Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Mayor Michelle Wu handed out awards to the best gardeners in Boston.
On Tuesday night, gardeners from across the city were honored for the 2024 Mayor’s Garden Contest at Boston Public Garden. Winners were selected based on their garden’s use of color, layout, neatness, variety, quality and sustainable features.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan Woods said the contest encourages everyone to beautify the space where they live.
“I think the bottom line is to honor those that are making the effort to make Boston a safer and welcoming place. [They] make it more inviting and take pride in where they’re from and their neighborhood,” said Woods.
Dorchester’s Blair Campbell, who won the small garden category, agreed with Woods.
“I have been doing this for so many years and my neighbors started picking up on it and started cleaning up and putting flowers in, so it gives other people inspiration,” said Campbell.
For Campbell, gardening has been a family tradition for a long time.
“This house has been in my family since 1945. It was my grandfather’s house, so [year after year] I just keep planting more perennials and filling in where it’s necessary with annuals,” said Campbell.
Mattapan’s Molly Duggan took home first place in the large garden category.
“We bought our house five years ago and I had been looking forward to having outdoor space for quite a long time. I have filled every square inch with plants basically,” said Duggan.
WBZ NewsRadio's Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.
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