A WELLINGTON community garden has won a share of £10,000 worth of plants as part of a competition.

Environmental group Transition Town Wellington is one of five community garden competition winners to receive a select range of plants and garden care products to add to their plot.

In June, the Blue Diamond Garden Centre Group launched the competition with the aim of supporting local groups create new community gardens or to give a makeover to existing ones across the UK.

The group offered a total of £10,000 worth of plants and garden care products to be split equally across five community gardens, along with six hours of expert help and advice to get the projects off to a flying start.

Not-for-profit Transition Town Wellington was established in 2008 with the aim of helping their town become more self-sufficient as a reaction to the climate and ecological crises.

Part of their work is to create community gardens in public spaces in the town with food for residents to pick for free. These spaces are managed to increase biodiversity and soil health to benefit nature, as well as people.

A representative of the group said: “The Community Gardening Group from Transition Town Wellington are looking forward to creating the next stage of the Forest Garden at Fox’s Field with the help of the Blue Diamond grant and the advice from Blackdown Garden Centre.

“The aim is to plant up this 450 square metre space over the next 12 months with perennial plants and bushes, including soft fruit and other edibles, herbs and cut flowers which can provide a harvest for local residents and a home for wildlife.”

The Blue Diamond Garden Centre Group Community Garden Competition was inspired by the 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Octavia Hill Garden.

The Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond with the National Trust, celebrated pioneering social reformer Octavia Hill (1838-1912), a founder of the National Trust, who believed that ‘the healthy gift of air and the joy of plants and flowers’ were vital in everyone’s life.