Henley in Bloom selected for national RHS competition

HENLEY will represent the region in a national gardening competition this summer.

It has been selected to represent the region in the "town" category of the RHS Britain in Bloom UK finals from July 27 to August 14, after being awarded gold at the Thames and Chilterns in Bloom Awards last September.

It will be judged against finalists from other high-achieving communities across the country, who will be announced by RHS on January 29.

Councillor Kellie Hinton, who chairs the Bloom sub-committee, said: “All of the things that we do, we do primarily for the people that live here and visit here, and we would do them anyway, but entering these competitions gives us focus and I think it also rewards all of the people who put in the hard work.

“I just really hope that everyone wants to get involved, that we have fun putting the spotlight on Henley again and that we do as well as we can. Hopefully we bring that gold home again – that would be nice.

“If anybody wants to get involved absolutely get in touch to get involved, there is so many ways that you can help Henley in Bloom or one of the organisations that works with Henley in Bloom or individuals can get involved.

“We were sort of at the top of our game a decade ago, but right now I feel like what we’re doing in Henley is much better than we have ever done before so I can’t see how we could possibly do any better."

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Henley and a testament to the hard work, dedication, and creativity of all our volunteers and community partners.”

Run by the Royal Horticultural Society, the competition gives awards to community gardening schemes and environmental initiatives in towns and villages across the UK.

Last year was the first time Henley had entered since 2019. Previously, Henley won seven golds in the Thames and Chilterns regional competition in eight years.

Judges Julie Graham and Paul Cooper visited the town in July, following a route designed by the Henley in Bloom sub-committee.

This included Henley Bowls Club, Trinity churchyard, The Henley College, Henley Fire Station, the town centre and Marsh Meadows.

The bloom marking scheme was split into three sections — horticulture, which accounted for 40 per cent of the marks — environment, which made up 30 per cent of the score and community, which contributed towards the final 30.

The town received 34 out of 40 in horticulture, 26 out of 30 for environment and 27 out of 30 for community, giving an overall score of 87, two marks above the threshold needed for gold standard.

In the marking sheet, the judges said that the town had returned to the competition after its hiatus with “renewed vigour”.

Of their overall impression of the town, the judges picked out the adventure golf course and area around Mill Meadows as “impressive new features” and said that “careful consideration” had been given to the type of planting used throughout the town to ensure it is “sustainable and provides biodiversity”.

The judges also met with the individuals and community groups behind the schemes in each area.

The town has been selecting previously to represent the region on a national level three times and brought home a gold in 2015.

The same year, it was awarded a silver in the Europe-wide competition Entente Florale.