BURY'S top gardening talents have been chosen from more than 100 entries across the borough.

Six Town Housing have announced the winners of their annual gardening competition for tenants, after asking green-fingered residents to show off their skills.

Marilyn Lees, of Otter Drive, Unsworth, was crowned winner in the Best Individual Garden category and said: "I am absolutely gobsmacked and surprised to win, especially with the competition covering the whole of Bury.

"I love gardening. I don’t find it a chore at all and I just lose track of time when I’m in the garden."

Two winners from 2015’s competition, Joyce Kay from Holcombe Brook and Carrie Knight from Bury, lent their expertise as judges this year.

Mrs Knight said: “Judging was an enjoyable experience and I feel really honoured to have been asked. We spent around three-and-a-half hours shortlisting entries, then spent a day visiting gardens before making a decision on the winners.

"There were so many great entries it was so difficult to choose just one winner in each category."

Mrs Kay added: "There were so many creative entries. People have put a lot of thought and effort into their gardens and should be very proud."

Jean McCabe, of Five Quarters, won the Best Pots, Baskets and Small Spaces prize, with her fellow Radcliffe residents Tony Evason, Charlie Cawley, Margaret Johnson, and Frank Chadwick, of Kilburn Road, winning for Best Communal Garden.

Harry Chapman, of Alma Street, Radcliffe, picked up the 'Garden that helped me grow' award, while Abbey Close TRA Gardening Club were named as the borough's best community gardeners.

Paul Sellers, Sumner Avenue, Ainsworth, won the Most Improved Garden prize, Whitefield resident David Jones, of Sawley Avenue, created the best edible garden, and Ramsbottom's Stacey Gilkes, of Hillside View, won the 'Waste not want not' award.

Alan and Angela Rhodes, of Horridge Street, Woolfold, were named champions of the 'Thinking outside the box' category, with the winners in each of the nine categories receiving £100 in gardening vouchers.