Two big days upcoming for Petworth’s ‘In Bloom’ campaign

July 12 is the date that Petworth will be judged by the South and South East Region ‘In Bloom’ to see if the town can retain the Gold award it has held for a third year running.

The second date; July 27 is when judges from the RHS Britain In Bloom competition will be visiting to judge the town in the UK Finals in the Small Town category.

Maggie South, one of the Petworth In Bloom team said; “Both dates are important. Petworth is looking beautiful. The work done to improve our green spaces, plant troughs and baskets, raise awareness of the importance of flowers and gardens for health and well-being and build on the wonderful heritage and environment Petworth has, will all be worthwhile.

"We are confident we can hold onto our Gold award and very excited about being selected for such a prestigious national competition.

"There are six towns in the Small Town category spread across the UK so the competition will be fierce, although we haven’t visited any of our competitors to find out.”

The town has also made a concerted effort to clean up for the competition, including the clean up of Petworth Primary School on June 25 when a small team took to clearing up the school’s sensory garden.

Petworth also held a town tidy up on Saturday, June 18, where residents were encouraged to bring gloves and cleaning tools to tidy the town.

Petworth people are invited to share the burden of getting the Town ready by tidying their area, taking part in a Town Tidy on Sunday, July 10 and Sunday, July 24, and putting out planters and baskets.

‘In Bloom’ includes the community and the environment as well as the horticulture so Petworth needs to look floral and tidy but supportive of wildlife and bio-diversity.

This means some areas have been left uncut and unmanaged this summer to encourage insects and birds into the town.

The Petworth In Bloom team have created signage to inform the public of special areas in the town and there is a display of the year’s

activities on the Petworth Town Council notice board in the main car park.

Street furniture has been renovated and improved and street weeds cleared.

“Every time we are out and about with our plucky volunteers, we get very positive comments from visitors and residents about the town’s planting and the difference flowers and plants make to the shops, businesses and to the public spaces such as Rosemary Gardens.

"Look out for us in our purple tabards!” said Maggie.

“We are always looking for more volunteers especially as autumn approaches and we have beds and planters to sort and more planting to do.

In Bloom is a year round project and the autumn can be especially busy.”

For further information about the Regional In Bloom award and the RHS Britain in Bloom Final and how you can support Petworth’s bid, please contact;

[email protected]