Provender has sponsored a garden at Capel Manor for the past four years, with winning designs being awarded a cash prize of £250.
This year's design brief was to create a contemporary garden for a couple who wish to entertain, with an emphasis on the colour red. Students of the Garden Design Advanced Diploma entered the competition as part of their course work, with plants to be selected from the Provender Nurseries website.
Judging took place in March following a visit to the nursery, with Provender staff member Liz Hughes, Capel Manor senior gardener Julie Dowbiggin and planting design lecturer Sophie Guinness. Each student gave a presentation on their design and justified their plant choices.
Soofia Bandy and Gillian Rea were the ultimate winners. Bandy's design used multi-stemmed Amelanchier lamarckii as a focal point, Laurus nobilis 'Bay Junior' and an evergreen hedge of Ilex crenata 'Glorie Dwarf' for structure with a pallete of reds, oranges, violet reds and blacks providing summer colour.
Rea featured repetition of Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb', Pittosporum tobira 'Nanum' and Astelia 'Red Devil' for structure with grasses and perennials providing summer and winter interest.
Bandy - who has now finished her studies - applies her knowledge of art and design obtained from touring in Europe to combine both traditional and contemporary approaches in her garden designs. Rea, who was one year of study left, has a love of drawing and uses her knowledge of interior design to realise her further goal of becoming a garden designer.
