The competition, which is open to all tenants, aims to reward all tenants including sheltered units and leaseholders who make a real difference to their areas by taking pride in their gardens.

Categories include ‘best main garden’, ‘best hanging basket’, ‘best flowers and borders’, ‘best tubs, window boxes and container’, ‘best vegetable plot’, ‘best sheltered unit’, ‘best communal space’, ‘best young gardener (child of Cestria tenant 16 or younger’, ‘best yard garden’ and ‘best sustainable garden’.

Each entrant can enter a maximum of three categories and winners will receive a prize of £15 to £100, with the overall winner of the ‘best main garden’ category scooping up to a maximum of £300.

Last year’s winners of the ‘best main garden’ were Mr & Mrs Webb from Gibside in Chester-le-Street who said, “We take pride in our garden and were delighted to win a prize in last year’s competition. We’ll have already entered the competition again this year.”

Mary Brennan, Tenant Liaison Officer at Cestria Community Housing said, “Our annual gardening competition is very popular with tenants and every year we receive some excellent entries. There are a lot of keen gardeners in and around Chester-le-Street and its wonderful to see tenants spend so much time and effort in caring for their gardens.

“The competition is part of our strategy to encourage tenants to maintain their gardens and yards and I would encourage any tenants who have not already done so to enter the competition.”