For a decade now Allett have been running the Creative Lawn Stripes Competition inviting lawn enthusiasts from around the world to showcase their artistic talents on their beautiful lawns. With each passing year the competition has grown in popularity attracting more participants eager to transform their lawns into mesmerising works of art. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this unique event let's take a stroll down memory lane and revisit the past ten winners who have wowed us with their creative brilliance.
Over the past decade the Allett Creative Lawn Stripes Competition has evolved into a global sensation. This annual event has seen hundreds of entrants from countries as far as Australia all united by their love for lawncare. The competition is open to individuals aged 18 and above with the exception of Allett Ltd employees, agents, distributors, and dealers.
Austin's creative number 10 mowed into his home lawn
Let's take a look at our past 10 year winners.....
We start with our 2022 winner Ed Aitken from the UK (Cornbury House, Oxford)
Cornbury House (situated in Charlbury, England) is approximately 15 miles from Oxford. Ed Aitken won our 2022 competition after entering three years in a row consistently ranking among the Top 6 before finally claiming victory. Our 2022 judge Dennis West was impressed by his ''expansive design featuring a combination of radiating, straight and angled stripes reminiscent of the aerial view of the English countryside. The flawless transition from curved to straight stripes demonstrated Ed's exceptional expertise and attention to perfection''.
Regarding the lawn, Ed had been renovating it to raise it to a higher standard. For inspiration, Ed drew from the centre circle where a chequerboard design marks a helicopter landing area creating a visually captivating sight for family and guests arriving in helicopters.
The lawn was meticulously divided into different sections to ensure a picturesque view from various angles including the outdoor eating area outside the house. Ed's dedication to maintaining the lawn was evident cutting it once a week throughout winter with certain areas receiving biweekly attention.
Ed used a drone to take his final photo.
Find more about Ed's story here and see our 2022 Top 6
2021 Winner Dennis West from the USA (Judge Andrew Wain)
Hailing from Utah in the USA Dennis West's artistic journey began when he moved into a new house with a bare lawn. Inspired by the 2018 Allett Creative Stripes Competition winner (Keith Smith) Dennis decided to venture into lawn artistry himself watching hours of YouTube videos to learn his craft. With determination and creativity Dennis crafted a mesmerising Zen garden-inspired design using CAD with meticulous measurements and heights of cut. Dennis was not without his troubles smashing his drone into a tree while trying to take his final photo. Dennis like many of the other winners entered several times before he was finally crowned champion. He used his Kensington 20H to create his winning design.
Read more about Dennis' story here and see our 2021 TOP 6
2020 Winner Andrew Wain (Chippenham)- Judge- Gary Barwell
Andrew Wain from Chippenham in England secured 1st place in 2020 with a stunning tribute to the NHS after a tough few years of the pandemic . As the Head Gardener of Euridge Manor, Andrew had consistently performed well in previous competitions despite challenges from weddings hosted on the lawn with marquees blocking the sunlight. In 2020 he creatively incorporated various patterns to represent the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. His design featured a butterfly as a symbol of gratitude to the NHS and to honour his relatives who battled cancer. Andrew's dedication to the competition has turned Euridge Manor's lawn into a work of art showcasing the power of creativity in lawncare. Edgbaston's Head Groundsman Gary Barwell judged our 2020 competition and praised the exceptional standard and effort put into Andrew's entry commending his craft, flair and knowledge.
Read more here and see our 2020 top 6 here
Watch our video with Andrew here
2019 Winner Erik Czako is from Hungary
The 2019 competition was won by CzakĂł Erik of Hungary with a stunning and technically difficult pattern on grass of a quality normally seen in a national football stadium. Erik uses Johnson's Premier seed on his lawn which is used by most premier league sports clubs. Erik used his Allett Kensington to mow his design.
“The rise in international competitors in this competition to win the award is in line with the rise in demand our company has seen for our mowers from overseas lawn-fanatics” says Austin Jarrett, Managing Director of Allett.
'I wanted to mix circles and squares in such a way to show both of them. It's a simple pattern but hard to make it accurately because of the contact points of the mower. It took me three hours to complete in total using an Allett Kensington 14K. I work for a delivery food company and play football in league four. When I was a child I watched English premier league football matches and dreamt of playing on amazing pitches like the ones I saw on TV. In Hungary the pitches aren't as high quality as UK pitches so I decided to make a lawn like one. Hungary’s gardeners told me it wasn't possible due to our climate however I got advice from English groundsmen and my dream came true (Erik's comments).
Read more about Erik's story here
2018 Winner- Keith Smith,Birmingham, UK
Keith Smith from the UK won our 2018 competition. Keith works as a volunteer groundsman for premier league club Aston Villa as well as running his own lawncare business.
After a dry hot summer with gardeners and groundsman up and down the country struggling to keep their lawns watered the 2018 creative stripes competition came to a close with Keith Smith from Birmingham being crowned our 2018 Creative Stripes CHAMPION. Keith was luckily able to avoid any hose pipe bans and managed to water his lawn daily to keep it looking green.
Keith had finished in the top 3 for the past two years and had been working hard each year to win the competition. 273 hrs of hard work went into his winning design with Keith using his two 1940's push mowers to imprint the pattern. He is one of our favourite designs in the past 10 years.
Watch our video with Keith here
2017 Winner Dave Yates from the UK
Our 2017 winner was professional gardener David Yates. Dave heard about our competition reading a magazine at one of his customer's houses. He renovated his lawn from ''an absolute jungle'' into the masterpiece you see below. Dave's design idea came from the fact he got bored of doing straight stripes in his lawn so he decided to imprint two circles and join them together with stripes. He used two different sized rotary mowers to create his design over a period of two to three weeks using a bag of topsoil on the mowers to add extra weight to strengthen the stripes. Dave's photo nearly had him off the ladder!
2016 Winner Jonathan Thompson (Mount St John Estate)
Our 2016 winner was Jonathan Thompson who was the gardener at a private estate in North Yorkshire. He first imprinted the design with a ride on mower the year before and decided to copy it in 2016 for his competition entry using his Allett RM34 rotary mower. He found out about our competition whilst scrolling on social media. Jonathan won himself an Allett Kensington with all the cartridges Watch our video here
2015 Winner Pallav Shah (London)
Pallav Shah won our 2015 competition. He is one of the UK's leading lung surgeons and loves mowing his lawn to switch off after work from a super stressful job.
2014 Winner Shane Avery (Hampshire)
Shane won our competition in 2014 which we ran in partnership with the 'Telegraph' paper.
2013 Winner Mike Lee
Our 2013 competition was won by Mike Lee
Thinking about entering this year? Find our terms and conditions here
The MOST CREATIVE entry will win and join our list of champions etched in Allett history.
