Garden Design students at Capel Manor College in Regents Park campus were tasked earlier this year with redesigning the planting on an area known as The Island, a popular part of Regents Park and a focal point for visitors to the Rose Wheel.

The project is part of an ongoing collaboration with Provender Nurseries in which garden design students redesign an area using only plants found on the Provender Nurseries website.  Each student then gives a three-minute presentation of their design and answers questions from Capel Manor design staff and Liz Hughes of Provender Nurseries.

After seeing 27 designs with some clever interpretations of The Island and inventive use of social media to promote the venue within Regents Park, the judges chose ‘Light and Reflection’ by Tessa Parikian as the winner, commending its clever use of reflection in the water, adding another dimension to the overall planting scheme. They said Tessa’s design and plant choice showed “an excellent theme and excellent planting”.

Tessa’s design proposal added structure and opened views across The Island to create a lighter, airy feel. The plant choice created long seasonal interest with focal points throughout.  Three Betula utilis var. ‘Jacquemontii’ stand sentinel with the winter sun catching the white bark set against unfurling ferns, snowdrops and primulas in the spring.  Dierama, Rheum and Anemones provide height and structure through the later seasons. The use of Stachyrus chinensis ‘Celine’ and Euonymus alatus compactus showed an excellent choice of shrubs.  The dense planting enhances light and reflections in the water. The presentation drawings were of excellent quality and showed a great understanding of where The Island is viewed from by most visitors.

The winner’s cheque for £250.00 was presented to Tessa by Richard McKenna, MD of Provender Nurseries.

Tessa’s background in the creative arts and her lifelong experience of gardening and horticulture led to her decision to study garden design. She completes her course this month. You can see more of her work at Tessa Parikian Garden Design.

The judges were Mark Rowe, assistant park manager of Regents Park and Liz Hughes, marketing manager at Provender Nurseries.