Whether you garden simply for pleasure, as an outlet for your creativity or the chance to reduce everyday stress, or you enjoy the challenge of growing bigger and better plants or battling a difficult site, we have an invitation: Enter our Glorious Gardens Contest 2003. It’s easier than you think. A short description (no more than 100 words) and up to 15 good slides of your garden are all you need to enter. (See detailed rules inside .)
Size doesn’t matter. You don’t need an acre of beds and borders. Nor do you need to spend wads of cash. There’s even a category for those who plant containers, which might be grown on a balcony, small patio, rooftop or other spot where space is limited.
Norm Stranczek of Niles was a contestant last year. “I read the Home&Garden section all the time. I thought my garden looked every bit as good as the previous winners, so I said, ‘Let’s give it a shot and see what happens.’ “
Stranczek, a go-to guy who likes puttering around his pond and growing giant tomatoes — and who steers clear of Latin plant names — won the award for Best North Suburban garden.
“Some people are natural gardeners and terrific at it, and they’ve had no formal or professional training,” says Doug Hoerr of Douglas Hoerr Landscape Architecture in Evanston. Although our Glorious Gardens Contest is open to amateurs only, Hoerr knows what it’s like to have a garden scrutinized by judges. His sophisticated garden exhibit, “The Designer’s Garden,” at this year’s Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier garnered the show’s third-place award. Much thought and hard work went into the contemporary drought-tolerant garden, which melded house and patio with bold, sleek lines of stone and a plant palette of blue-green foliage and white flowers.
“You have to be your own worst critic,” and if you can’t, Hoerr says, “get your neighbor or your mother-in-law to look over the garden before you photograph it. Like almost all gardeners, you may hardly ever take time to appreciate your own garden or design, and sometimes it’s interesting to see it through the eyes of others.”
Once his exhibit was installed, Hoerr brought in three office staff members who hadn’t yet seen it to look for imperfections that could be fixed before the judging. His advice: “Put your best foot forward.”
This year’s Glorious Gardens Contest features two divisions: Suburban and Urban. Within those divisions, there will be three categories of competition:
– Containers — a garden in pots whether on a patio, balcony, rooftop, deck, etc.
– Sun or Shade — a garden that does a superb job of coping with extreme conditions of either sun or shade.
– Style — a garden with a particular style or theme, such as (but not limited to) cottage, prairie, butterfly, woodland, formal, fairy, water, four-season or Japanese.
That means six winners, plus a seventh that will be crowned Best Overall Garden.
Please note: The quality of the slides can make or break a potential winner. (Watch for our story on garden photography which will appear June 15.)
“Photographs have to tell the story when you’re in a contest. Get rid of the brown leaves and hoses. Spend some time primping it up,” says Hoerr, whose horticultural expertise was honed in England where he worked for a few years.
Oftentimes it’s not the sweat and elbow grease, such as weeding, planting, watering, fertilizing, deadheading and so on, that keeps gardeners from entering contests. Many contestants — even those who have outstanding gardens — are stymied when it comes to describing their garden on paper.
“The biggest challenge was the writing,” Stranczek says. “I must have taken 100 pictures. Doing the write-up was the hardest part.”
It doesn’t have to be.
Sit down with pen and paper or PC and tell us why your garden is special. Pretend you’re telling a first-time visitor. Tell us a little about the growing conditions, your gardening experience and what you enjoy most about it.
You’re already doing the hard part — gardening. All you need now are some slides, a little story and a couple of stamps and you, too, can be a contender.
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Glorious Gardens Contest 2003
CATEGORIES
There are two main divisions: Suburban and Urban. In each division, one winner will be chosen in each of these three categories:
– Containers: A garden in containers — in a garden or on a patio, balcony, rooftop or deck.
– Sun/Shade: A garden that does a superb job of coping with extreme conditions of either sun or shade.
– Style: A garden in a particular style, such as (but not limited to) cottage, prairie, formal, water or Japanese.
Also, one garden will be chosen from among all the entries in the six categories as Best Overall Garden.
RULES
Only amateur gardeners are qualified to enter. Anyone who earns money from gardening, landscaping or his/her gardening expertise may not enter. Those who have had professional help with garden design or have previously won Glorious Gardens Contest awards are also disqualified from entering. Employees of the Tribune Company or their immediate families and employees or immediate families of any of their affiliated companies are not eligible. No purchase necessary. Purchase will not improve your chance of winning.
Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by Monday, Aug. 4. We will notify winners by Aug. 25 and publish a story announcing the winners Sept. 15. The Tribune Co. and its affiliates are not responsible for lost, late or misdirected entries.
PRIZES
Each winner in the three Urban categories and three Suburban categories receives: a $100 gift certificate to the garden center of his or her choice, and a Glorious Gardens Contest 2003 trophy and mug. The Best Overall Garden winner receives a $250 gift certificate to the garden center of his or her choice, and a Glorious Gardens Contest 2003 trophy and mug.
Prize restrictions:
1. Prizes are non-transferable and are not redeemable for cash.
2. Winners must sign a confirmation statement that the design and maintenance of their garden was done by a non-professional and that they have otherwise complied with the rules and terms outlined.
3. Chicago Tribune may publish the name, photograph and any information provided with entries, in print and on the Internet, including in advertising and promotion.
4. Contest is sponsored by Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. For a list of winners, see the Sept. 14 issue of the Home&Garden section of the Chicago Tribune newspaper or visit our Web site at chicagotribune.com after Sept. 14.
5. Taxes, if any, are the responsibility of the winner.
6. Tribune Co. reserves the right to terminate, modify, cancel or suspend the contest for any reason.
7. Tribune Co. reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value.
HOW TO ENTER
1. Submit a maximum of 15 slides–no print photographs or digital images–of your garden (sorry, we cannot return slides). Label each slide with your name and address and provide a typed caption sheet (with your name and address on it). Be as specific as possible about plant identification, other items in the picture and their location in the garden; give judges a sense of how slides relate to one another to make up your garden. A panel of gardening experts and garden writers and editors will judge entries based on garden design, plant choice and creativity. The decision of the judging panel is final.
2. State whether your garden is Suburban or Urban, and which category you are entering:
– Sun/Shade Garden (indicate which is appropriate)
– Container Garden
– Style (indicate the particular style of your garden; i.e., cottage, prairie, white garden, butterfly, etc.).
3. In 100 words or less, tell us why your garden is outstanding, considering factors such as: growing conditions, your gardening experience, site and gardening goals. Be as descriptive as possible.
4. Send your slides and description (along with your name, address and daytime phone number) to:
Chicago Tribune, Home&Garden, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, Attn: Glorious Gardens Contest 2003.
