Provender Nurseries and Capel Manor College Press Release

Provender Nurseries and Capel Manor College reveal garden design competition winner at Regents Park campus for 2021.

 Continuing a strong working relationship between Provender Nurseries and Capel Manor College the winning design for Regents Park students is Mark Bamford with his design and presentation selected by the judging panel as outstanding.

Mark’s design was chosen from a shortlist of 8 designs selected by lecturers, Elisa Olivares and Melinda Hilliard, lecturers in plants and planting at Capel Manor College with the judging panel then given time to review and choose the winning design.

Students worked to a brief supplied by Judy Fish, Head Gardener was for the redesign of a bed in Park Crescent, part of the Crown Estate Paving Commission Garden that is open to residents only. The bed selected is sited near to a roadway, south facing and has some shaded areas due to existing trees.

The brief given to the students encouraged research into John Nash style planting, as found throughout the private parks in Regents Park, to echo other parts of the garden space, with a strong concept and a leaning towards drought tolerant plants. 

Mark’s design was thought by the judges to be particularly strong, with plants selected that took a lead from nearby Terrace Garden borders and reflect the calm and elegance of the Terrace buildings surrounding the space.

Two small trees provide the upper canopy without disturbing the views from surrounding terrace buildings for the residents.  Evergreen cover in the next foliage layer provides strong contrasting textures and pollution capture from the road nearby.

Many shrubs and herbaceous plants have been repeated throughout the design with a restricted colour palette, giving a cohesive feel whilst providing plenty of colour and interest through the seasons.

 

The judges, Liz Hughes, Marketing Manager at Provender Nurseries and Judy Fish, Head Gardener felt that the choice of trees were an interesting addition to the area and particularly liked the selection and mix of shrubs and ferns.  Punctuation and foliage colour provided by variegated Pittosporum and Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Rocket’ where thought to be particularly appealing adding structure to the border design.  All plants selected in the design competition must be selected from Provender Nurseries’ website. 

Mark is the second competition winner sponsored by Provender Nurseries working in conjunction with Capel Manor college in the last 12 months and will be awarded a cheque for £250.00.

Mark states “I was so pleased to have won this award.  I’ve very much enjoyed the Capel Manor College planting design course and this was a great way to put what I’ve learned into practice and to round off my year of studies.  I’m looking forward now to completing my Diploma in Garden Design during the coming year.  Many thanks to Liz Hughes at Provender Nurseries for all the support for Capel Manor College, and to Judy Fish at CEPC for providing the real-world design opportunity!”

Elisa Olivares says “Mark has studied two levels of garden design at Capel Manor College and demonstrated a commitment to the course, hard work, and a creative spirit that was reflected in his designs. The kind support of Liz Hughes and the rest of the staff from Provender Nurseries from year to year, is absolutely invaluable for our students”.

“Working with students is so rewarding.  Being involved from the start of the design competition, working closely with lecturers and finally having the privilege of judging final design produced by the students is something I look forward to each year to see the results and this year is no exception.  Mark’s design, plant choice and elevation drawing were very professional’ says Liz Hughes of Provender Nurseries.   

The design is due to be used for replanting the bed in Park Crescent later in 2022.