Urban gardeners turn the city green

There's a mini green revolution happening in Manchester's back gardens and alleyways. When the city first entered the Royal Horticultural Society's North West in Bloom awards in 2004, it brought home three awards. At this year's ceremony, which was held last week in Southport, it won a record 64.

Awards poured in for everything from big corporate projects to communal herb gardens. Highlights include Didsbury being nominated for the Britain in Bloom Finals 2010, Spinningfields winning the Best Commercial Effort Award and Stansfield Street Communal Garden in Newton Heath scooping both Best Overall Award and Best Neighbourhood Award.

Other winners include the transformation of disused garages into a community garden in Blackley, and the development of communal gardens at high rise blocks in Charlestown. A run-down alley in Harpurhey which has been transformed into a beautiful Mediterranean-style garden also took home an award.

South Manchester residents received numerous awards including a group in Hulme who have set up a communal herb garden, a group in Didsbury which includes a 90-year-old volunteer, and a group in Northenden which has planted up to 10,000 bulbs – so many they are now running out of areas to plant.

Many of the gardening schemes have been supported by Manchester City Council’s CASH grant scheme. This allows residents to apply for funding from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds for projects that improve their local area and benefit local people.

Last week's awards come after Manchester city centre won a prestigious silver award in the Urban Community category of the RHS Britain in Bloom Awards last month. Judges for this were impressed by sites such as Albert Square, Cross Street, Castlefield and the Spinningfields development.

Councillor Paul Andrews, Manchester City Council’s executive member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “This is a magnificent achievement for the city and residents should be extremely proud. To have entered so many schemes and to have won so many awards says a lot about the quality and standard of entries. I hope residents will continue to get involved and we might see even more awards next year.”