AN USK woman whose garden had been named the best in Wales said she is still surprised she won the award.

Marion Powell, of Ladyhill, was awarded the best front garden prize at the Wales in Bloom awards, held at the town’s Glen Yr Afon Hotel.

Mrs Powell said of her victory: “I’m a bit overwhelmed. You have just got to keep on top of (the garden) all the time. The house has taken a bit of a back seat.”

In July the Duchess of Cornwall visited her garden as part of a Royal Horticultural Society-organised trip around Usk and ITV’s Good Morning Britain’s Laura Tobin presented weather bulletins from there.

And cameras were in the garden again in August because of the garden’s appearance in a forthcoming Alan Titchmarsh series, Britain’s Best Gardens, which will be shown next year.

Mrs Powell said she started gardening when her two sons – now 35 and 33 – were young children. She started by keeping borders tidy then built herself a pond and later a greenhouse.

It is a second victory for the Usk in Bloom group, of which Mrs Powell a member, after Usk was named best small country town on Thursday.

The group's chairman Tony Kear said: "t is a great reward because we are all volunteers and we have still got Britain in Bloom to come."

Other Gwent winners included Bettws in Bloom’s Environmental Educational Community Association, which was named among the Level 5 Outstanding groups in the It’s Your Neighbourhood prize. Its chairman Colin Baker said members were “over the moon” by being named winners an unprecedented third time after being named included in 2010 and 2012.

Mathern, Mounton and Pwllmeyric Villages in Bloom also won first place in the village trophy and Raglan In Bloom claimed first prize in the large village trophy. Chepstow town council and Abergavenny came third and fourth respectively in the small town trophy. Caerphilly County Borough Council Parks Services finished third in the town trophy category.

And the Old Hamlet of Llanmartin's entry finished third in the small village trophy.