Luton Care Home Celebrates Luton In Bloom’s ‘Best Community Garden’ Award

A Luton care home has celebrated after winning a Luton in Bloom garden award. HC-One’s Capwell Grange Care Home, which offers residential, nursing and dementia care to up to a potential capacity of 146 residents, were honoured with the ‘Best Community Garden’ award.

The winners were announced at Luton’s Farmer’s Market Event in St George’s Square on Saturday, August 31, 2024. Capwell Grange’s dementia community garden includes a wide variety of flowers and plants, including dahlias, petunias, sunflowers, asters, marigolds, gladioli, lilies, lobelias, and roses.

It also features vegetables, with over 20 varieties of tomatoes in addition to cucumbers, beans, cauliflower, pumpkin and aubergines. The team at Capwell Grange use the produce grown in the gardens by taking it to the kitchen team, who can utilise the vegetables as ingredients for residents’ meals.

The care home now grows 70 per cent of its plants from seeds, starting in February, and carefully nurtures them in their greenhouse. Luton in Bloom is a gardening competition encouraging residents to grow, learn life skills, meet new people, and improve our environment.

Capwell Grange Home Manager, Nicola Berry, said:
“We are very proud to have won this award, it means a lot to everyone at Capwell Grange Care Home. We’d like to give a big well done to everyone involved, and a massive thank you for all the support we received from our residents, relatives and staff.

“Our garden is truly unique and authentic — nothing here is copied from catalogues, B&Q stores, or Instagram. We don’t buy ready-made baskets; instead, we create our own flower and vegetable combinations. It really is something we are all very proud of!”