April 19th 2022
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is once again inviting garden visitors to vote for their favourite RHS Partner Garden in the UK and beyond. Following the success of the inaugural competition in 2021, people will have a chance to name their top ‘Feel Good Garden’ out of more than 200 that are part of the scheme.
Thousands of votes were cast in 2021, with Larch Cottage Nurseries in Cumbria’s Eden Valley taking the top prize out of six regional finalists. This year, voting will open earlier to give people more time to visit RHS Partner Gardens and make their selections.
Votes can be cast via the RHS website at www.rhs.org.uk/pgoty from 19 April 2022 until 30 September 2022.
Visitors can choose their favourite gardens in each of six regions: Midlands and East Anglia; North and Northern Ireland; Overseas; Scotland; South-East and Channel Islands; and South West and Wales. All voters will be entered into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in 2023 with a luxury two-night stay close to the showground.
The gardens with the most votes in each of the six regions will then be ranked according to the number of votes they have received relative to their total visitor numbers for the previous year to determine the overall winner. The winner will be revealed in December, and will receive a special plaque to display at their property as well as a professional photoshoot appearing in The Garden magazine.
RHS Partner Garden Manager Helen Feary said: “Our first RHS Partner Garden of the Year competition was a huge success – we were thrilled to see so many visitors casting their votes and leaving wonderful comments about what visiting the gardens means to them. I’m looking forward to the 2022 vote being even bigger and I can’t wait to find out who this year’s winner will be.”
There are currently 207 gardens in the RHS Partner Gardens scheme, including 11 new gardens in 2022, which RHS Members can visit free of charge at selected times of the year. They comprise some of the most famous gardens in the world as well as privately-owned hidden gems, and beyond the UK can be found in 8 countries across the globe, including Barbados, Japan and South Africa.
Source: RHS Press Release