LAST year was poor gardening wise for Mick Ford and his wife Teresa, but they made up for it this time around by taking the Newton in Bloom Competition Championship trophy.

Their garden at 124 Twickenham Road is a picture and to cap their success they also shared the cup for the best large garden with Elizabeth Frampton, of 3 Keyberry Park, and took the silverware for the best hanging basket and/or container.

At Monday's presentations at Newton Abbot Town Hall, Mr Ford admitted 2012 was a bad year.

The former Newton Abbot markets manager retired in May and admitted the extra time he could now spend in the garden had paid dividends.