Provender launches nursery design competition

Accredited Supplier, Provender Nurseries is offering an exciting opportunity to its registered customers. They can participate in the Proven Winners Design Competition, creating a beautiful border using only Proven Winners® plants. This vibrant design will be showcased on the nursery's driveway, creating an engaging space for visitors.

Why Proven Winners®?

Introduced four years ago, Proven Winners® plants are a top choice for landscapers and garden enthusiasts. These specially bred plants have longer flowering periods, making them essential for pollinators. They are also compact, making them perfect for various landscapes. Plus, they can withstand drought, cold, and pests, requiring minimal maintenance. Provender Nurseries trusts these plants for stunning residential and commercial landscapes.

Proven Winners® have been bred to have:

• Longer flowering periods make them an attractive source of food for pollinators
• Compact growth habits make them an excellent choice for domestic gardens, parks and urban areas
• Great drought tolerance and cold tolerance result in a plant that can stand up to our ever-changing climate
• Pest and disease resistance resulting in fewer chemical applications required
• Multiple seasons of interest make them an invaluable choice to provide interest for long periods of time
• Low maintenance requirements
• Proven Winners® are an excellent choice for both the domestic and commercial markets with low maintenance requirements, compact growth habits and pest and disease resistance. 

Brief/What you need to know:

• The design is to have maximum impact and will be used as a demonstration and educational area
• The design will comprise plants from the Proven Winners® range.  
• The plant choice should reflect all year-round interest
• A 2m turf border will be installed around the front of the border
• The are to be designed is 116m2
• The aspect is North West with the border receiving shade in the morning and sun in the afternoon
• The soil type is free draining, loamy soil on top of chalk
• The planted border is on the main entrance to Provender. Vehicle sightlines on the driveway and access to the Paddock field will need to be considered
• Existing planting, hedging and boulders will remain
• Access to the border will be from the Paddock tree field to the rear of the border through the Taxus hedge. Part of the existing taxus hedging plants can be removed according to the winning design
• Paths would need to be incorporated in order to show clients around
• Maintenance of the planted border will be carried out by Provender Nurseries
• Provender Nurseries will incorporate an irrigation system when planted.  Please consider this in your design

Applications:

• The competition is open to customers of Provender Nurseries only
• If you are not a customer of Provender Nurseries you can sign up for a trade account here
• All submissions must be in PDF format, printable to A3. 
• Each application should be a maximum of 5 pages to include:
• an annotated planting plan Scale 1:100 (A3)
• plant list with pot sizes and quantities (A3)
• perspective view of the design (at 3 years maturity) (A3)
• a design brief (A4)
• Supporting document of 200 words to explain the concept and plant choice (A4)
• All applications should be emailed to marketing@provendernurseries.co.uk
• All applications should be received by 5pm on Monday January 8th
• The winning design will be selected by our judges on Thursday January 18th
• The winning design will be informed on Friday January 19th
• The winning design will be announced to the trade press on Monday February 5th

Timeline:

• Launch date – Oct 11th
• Closing Date – Monday January 8th
• Judging Date – Thursday January 18th
• Winner Announcement Date – Monday February 5th
• Planting Date – March / April 2024 TBC

Judging Panel

Richard Burt

Richard Burt has been at Provender Nurseries since 2007 starting as Sales Manager and working towards his present role as Sales Director.  Richard left college with an ND in Horticulture and has spent all of his working life in horticulture mainly working in nurseries and wholesale plant supply. As a result, Richard has an extensive plant knowledge and is always keen to learn more about all plants in general.  Working closely with the management team and purchasing teams Richard looks for new varieties to hold in stock and encourages all of the team at Provender nurseries to keep up to date with new varieties. 

Mark Lane

BALI Equity Ambassador, Mark Lane is an award-winning garden and landscape designer, broadcaster and author. Mark is the gardening expert on BBC One's Morning Live. He has also presented for BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World and is one of the presenting team for the BBC’s coverage of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show. In addition, Mark hosts his own shows on QVC.

Mark has written for various magazines such as Country Living, House Beautiful and Waitrose Weekend as well as The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and the Guardian. Mark's first book, Royal Gardens of the World was published by Hachette in September 2020.

 
Esther Wienjens

Esther Wientjens is Marketing Manager at Valkplant.  As an agency Valkplant specialises in finding, introducing and protecting new plant varieties. Since 2016 Valkplant also is the coordinator of the Proven Winners® European shrub program. Esther started her career in FMCG working in various sales & marketing jobs, returning to her ‘horticultural’ roots in 2016 to work on the launch of Proven Winners shrubs program in Europe