Nomination deadline for Madison Beautification Awards is May 9

MADISON – Owners of residential, commercial and municipal properties can register now for the 2019 Madison Beautification Awards.

The Madison Beautification Awards Program recognizes properties within the city limits of Madison which, through landscaping efforts, strive to make our community a more inviting and beautiful place to live and work

Members of Madison Beatification and Tree Board sponsor the judging and subsequent recognition. The board will host an awards luncheon this summer and install freestanding, metal signs with a plaque at the properties.

“All Madison City properties should exemplify the beauty of our community by showing prideful effort through their landscape to have an overall inviting curb appeal through colorful, healthy annuals and perennials,” beautification board publicist Amber Braman said.

Deadline for applications and the $25 fee is May 9. The nomination form is available at www.madisonal.gov/92/Beautification-Tree-Board.

Judges will view properties on May 23, rain or shine. Applicants should plant all flowers, shrubs and other specimens before May 23.

Master Gardeners who live outside of Madison city limits will judge the property entries. Scoring: 95-100 passing (100 excellence-perfect score), and anything 94 or below fails. The Beautification Board will select “Best in Show” from the properties who received Excellence.

The awards luncheon will be held June 20.

There are some changes this year. According to Braman, the Beautification Board will no longer accept paypal. All entries must be paid by check. You can mail the application and payment to Madison Beautification and Tree Board, 100 Hughes Road, Madison AL 35758.

Also, the Board has worked for the last few months to better ensure more objective and clearly defined criteria for judging, Braman said. Point deductions are weighted less per question than previous year’s standards.

The final change has to do with the awards luncheon. “Winning properties will be given two tickets per entry and no extra seats will be available for purchase,” Braman said.