Blooming lovely! Wales holiday park’s 25 floral fanfares

Family and staff at a North Wales caravan park are celebrating after receiving a top floral accolade for the 25th year running in the keenly contested Wales in Bloom awards.

Tree Tops Caravan Park in Gwespyr, near Holywell, was announced this month as the overall winner in the competition’s holiday park category.

The award creates a quarter-century success story for the park in the competition which attracts hundreds of entries from across Wales.

Director Andrew Walker, who runs Tree Tops alongside his parents Maureen and Harry, said the achievement was very much the result of a team effort:

“To win an award from Wales in Bloom for 25 years on the trot is no mean feat, and every year the gardening team puts huge amounts of time and effort into landscaping, theming and planting.

“During his visit, the judge told us there were elements of the park that could be picked up and put down in the Chelsea flower show as a display.

“More than that, the judge praised the fact we had, in effect, created a garden which happened to have caravans in it, and were setting exemplary horticultural standards along the way.

“But just like gardens, we don’t stand still – and are already planning next year’s entry,” said Andrew.

The six-strong gardening team grows the blooms for Tree Tops on site, and has its own shrub nursery, and uses some 16,000 plants a year to ensure the holiday park looks its best throughout the seasons.

The holiday park also scored highly for its commitment to the environment including the many initiatives it has taken to protect wildlife and the natural world.

An extra challenge for the team this year has been in landscaping the Parc Ynys Hir extension on the park which has seen the site extend from 18 to 23 acres.

“We’re looking ahead to next year already, and will be creating a grasses garden and revamping our informal Japanese garden. In the meantime, though, we’ll be celebrating our gold award – the team deserve all the praise that’s been sent their way,” added Andrew.

There is more information about Tree Tops on its website at www.treetopscaravanpark.co.uk