Gerald Morgan, chairman of the Glastonbury in Bloom Committee, and Mark Penton, co-ordinator, look forward to a busy few months ahead.

We expect many of you will have noticed that the hanging baskets have been put up throughout the town and that the troughs, wood box planters and the formal bedding have now been completed.

It was a very busy couple of weeks for the volunteers and members of staff, now the real work begins - weeding, watering and dead heading are ongoing and that must be done throughout the summer months.

Watering for obvious reasons needs to be done and dead heading to keep the plants flowering, it may also be necessary to apply a liquid feed to hanging baskets and containers after a few weeks to keep the plants vigorous in good colour and healthy. Not too much nitrogen, however, as this will weaken the plants.

We also expect that many of you have been as busy in your own garden so that you can sit back and relax while enjoying a refreshing evening drink as the sun goes down.

We are also sure that because you have put so much time, effort and money into beautifying your gardens that you will want to enter it into this year's Glastonbury in Bloom competition.

It is very easy to enter, all you have to do is save the entry form pictured here, print it out, fill it in and send it to or drop into the Glastonbury Information Centre at St Dunstan's House or pick up an entry form from the library or Glastonbury Information Centre.

Entry is free and the judging of the gardens, baskets, tubs, etc, will take place between the 22nd and 26th of July. There are no particular criteria for entering any section of the competition.

Already the number of entries is up on last year and more questions asked about entering. The closing date for entries is Friday 5th July so there is still plenty of time to make your entry.

The South West in Bloom judging of Glastonbury will take place on Wednesday 17th July and there will be a Town Clean Up on Sunday 14th July, keep a look out for times and the assembly point.

So, come along and help Glastonbury do better than last year, let's have a bumper turn out of Glastonbury residents for this year's clean up.

The South West in Bloom awards will take place at Newquay, Cornwall, on the 11th October followed by Glastonbury in Bloom awards evening on the 18th October at the Glastonbury Town Hall, details to be announced nearer the time.

We look forward to a busy time judging the entries in Glastonbury in Bloom and a great turn out for the clean-up. Best of luck to all the entrants and we look forward to seeing some wonderful gardens.