FOR almost a decade, keen gardener Janet Lever has been picking up prizes in the annual Oxford In Bloom contest.

Now the 77-year-old is urging others to put their horticultural skills to the test and compete in the celebration of Oxford’s best gardens, for which entries close on July 8.

Homes, schools, businesses and other organisations can enter the contest, which is backed by the Oxford Mail.

About 100 entries are expected this year, the competition’s 25th, from small front lawns, to giant back gardens, hanging baskets and planters.

Mrs Lever has been entering her garden in Grovelands, Risinghurst, since 2002, making her among the longest-standing competitors.

She has entered the hanging baskets category this year, and will also be in the running for the long-serving entrant prize.

Mrs Lever said: “It’s not really the best kept garden but I have got some rather pretty flowering shrubs and I usually enter my hanging baskets.”

She has won a certificate of merit for her hanging baskets each year she has entered.

Mrs Lever, a former travel agent and medical research secretary at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, spends about two hours a day in the garden.

She said: “You have to put in a tremendous amount of effort to get a gold in the competition – I’m not as dedicated as that, I just do it for pleasure.”

Busy lizzies, begonias and fuchsias bring colour to her large back garden, while her smaller front garden is mostly shrubs.

Mrs Lever said: “I have always gardened, ever since I was a child, I loved gardening and being outside, and used to help my father in Somerset in his garden.

“As far as gardening trends go, years and years ago you never heard of a garden centre, but now they have sprung up like mushrooms.

“I think more people are interested in their gardens and making them look nice now.

“I know for myself I feel proud of how the garden looks.”

There is still time to enter the competition, with schools entries open until Saturday, July 2, and the general competition open for entries until Friday, July 8.

Judging will take place in the week beginning Monday, July 18.

Oxford Mail deputy editor Sara Taylor said: “It is lovely to see old hands like Mrs Lever putting in the effort to make Oxford colourful year after year.

“We know there are lots of beautiful gardens out there which have not previously been involved, so it would be fantastic to see some new faces getting involved as well.”