Blooming with Pride at The Russley

11 February 2019

When the Christchurch Beautifying Association bloomed in 1897, it set the scene for Christchurch to live up to its treasured namesake - the ‘Garden City’. Set up to encourage civic pride and maintain the beautiful image of Christchurch, it has enjoyed a long and illustrious history.

This special organisation showcases and celebrates the fabulous flora across the metropolis with its annual award programmes a highlight on the calendar. The Community Pride Garden & Street Awards, where over 4000 streets are judged, as well as the annual Spring & Summer Garden Competitions, are open to all residents and businesses in Christchurch, making competition tough, and wins a real coup.

Despite the contest from other striking entries, The Russley Village yet again wowed the judges with its gardening prowess, scooping up a number of well-deserved accolades in the recent Summer Garden Competition.

The Russley gardens received the top honour of the competition, winning the Ruske Cup - the premiere garden prize. Also awarded to the Village was the Howman Cup; an award dedicated to outstanding flats and townhouse gardens in a retirement village complex.

These wonderful achievements were in fact just the beginning for the Village as it also won: the Peter Lawrence Challenge Trophy First Prize under the Retirement Village Category and the Howman Cup First Prize for a Townhouse Garden in a Retirement Village.

Village residents were also recognised for their green fingers and dedication with a second prize and third prize in the Howman Cup Category. Certificates of Merit went to four villa residents.

Village Manager at The Russley Village, Wayne Thompson, is justly very thrilled with the outcome. “I, along with our residents, are very proud of our gardens at The Russley and the awards reflect the dedication and hard work of our gardening team.”

The development which was started in 2010, is almost fully developed with the completion due this September of the Ashley Suites, the village’s boutique luxury care facility.