Garden Competition

EHS hosts the Garden Competition, which exemplifies our commitment to gardeners and gardening in the greater Edmonton area. The program recognizes excellence in gardening, the use of sustainable gardening practices, and gardeners for their passion and devotion to their gardens.

The judges rate each garden, scoring it based on aesthetics, plant variety and condition, neatness, and unique features. The Competition Entry Booklet lists the criteria for each category. Competitors receive an assessment containing their score for each criteria and copies of the judges’ comments, which are great for improving your score and your garden for next year.

The ingredients of a successful Competition include:

• A dedicated team of trained and experienced volunteer judges who rise to the challenge each year,
• Photographers who enhance competitors’ gardens with their photographic eye, and
• Most of all, the proud gardener who enters their garden creations to inspire all with their skill, hard work and love of gardening.

EHS sincerely appreciate the efforts of everyone involved.  Without any of these ingredients the Competition would not be the success it is!

An Entry Class for Everyone

Entry classes vary from year to year, responding to the evolving gardening environment. They include whole yards, decorative front or back yards, edible gardens, and more.

When the competition is being held, a Garden Competition Booklet will be available on the website. It lists all the classes, the terms and conditions, scoring criteria, tips to improve your scores, an entry form, and more.

Competition Terms and Conditions: Be sure to read the booklet carefully before entering. There may be changes from year to year and penalties may apply if rules are missed. For example, points will be lost if plants that appear on the Alberta noxious weed list are included in the garden.

How to enter

Go to the Garden Competition page in the EHS Store. Click on each category you want to enter and add it to your shopping cart, then check out. If you have paid for an EHS membership, make sure you select YES to the EHS Member selection box, because you will get a discount on the entry fees.

Questions?

Visit Contact Us and select “General Questions” from the Subject drop-down box. The email will be forwarded to our Garden Competition Program Lead for response.

Volunteers Needed!

We are currently seeking volunteers for:

• program lead (or team)
• judging (online training will be provided)
• photography of entries

There’s more detailed information on the Volunteer with the Garden Competition page. To volunteer, please visit Contact Us, select “Volunteer” from the Subject drop-down box, and tell us that you want to volunteer for the Garden Competition.

See Previous Winners

See winning gardens from previous years in the slider at the top of this page. The webmaster is working on creating a gallery and will link to it from here when it’s available. Some of the winning gardens have been profiled in Gardener’s Gate, too.