This year, the Watts Gallery estates team participated in the annual gardening competition, Guildford in Bloom. Verey Head Gardener, Chris Sharples, shares the story of their journey.

The decision to enter the competition was sparked by one of our gardening volunteers, Lis Butcher. We found our niche in the ‘Wildlife Garden’ category, which best suited us; a garden that puts wildlife first or has it as a key objective, which we have done since I joined the team. For the last three years, we’ve made a concerted effort to encourage wildlife as much as possible.

Our passion for wildlife resonated with the judges. They were extremely impressed with our commitment and saw our bird boxes including a new owl box, as well as the incorporation of nature around our site, with things like the flower gallery which is on the wall outside the Tea Shop.

Our fantastic team of gardening volunteers attended the awards ceremony and we emerged victorious, winning the Gold Prize for Best Wildlife Garden–sharing the honour with the Rosamund Community Garden in Guildford. We are all really thrilled to have won this prize, because it signifies our continued dedication to the environment, specifically to wildlife and promoting biodiversity within the boundaries of our site.

It was incredibly rewarding to win this award and get acknowledgement for all the hard work of our estates team and volunteers.