TOWNS and villages are set to battle it out with pitchfork and spade in a prestigious national gardening competition.

Applications are now open for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wales in Bloom, the flagship competition for community gardening groups in Wales.

In 2019, Denbigh in Bloom won the Best Town in Wales category after planting railing baskets and raised planters along the town high street, roundabouts and public spaces.

Categories this year included large town, town, small town, village and coastal community. The awards also feature school gardens, care homes, allotments, restaurants and business frontage.

Lydnsey Tasker, chair of Denbigh in Bloom, which took part in Wales in Bloom for the first time last year, said the group was started the group because “Denbigh is a beautiful town with so much history, but it was becoming shabby and run-down”.

“Now we can hardly walk down the high street without receiving comments about how wonderful the town looks,” she added.

“The volunteers have made such a difference and hopefully more visitors and business owners will be attracted to the town.”

Among the group’s initiatives were its ‘Pots for Shops’ campaign which handed out 56 planted flowerpots to shops along the route.

It also planted a disused telephone box full of shrubs and carried out gardening projects with primary schools in Denbigh, Brownies club, residents at Plas Eleri Care Home and Denbigh Men’s Shed. Its flower displays were designed by Green Fingers owner Graham Pickles.

Following the success, the group will now also compete in Britain in Bloom in the summer, alongside Colwyn Bay in Bloom, which won the large town category in Wales in Bloom last year.

Peter Barton-Price, chair of Wales in Bloom, said: “I would like to thank the armies of volunteers who support us every year, putting in hours of time planting, growing, weeding, watering and trimming to producing amazing displays.

“Many have spent the winter planning this year’s display and are looking forward to getting their hands dirty to make our towns, villages and cities a riot of colour throughout the summer.”

For more information and to apply visit www.walesinbloom.org.uk or email info@walesinbloom.org