Country Court launches 'In Bloom' gardening competition

Country Court in Bloom is an annual gardening competition between homes in the Country Court Group. Led by the homes’ Well-being and Activities teams they incorporate the competition into their activities over the summer. This includes growing their own flowers and plants, outdoor activities and revamping outdoor spaces. Our chefs and catering teams get involved too using home grown ingredients in their dishes.

There are five categories to enter in 2020;

1. Best flower display: Make your home entrance look welcoming and your garden vibrant and inviting eg. with planters, hanging baskets or flower beds.
2. Best outdoor activity: Using your outside spaces; encourage your residents out into the garden with a fun and engaging outdoor activity.
3. Best meal made from homegrown produce: Chefs to use ingredients grown by residents in a main course or dessert.
4. Best feature for wildlife: Create a new feature to attract wildlife into the garden.
5. Best upcycling project: Get creative and use recycled materials and plants to make a garden feature or decoration.

The winning home will be announced at a garden party event in September, this year this will be hosted at Priory Court Care & Nursing Home in Burnham-on-sea who were crowned winners in 2019.

In Bloom 2020 gets underway

With the sunny weather, most places in the UK enjoyed over the Easter bank holiday many of the 32 care homes in the group have already started to get their outdoor activities underway. Lostock Lodge Care Home in Northwich was lucky enough to receive donations of plants from B&Q in Northwich and indoor plants from High Legh Garden Centre near Knutsford to get their competition started.

Meanwhile at Beech Lodge Care & Nursing Home in Holbeach residents have been enjoying garden games and afternoon tea in the garden.

See the entries on our Facebook pages

Keep an eye on our Facebook pages for progress as the competition gets underway, homes get quite competitive and the standard of entries continues to get higher each year so we’re expecting some great activities this year too.

“It’s lovely to see people getting out and about in the gardens at our homes”, said Marketing Manager, Lucy Bateson “Many of our residents have enjoyed gardening throughout their lives and it’s great to see them sharing their knowledge and experiences with staff and other residents. This competition brings everyone together; staff, residents and the local community can all contribute to Country Court in bloom”.