and containers.
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Mavis McDougall, Averill House Care Home
When Mavis first moved into the care home, she had never participated in gardening before, however, she soon joined the gardening club, really enjoyed it and has now become the main garden ambassador at the home. Gardening has significantly improved her happiness and wellbeing, being out in the fresh air and keeping active. She helps with digging out the planters, picking which flowers to plant, ensuring the garden is watered and also helped with painting the garden furniture. Mavis is really proud of her hard work to transform the garden area into something beautiful, including helping to dig the wildlife pond and choosing where to place stones, flowers and plants. The outdoor area has been transformed from a bare garden area to a relaxing outdoor area with a wildlife pond, and a seating area with wonderful flowers, plants, and a bar.
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Jill Aston, Joyce Spencer, Margaret Revel, Marjorie Milton and Vera Almond, Elmwood House Care Home
Five Residents at Elmwood House Care Home took a huge interest in the gardening competition this year. They were really excited to see what they could do with their gardening projects and came up with the idea of recycling some tins from the kitchen, which were transformed into bright colourful containers to put plants in that were donated by family members.
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Dorothy Kostalas, Sutherland Court Care Home
Dorothy has added many new vibrant colours to the garden area with her choice of flowers and plants and has created magical potted flower and plant baskets. She was also involved in choosing a bird bath and nest to attract wildlife into the garden area, and picking unique and quirky containers to display flowers and plants in.
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Ray Sutherland, Cradlehall Care Home
Ray has improved his mobility by getting out into the garden and has become a keen gardener, helping wherever he can. Ray can be relied upon to tend and water indoor herbs and plants. He also enjoys sitting outside in the garden and asks other Residents to join him in the charming garden for afternoon tea. Colleagues can always depend on Ray to help them with painting garden furniture, planting bulbs, raking the grass and watering the plants.
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Andy Smith, Kinnaird Manor Care Home
Andy received a beautiful rose plant for his birthday in May which he planted into a large pot, instead of in the ground. He said it is better to plant the rose plant into the pot as it’s easier to move if you want to change its position to protect it from the elements. The plant transformed into a fully grown rose bush in only a matter of months.
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Mary Garner, Roby House Care Home
Mary has helped transform the garden area by growing flowers, plants and vegetables, ensured these are well cared for and helped with planting and feeding them. Mary is great with coming up with ideas to try out in the garden, including adding bird feeds and baths. Mary isn’t shy of getting her hands dirty and loves spending time sat out in the garden watching the wildlife and caring for the plants.
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Albert Neil, Dove Court Care Home
Albert is a keen gardener and helped to pot the hanging baskets and eye-catching flowers in containers currently proudly on display in the garden. Gardening has helped improve Albert’s wellbeing and provided opportunities for him to reminisce using all of his senses.
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Francine McCardle and Gil Partington, Rose Court Care Home
Francine and Gil prepared colourful flower pots for the garden which are blooming and on display on the driveway up to the home’s car park. They both had fun and enjoyed participating in the gardening project. Francine enjoys taking part in gardening activities, inputs into any discussions involving the garden area, has a keen eye for design and detail and takes pleasure in keeping the flowers watered and weeded. Gil likes spending time in the garden, assisting with planting flowers and socialising with other Residents.
James Tugendhat, Chief Executive Officer at HC-One commented,
“Well done to all our Residents and Colleagues who participated in this year’s gardening competition. We were overwhelmed with the number of submissions we received and were very impressed with the efforts and transformations that we saw. Congratulations to all of our winners!”
The judges of the HC-One Gardening Competition were incredibly grateful to all entrants for taking part and were especially impressed with this year’s prize winners. HC-One has had a great success with this year’s Gardening Competition and look forward to running the Gardening Competition in subsequent years to come.