Wollondilly Shire Council has a long and proud history of conducting the Wollondilly Spring Garden Competition. Established in 1990, Wollondilly Shire Council is one of the few local Councils still organising and providing a garden competition for its local residents and community.

This is an inclusive event and we strongly encourage entries from young aspiring green thumbs (children) to older green thumbs (seniors), individual gardeners, families, community groups, cultural groups, gardeners with different abilities, commercial organisations and school communities.

With fourteen (14) categories, there is certainly something for everyone. With an array of great prizes to be won! 

Grand Champion Award
This will be awarded to the garden which achieves the highest overall points as allocated by the judging panel.

Judges Encouragement Award(s)
This will be awarded to a garden/s where there is obvious enthusiasm, eagerness to learn new techniques and gardening strategies and clear improvements to the previous landscape.

Best Environmentally Sustainable Garden
This award will be presented to the garden judged as being most sustainable, incorporating the following: maintenance with a minimal environmental footprint, use of locally-sourced or recycled materials, demonstrated low-level water requirements through plant choice, mulching and collection of rainwater, growing and/or propagating own plants and produce, composting and exhibiting overall good environmental practices.

Best Senior’s Garden
This category is open to residents aged over 65 years where the entrant has personally established and maintained their own garden. This can include private homes, retirement villages and nursing homes; pot gardens will be considered.

Best Small Residential Garden
Gardens entered into this category are considered to cover an area less than 1000 square metres.

Best New Garden
This category is open to residents whose garden is less than 3 years old.
Best Large Residential Garden Gardens entered into this category are considered to cover an area between (1000² - 4000² metres).

Best Rural Garden
Gardens entered into this category are considered to cover an area greater than 4000² metres. This can include the whole garden or a part of it.

Best Community Garden
Entries for this category must have a high level of contribution and collaboration from community volunteers working together to plan and manage the garden. Practices of community engagement and participation are highly valued in this category. Entries where maintenance of the garden/park is assisted by the Wollondilly Shire Council are still eligible for consideration but will be weighed against other entries.

Best Flower Garden
Entries in this category are focused on providing an abundance of eye catching colour and fragrance stemming from vibrant displays of spring annuals and / or seasonal flowering shrubs.

Best Courtyard Garden
This category can include, but is not limited to, courtyards, pot gardens, balconies, and terraces.

Best Native Garden
Entries in this category must consist of a significant proportion of Australian Native plants, and should provide habitats and food sources to encourage native fauna.

Best Edible Garden
Entries in this category can be: Vegetable gardens, fruit gardens, culinary herb gardens, bush tucker gardens or gardens that are a combination of all of these. Gardens entered must contain consumable produce.

Best School Garden
For this category, ‘school’ is defined as any educational institution including preschools, childcare, primary schools, high schools, special schools. Entries in this category must demonstrate that the garden has predominantly resulted from the work of the students, with a connection between the garden and knowledge gained in the classroom an advantage. The garden can be of any variety.

Best Business / Commercial Garden 
(Includes gardens professionally maintained)
Gardens in this category can be of any size, and include places of worship, hospitals, industrial properties, businesses, nursing homes, schools, community areas, retail premises and hotels. The gardens can be of any variety.

Best Verge Category
Gardens in this category are required to be situated between the sidewalk and the road, and create a
harmonious and visually appealing outdoor space.

All entries in the Spring Garden Competition will be personally judged by a panel of appointed garden judges and horticulture professional. Wollondilly Shire Council will contact entrants to confirm their allocated judging time slot for the judging panel to view each Spring Garden Competition entry. Judging will take place from the end of September to early / mid October.

It is preferable that Spring Garden Competition entrants are present at their allocated judging timeslot and during the judging of their entry. Judging generally takes between 10 – 30 minutes depending on the size and nature of the entry. Entrants are encouraged to show the judges around their garden. The judges may ask the entrant some basic questions about their garden and gardening practices.

Judging will be based on the following key factors:

• Maintenance - the lack of elements such as dead and diseased plants, well presented lawns and clipped shrubs, considered water usage and overall attention to detail.
• Design - aspects such as layout, colour, use of line, form and texture, plant use and once again attention to detail within this context.
• Intent - the active participation of the entrant, level of knowledge and enthusiasm and extent of third party assistance.
• Environmental consideration - reduced water use, moisture retention strategies, recycling and reuse. Minimal pesticide and chemical use and plant selection.
• Natural environment - encouraging wildlife (provide a habitat or food source for local native fauna), use of native and local plant species and free of declared or environmental weeds.
• Creativity, innovation and passion – is the garden creative and innovative, does the garden reflect the Wollondilly region’s unique environment?

The Judging panel will consist of:

• A Horticulturalist
• Two members of the Community (e.g. local garden club or previous winner