THE SYDNEY HILLS GARDEN COMPETITION 2025
AWARDS NIGHT 26th OF SEPTEMBER 2025
The concluding event for the Sydney Hills Garden Competition was the Awards night held on Friday the 26th of September 2025 at the Harvey Lowe Pavilion, Castle Hill Showground. The 70 attendees were treated to a slide show of all the gardens in the competition followed by speeches and the Awards Presentations. The night concluded with a light supper provided by the ladies of the Baulkham Hills and Norwest Inner Wheel Clubs as well as wives of Rotarians.
Dignitaries attending the event were the Hon. Mark Hodges MP for Castle Hill, The Mayor of the Hills Shire, Dr Michelle Byrne, the Deputy Mayor, Frank De Masi and Councillor Mitchell Blue. In their remarks they stressed the importance of gardening in the Hills Shire and their appreciation to Rotary for running the event in this, the Garden Shire. In response the Chairman of the Garden Committee, Keith Stapley thanked them for their remarks and the support from the Council which is the major sponsor of the event as part of the Shire's Orange Blossom Festival
I(n their remarks the two judges, Lucia Fowler and Felicity McCaffry said they were pleased to be part of the competition, had been surprised at the quality of the gardens despite the challenges posed by the weather for the past few months as well as the range of the gardens in the competition. They also gave some valuable tips to the assembled gardeners. Felicity is the grand-daughter of Clr Eric Mobbs and we were honoured to have the Mobbs family associated with the competition again. In her address during the presentation, Felicity said “Thank you so much for the opportunity to be a judge at this year’s Sydney Hills Garden Competition. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience - met some wonderfully passionate people and saw some amazing gardens.”
Major awards honoured these proud gardeners:
• Champion of Champions Garden was won by Melissa and Stephen Dolahenty
• The Eric Mobbs Award for Excellence in Gardening was won by Bob and Dot Butler
• This year there was a new special award. The award named The Ron Perrau Award for Excellence in Gardening by a Professional was created after the organizers were
contacted by members of the family of the late Ron Perrau with the offer of sponsoring a special award to recognize the gardening passion of their father. Ron had been entering the competition for more than 20 years and won his category many times. This year’s winner was Chris Shaw of Leave it Green.
A summary of all the results can be found here: Results Summary 2025
The first Garden Competition ran in 1959 as the brainchild of Councillor Eric Mobbs. It became the forerunner of the Orange Blossom Festival, so has a significant place in the cultural history of “The Garden Shire” and continues to be supported by The Hills Shire Council as part of that Festival.
The Rotary Club of the Hills-Kellyville has had a long association with gardeners in The Hills, having run the Garden Competition since early 2000’s and the Hills Open Gardens. The Club proudly opened a Community Garden in March 2021 to mark the 100th year of Rotary in Australia. The Rotary Club of the Hills-Kellyville established and built this garden for the community in conjunction with the Hills Shire Council. Other works of the Club include local community events and the raising of funds for numerous programs far and wide, from the Hills area to outback Australia to overseas communities with specific needs.
To be part of an inspired group that is making a difference, contact the club through our website or Facebook page.
mail info@hillsgardencomp.org.au
Click here for Enquiry Form
Telephone Keith Stapley on 0412 079 014
