Sharpen your shears, fuel your mowers and unwind your garden hoses, the greenest event on the Public Housing calendar is now open in Central Australia, the 2016 Public Housing Garden Competition.

The competition is an opportunity for the department to reward tenants who look after their garden and encourage a sense of pride in their homes.

It has proved to be a popular event year after year and is a wonderful way to shine a spotlight on tenants who go the extra mile and care for their gardens.

The Central Australia competition is now open to tenants in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, including town camps and community living areas.

Entries close on Friday 21 October.

Categories in the competition are:

Small Garden/Container Garden

New Garden

Arid Garden/Regional Plant Garden

Best Produce Garden

Best Lawn

Best Community Living Area

Overall Best Garden

Tenants can enter up to two categories and winners will be announced in early November, 2016.

The prizes are:

•          1 x $250 voucher for the overall winner

•          1 x $100 voucher for category winners

The department is looking forward to seeing many entries and encourages all public housing tenants to enter the competition and have their hard work rewarded.

To enter download an entry form from housing.nt.gov.au and email it to garden.competition@nt.gov.au or pick up an entry form from your local Housing office and submit to your housing officer or by post.

Media contact: Peta Butler 8999 8341