Spencer Lawrence of Spatial Garden Design has been announced as the winner of Provender Nurseries’ design competition in collaboration with Proven Winners®.

More than 20 customers entered the competition to design a large new border for the nursery’s site in Kent using only plants from the Proven Winners® range. The competition was launched in October last year following Provender Nurseries’ expansion into an adjoining paddock field. Entrants were asked for their designs to have maximum impact and year-round interest, and the space would be used as a demonstration and education area.

Judges Esther Wientjens of Valkplant – which developed the Proven Winners® range – award-winning garden designer Mark Lane and Provender Nurseries’ sales director Richard Burt chose Lawrence’s design for its “great plant combinations for all year-round interest, beautifully crafted documentation clearly highlighting the differences for each season and a real understanding of the brief.”

Lawrence saw the competition as a “really good opportunity” to showcase his work and working from a prescribed plant list “captured my imagination”.

Competition winner Spencer Lawrence

“To have your work scrutinised by such knowledgeable and prolific people within your industry and have it stand out in some way is a real accolade, and to have such positive comments too is amazing. Planting plans are notoriously time-consuming, so it certainly made all the time and effort worthwhile,” says Lawrence.

Judge Richard Burt says that “the workmanship of all of the entries was extremely high with very different interpretations of the brief.  Spencer showed an appreciation of each season and produced a well thought out plan with added details. I am really looking forward to seeing Spencer’s design come to fruition.”

Lawrence’s winning design will be planted as a living display along the entrance into Provender Nurseries in March.