IT’S a blooming lovely village, Marcham.

This week, the winners of the village’s annual best-kept garden competition picked up their prizes for fragrant flowers and beautiful borders.

Judges from the parish council awarded a total of 21 titles for first, second and third place in each of seven “zones” in the village.

At the very top of the heap was Colin Jones with his miniature Garden of Eden in The Farthings.

Mr Jones, who lives with wife Valerie-Kathleen, has placed in the contest before, but this year he transformed a strip of lawn down the side of his house into an extra beautiful border, pushing it up to gold standard.

The former chief executive of Oxford’s Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre said: “In previous years I’ve usually won the zone.

“But down the side of the house I got so fed up with this stretch of lawn I took a couple of metres of grass up and built it up with plants instead, mainly herbaceous but also a few bulbs.

“Originally I tried to start with a theme which was pink and yellow, but, being a gardening slob I tend to like other coloured flowers as well and I couldn’t resist.

“Sophisticated people will usually go for themes, I just pick what I like.”

The new border is flush with Japanese pieris and acers, which thrive in acid soil, and Mr Jones said he created their ideal habitat using peat compost.

He added: “I’ll also stick in irises – it’s a bit of a mishmash but it keeps together.”

The gardens were judged in June, but the parish council held a small awards ceremony on Wednesday night.

Mr Jones, who is chairman of Wallingford Bridge Club, said his garden looked “much nicer” in the spring.

Judy Clark, who came first in the Orchard Way zone, said she planted her garden so there was always something colourful on show.

When judges visited in June, she said there were tubs of geraniums on display, Californian poppies and Live in the Mist, which form a blue haze of flowers.

At the moment visitors can admire her blossoming buddleia and fiery fuchsias.

Pat and Sandy Nicoll in Parkside had never placed in the contest before, but got a letter through the door saying they had come first in their zone.

Mrs Nicoll said: “It was a very nice surprise.”

She said they planted their garden with asters, golden rod, and any flowers that were good for bees and birds.