Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our third annual Garden Giveaway contest. It was so inspiring to see all the creativity and gardening passion out there. Even in this challenging year, we had 28 amazing submissions. It was so difficult to pick winners from the bunch, but today we are excited to present the winners of our 2020 Garden Giveaway!
Honorable Mentions
Best First Time Garden
Timothy Shafer
We always try and look on the bright side here at O’Toole’s, and one silver lining from this year is that so many people were introduced to gardening for the first time. We got tons of submissions from first time gardeners showing off the fruits of their labor. Our favorite came from Timothy Shaffer. During the pandemic, Timothy says he found motivation to grow a garden. “Gardening has been my job since April,” he says. We think Timothy did great work and hope he and all the other brand-new gardeners enjoy this wonderful pastime for years to come!
Best Photography
Shawn and Adrianna McLain
Each year, we like to honor one submission with the best photography award. This year, the winner was hands down Shawn and Adrianna’s photo collage of their garden. The hops! That rhubarb! Those tomatoes! Our mouths are watering just looking at ’em! “Our nine year old has helped grow over 16 different veggies to help the family eat healthier this summer,” say Shawn and Adrianna. We just want to know when’s dinner?
Best Veggie Garden
Brittany Heller
A vegetable garden is a special kind of garden. It’s all about production, efficiency and usefulness. We always like to give a special award to the best veggie garden we see and this year we were blown away by Brittany Heller’s plot. “Three years ago, my partner and I didn’t know anything about gardening,” admits Brittany. “We wanted to have a big, beautiful, bountiful plot of land so we got to work learning everything that we could about growing plants.” We’d say job well done you two!
Best Balcony Garden
Jack Mao
“Although I don’t have a yard, it shouldn’t stop anyone from trying to grow beautiful balcony gardens,” says Jack Mao. And we couldn’t agree more! Any space, no matter the size, can be turned into a beautiful garden with some creativity and a little trial and error. “I tried many plants and failed many times too, but I never gave up,” says Jack. The spirt of a true gardener!
Best Raised Beds
Amy Damon
We wanted to give a special shout out to these raised beds chock full of beautiful zinnias by Amy Damon. “These zinnia beds have brought a moment of brightness to many during this pandemic times,” says Amy. They certainly did for us!
Third Prize
Liam Mai
All of those big, beautiful hydrangeas are what catch your eye, but we loved the variety to be found in Liam Mai’s gardens. Great hanging baskets, patios pots, flower beds and one giant melon! Liam describes his garden as “A place of love, happiness, enjoyment, laughter, and a lot of sweat.” Exactly what a garden should be!
Second Prize
Sharon Wright
Sharon Wright’s garden is a picture-perfect example of a traditional perennial garden. Clean, simple and classic. It’s clear that Sharon takes a lot of care and attention to detail in her gardening. “My gardens are always evolving,” says Linda, “Thanks to O’Toole’s, I’m always able to find what I’m looking for.”
First Prize
Lindsey Santaularia
I’ve been gardening with family since I was little,” says Lindsey, “So when we moved out of the city my husband gifted me with the perfect backyard garden retreat.” We fell in love with Lindsey and her family’s garden retreat. A combination of lawn, garden and hardscapes creates a textured, immersive experience. There seems to be so many different areas to discover. “Every year brings new surprises & challenges,” says Lindsey, “But my garden is always my families favorite place to be.”