By Beth Treffeisen
Mayor Martin Walsh welcomed garden winners from around the city to join in celebration of urban gardening during the Mayor Walsh’s Garden Contest 2017 in the Boston Public Garden on August 16.
This year there were 134 applicants to the Garden Contest. There are nine categories that range from small yard garden to shade garden to storefront, organization or Main Street District Garden.
Every year, each category gets narrowed down to five finalists. Then the judges, made up of members of the Garden Contest Hall of Fame, Boston Parks and Recreation Department staff and local open space advocates, visit each garden and chose the top three.
“This is one of my favorite events of the year, it is, because I love the fact that everyone puts so much effort into your gardens,” said Mayor Walsh. “You can see it people’s faces and the pride they have in the City. I truly love it.”
This year the Hall of Fame Recipients include Daphne Georges of Jamaica Plain, Martin Grealish of West Roxbury, Marie Fukuda and Tim Horn of Fenway, and Ronald H. Dion of the Fenway.
“I want to congratulate the Hall of Fame inductees because everyone knows your going into the Hall of Fame because you won it one too many times – which means you are really taking care of your property in the City,” said Walsh. “Whether you’re a master gardener or just have a green thumb it is great to see what you do in the beautiful neighborhoods of our City.”