SNG In Bloom gardening competition 2025

The 2025 In Bloom winning gardens

Our SNG In Bloom customer gardening competition celebrates customers with excellent gardening skills, who go the extra mile to make their green spaces vibrant, beautiful and eco-friendly places for their loved ones, neighbours and community to enjoy. This year’s competition had four categories and we were blown away by the creativity and passion on display in each of the 139 applications from customers all across London, Hertford, and the South and Southwest. We are delighted to announce and showcase the wonderful winning gardens and gardeners!

The competition was incredibly tough, and the winners were decided by our CEO Mark Washer, our Community Foundation Managing Director Matt Buckham, Ruth Picknett-Powell who is a customer from our Customer Influence Panel, and Maria Vasquez, the winner of our Small Garden Innovator Award in last year’s customer gardening competition!

Matt Buckham, In Bloom judge and Managing Director of SNG’s Community Foundation, commented: “It was really difficult to choose this year, but it’s certainly been a pleasure judging some brilliant gardens, plants, and green spaces for our In Bloom competition. While we aim to provide good quality places to live, it’s our customers who turn them into real homes to thrive in by adding colour, beauty and life.”

There were prizes of £200 vouchers for first place winners, with £100 vouchers for second place and £50 for third place. All winners also received a certificate and trophy with their prize! To celebrate the hard work applicants had made to maintain and grow beautiful green spaces, we also awarded a £20 Amazon voucher to the shortlisted applicants and ran a prize draw for all other applicants where 30 randomly selected applicants won a £20 Amazon voucher too!

The winners

Home Garden In Bloom award

This award celebrates vibrant and colourful well managed private green spaces. Judges considered how well customers had added beauty and variety to the garden, while showcasing some great gardening skills.

Joint first place - Sophia Newman, Devon

Image 1: Sophia holding her trophy and certificate, with Henry Palmer, Community Investment and Partnerships Lead at SNG.

Image 2: Sophia sat on a bench in her garden with Henry Palmer from SNG.

Joint first place - Deborah Taylor, Hampshire

Image 3: Deborah holding a pink plant in her garden.

Image 4: Deborah’s daughter, Jade, showcasing the In Bloom trophy with SNG CEO Mark Washer.

Third place - Rose Saunders

Image 5 and 6: photos of Rose’s beautiful garden.

Thriving Community Garden award

An award for individuals or groups who have come together to create and maintain a community or shared garden or green space. Judges considered how well customers made the space visually appealing and how the gardening work has benefitted the community, contributed to the improvement of a communal area, and reduced waste.

First place - Poppy Community Garden, Andover

Images 1 and 2: photos of the award winning Poppy Community Garden.

Image 3: Winning gardener Michael Parker with young community gardener helper Luna and Vic McFarlane, Community Investment and Partnerships Lead at SNG.

Second place - Bircherley Court and Priory Court Community Garden, Hertford

Images 4, 5 and 6: photos of the stunning Bircherley Court and Priory Court communal grounds and greenery.

Third place - Parkfield House Community Garden, Harrow

Image 7: Photo of the brightly coloured plants and flowers at Parkfield House

Small Garden Innovator award

This award champions customers who have innovatively utilised smaller or indoor spaces, with greenery that is a little different and maximises space.

First place - Luke Carpenter, Swindon

Image 1: Luke with his partner, Sarah, Matt Buckham, Managing Director of the SNG Community Foundation and Vic McFarlane, Community Investment and Partnerships Lead at SNG.

Image 2: Luke’s vibrant front garden.

Second place - Anthony Tester, Reading

Image 3: Anthony in his garden with his trophy and certificate.

Image 4: Anthony’s colourful garden space.

Third place - Danny Sullivan, Torquay

Image 5: Danny’s vast indoor greenery displayed in his living room

Image 6: Danny’s tranquil outdoor space.

Sustainable Garden award

This award is for individuals who have created eco-friendly gardens and green spaces. This could include homegrown food, spaces for wildlife, recycled elements and variety of plants.

First place: Willow May, Dorset

Images 1: Willow with her trophy in her garden with Diane Humphries, Community Investment and Partnerships Lead at SNG.

Image 2: Willow showing Diane around her sustainable garden.

Second place: Saowanee Warren, Dorset

Third place: Jonathan Giddings, Wiltshire

Image 3: Jonathan’s eco-friendly garden.

Image 4: Beautiful pink flowers in Jonathan’s garden.

Congratulations to all of these extremely talented gardeners- we hope you enjoy using your prizes to make your gardens even more beautiful!

We welcome all customers to take part in our future community projects and initiatives like this which will be announced on our website, social media and in our customer newsletters.