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Steve Leale took this picture of his garden basking in the sunshine Picture: STEVE LEALEArchant

Lockdown is ‘perfect time’ to get gardening

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The coronavirus lockdown is proving to be a useful time for people to spruce their garden up ahead of the summer months.

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Steve Leale in Saxmundham says he is a keen gardener Picture: STEVE LEALE

With garden centres starting to reopen and the warm, bright weather set to stay throughout next week, more and more Suffolk and north Essex residents have been spending their time tending to their yards.

Even more entries have been submitted for our Best Lockdown Garden competition, clearly demonstrating the talents of budding horticulturists.

The contest aims to find the top three lockdown gardens in the region, with winners receiving hundreds of pounds of gardening vouchers.

Steve Leale, who lives in Saxmundham, has given his garden a full makeover during lockdown, adding plenty of ornaments and decorative features.

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Grzegorz Maciaszek took this picture of food being served in his Ipswich garden Picture: GRZEGORZ MACIASZEK

He said: “I’m a very keen, green-fingered person.

“My garden was in need of refreshing. It was getting tired so this has been the perfect time to do it.

“It has kept me very busy.”

And Suzanne Osborne, from Stowmarket, said she has made her garden her lockdown project with a bit of help from her husband, Michael.

She said: “I’m nearly 55 but never really done gardening before.

“But I have done quite a lot, which is not bad for a novice. “Just by doing the gardening, my husband and I have been getting by during the lockdown.

“You can definitely do this on a budget.”

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Hannah Earrey, from Ipswich, has brought her garden to life in the past few months Picture: HANNAH EARREY

The prizes in the competition are:

• £200 to spend with enjoygardeningmore.co.uk (garden over 150 square metres)

• £100 to spend with enjoygardeningmore.co.uk (garden over 150 square metres)

• £50 to spend with enjoygardeningmore.co.uk (garden under 150 square metres)

To enter, send your photographs via email here along with your name, postcode, daytime telephone number and size of garden.
If you wish to tell us more about your garden, please include details in your email.
Closing date for submission of pictures is June 15, 2020. The gardens will appear in the newspaper from June 1 to 20. Enjoy Gardening More head gardener Peter McDermott will judge all published pictures and the winners will be announced in the week commencing July 6, 2020.
Normal Archant competition rules apply. Archant Community Media Ltd will solely use the data you provide for the purpose of running the competition, including contacting winners and the distribution of any prize.

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