PEBWORTH Prepares to Fly the Flag for Worcestershire in the Royal Horticultural Society Competition.

As one of the finalists vying to win a coveted Gold medal and be crowned one of the cleanest, greenest and most beautiful places in the UK, Pebworth in Bloom volunteers have started preparing the village to look its best for this year’s RHS Britain in Bloom Finals competition.

A weekly maintenance programme of weeding, planting and mowing as well as cleaning and painting street furniture is underway and residents are being encouraged to “do their bit” through a number of successful events. With assistance from “All Things Wild”, Honeybourne an afternoon of activities was held to show children how to encourage wildlife into their gardens and Ursula Key-Davies of Fibrex Nursery, home to the national pelargonium collection, demonstrated to a large group the best way to plant and maintain hanging baskets so that they will be looking spectacular for the judging in August. At the end of May eleven Pebworth gardens will be open as part of the National Gardens Scheme and visitors will be able to spy lots of “heroes and villains” in the popular scarecrow competition.

Yvonne Rose, chair of Pebworth in Bloom, said “Our aim is to get the whole community involved whether you are a beginner gardener or a seasoned expert. Even just adding a few plants to your front garden , planting up a container or picking up litter in the village can make a huge difference to making Pebworth a greener and more pleasant place to live. We are looking forward to welcoming the judges in the summer when we will be flying the flag for Worcestershire.”

J McLEISH