Britain's greenest home and garden revealed!

Winner Angela Plowright from Barton in Fabis, Notts wins £2,000 B&Q vouchers. Here's why...

When Angela Plowright and husband, civil servant Paul Kaczmarczuk, both 53, moved into the 250-year-old blacksmith's cottage in Barton in Fabis near Nottingham in 1980, they inherited a draughty old stone
house and half an acre of land with disused farm buildings. The garden was a dumping ground for the blacksmith and full of old iron and rubbish,' explains Angela. ‘The house hadn't been updated since the 1940s so we had to renovate it completely.

We've lined the loft, used thermally insulated plasterboard to reduce cold spots, switched all the bulbs to energy savers and even covered most of the outside walls with ivy for insulation against the wind and to provide cover for wildlife.' Inside the cottage they also like to keep things as green as possible. ‘We recycle, compost kitchen waste, have invested in a super-efficient washing machine and would rather put a jumper on than turn the heating up past 20ºC,' explains Angela.

But the garden is where the really hard work has taken place. ‘When we moved in, the forge and outbuildings were derelict and overgrown with weeds.' It's been a true labour of love over 30 years, but they've transformed it into a beautiful wildlife-friendly cottage garden, overflowing with flowers, trees and shrubs.

‘So far we've planted 18 trees, including a silver birch, willow and crab apple, and dozens of shrubs, such as ivy, hazel and buddleia. We went for perennial flowers instead of bedding plants as they save water, and we've planted bee-loving herb beds and wildflowers for every season, like primrose, foxglove and wild garlic.

‘I've let the garden run riot and packed more plants in than most
people would. I love the idea of a romantic cottage garden so I avoid bedding plants. I've learned it's a slow process though!'
The garden is positively bursting with wildlife, which is no surprise given that bugs, birds and beasts are encouraged to visit with nine bird boxes, two bat boxes, log piles for insects, hedgehog houses, bumble bee abodes, bird baths, a compost heap and
well-stocked feeders.

‘Our latest project took close to 18 months,' explains Angela.
‘We took the roof off the covered farmyard and dug out a wildlife pond between the walls. It's now my favourite part of the garden.' Angela regularly opens her garden up to community fundraising events and hopes her efforts help to inspire others in their own green projects.

‘We're both absolutely thrilled to win the Greener Streets competition,' says Angela. ‘I'm not sure how to spend the £2000 prize money, but certainly some of it will go on feeding all the birds in the garden!'

THE RUNNERS UP AND A SPECIAL AWARD...

JOCELYN TWOSE, CHESHIRE WINS £500 B&Q vouchers

Looking at this wonderful pond and landscaped garden now  (pictured right) it's hard to imagine it started life as a sloping empty field. Jocelyn Twose, 55, and her husband Paul, 58, recycled 56 lorry loads of sub-soil from their basement extension to level out the slope to give a platform for the pond. They planted dwarf conifers for birds to nest in, built a dry-stone wall for animal shelter in winter and cobbled a shallow end to the pond so land-based creatures can escape if they fall in. Jocelyn has plans for spending her £500 prize vouchers. ‘I'm going to build raised beds
 o I can grow my own vegetables,' she says.

SIMON BATES, STAFFORDSHIRE WINS £500 B&Q vouchers
When Simon Bates and wife Lisa, both 47, moved into their Staffordshire home 12 years ago the garden had just four sorry-looking shrubs. After clever planning and a huge amount of effort they now have a vegetable plot, two water features to encourage birds, dragonflies and frogs, and a chicken coop, which supplies fresh eggs and fertiliser. Most of the garden (pictured middle right) had been block paved, but Simon has established a lawn, used gravel to improve drainage and done the hard landscaping with reclaimed wood and bricks. Simon plans to use his prize for a new water butt. ‘We don't use tap water on the garden so we need to collect as much rain as possible.'

SPECIAL AWARD:  BETH AND TONY GERRARD, VOE, SHETLAND ISLANDS WIN £350 B&Q vouchers
The judges made a special award to Beth and Tony Gerrard, both 53, who transformed their neglected croft into a wooded bird sanctuary, with wildlife pond and feeders (pictured above, bottom right). ‘I was born here and get great pleasure from knowing we've restored it,' says Beth. ‘We've seen lots of rare birds, including the fi rst island sighting of the Taiga Flycatcher. We're still deciding how to spend our prize, but I'd love a large table so we can sit outside and enjoy our surroundings.' 

The Greener Streets Campaign