A green-fingered tenant from Woodburn, near Dalkeith in Midlothian, has been rewarded for her fantastic achievement in creating a magical outdoor space with this year’s ‘Baxter Keiller Award’ for outstanding Melville Housing Association garden.

Chosen by the judging panel from entries covering much of Midlothian, Mrs Diane Wright of Woodburn Place was commended for her garden’s ‘variety, colour and vibrancy, as well the great deal of planning and work that clearly went into this magical space’.

Her victory, which comes in the competition’s tenth year, marks the second time Diane has walked off with the top prize (she previously triumphed in 2022).

“Congratulations to Diane for her well-deserved award,” said John McMorrow, Melville Chief Executive. “Hers is a delightful garden that would bring joy to anyone fortunate enough to live nearby and we hope that her hard work helps inspire a future generation of Monty Dons and Carole Baxters.

“As always we’ve been enormously impressed by the quality of entries, particularly given the challenging weather conditions we’ve all endured this spring and summer. The judging panel had a very difficult task narrowing it down to just three finalists and I’d like to congratulate not just Diane but everyone who entered for all their hard work.”

For her winning entry Mrs Wright received gardening vouchers to the value of £100. Runner-up Mr David Bowman of Oak Crescent, Mayfield, picked up £35, with the best small space prize going to Ms Diane Gamrot of Westhouses Road, who received a £50 voucher.

Now in its tenth year, the ‘Baxter Keiller Award’ is named in honour of a keen Mayfield gardener and Melville tenant who sadly passed away in 2014. Melville set up a gardening competition to recognise the work done in 2007 by Baxter, along with his neighbour Christine McGrouther, transforming a patch of Mayfield wasteland into a fantastic community garden.