How Green Is Our Hill(2009/08/07)
By Alison Bowen
    Plants that you pass each day might be celebrities in the greenery world.
    Today, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden announced the winners of their annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest. Honorees included three in Fort Greene and two in Clinton Hill. (For the boroughwide wrapup, check out City Room.)
    Taking first prize was the General Greene restaurant on DeKalb. It triumphed in the category of Greenest Storefront, where it had been entered by the Clermont Avenue Block Association.
    Owner Nicholas Morgenstern said he is pleased to receive recognition for the greenery that wraps around the restaurant and cost, he said, at least $4,000 when installed this year.
    "I love plants," he said. A florist friend helped him choose "hardy" plant arrangements, which included a lot of bamboo and requires watering every other day.
    The General Greene has two apple trees in the front of the store and eight large planters that line the outside seating.
    "I think we are probably about maxed out on plants," Mr. Morgenstern said.
    Habana Outpost, the Fulton Street restaurant with colorful chairs and plants, tied for third in the same category.
    Also grabbing first-place honors was the Hollenback Community Garden, with plants climbing over its gates on Washington Avenue, for Best Community Garden Streetscape.
    The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership tied for second place in Best Street Tree Beds for the block between Clinton and Waverly.
    Finally, privately tended plants in a Fort Greene apartment window won second place for Best Window Box. Grahame Hubbard of Clermont Avenue won for his two sprawling displays.
    The contest, described as a "friendly competition for residential and commercial blocks in Brooklyn," has drawn contestants from more than 1,200 Brooklyn blocks since it began in 1994.
    Winners will receive a cash prize or gardening tool, according to the Web site, and all participants receive a certificate showing they participated.
    First prize winners receive $300, and other finalists’ cash prizes range from $100 to $200.
    Judging criteria included variety of plants, condition of plants, using color effectively and citizen participation. For the street tree care, judges considered the soil levels, how the trees were pruned and maintained and whether any dead trees or dangerous limbs were visible.