Mayor’s Garden Contest encourages beautification of Boston

Registration for the 18th annual Boston Mayor’s Garden Contest is less than a month away, so if you take pride in your garden or have a favorite garden that you pass by, the mayor and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department encourage you to visit their website by July 11 to enter the contest.

According to Parks and Recreation Department Spokesman Ryan Woods, “the contest recognizes gardeners who have landscaped, planted flowers, trees and shrubs, and, in the process, helped beautify Boston’s neighborhoods.”

Categories for gardens include: off-ground gardens, such as porch or window box; shade gardens; under 250 square foot yard gardens; 250 – 500 square foot gardens; greater than 500 square foot gardens; community gardens; vegetable or herb gardens; storefront, organization or Main Street District gardens; and senior citizen gardens, for gardeners aged 65 or older.

First, second and third place winners will be selected from each of the nine categories at a prize ceremony in August in the City’s biggest garden — the Boston Public Garden. The first place winners in each category will receive the Golden Trowel award, which is a gilded shovel mounted to a plaque. The names of all 27 winners will be placed in a random drawing for two round-trip tickets to any JetBlue Airlines destination.

If you have won the garden contest three times or more in the past ten years, then you’re not just disqualified: you’re a Hall-of-Famer who will be recognized by the Mayor, and you are welcomed to judge this year’s entrants.