7 Award-winning Landscape Designs to Inspire You in 2022
There’s no greater reward than a job well done… unless of course we’re talking about actual awards! Landscaping project awards are given yearly by many associations across the continent. These awards are a great way to gauge the best practices in the landscaping industry and to showcase the abilities of your business. Here are 7 award-winning landscape designs and installations from the last two years to inspire your projects in 2022!
Urban Landscaping Projects
McCoy’s Creek Recreation and Restoration Plan, Florida
American Society of Landscape Architects – Florida Chapter | Award of Excellence 2021
By: SCAPE
First on our list, this project hits a lot of big landscaping design trends for 2022: combating climate change and incorporating native plants.
McCoy’s Creek Recreation and Restoration plan aims to revitalize a historic landmark in Jacksonville, Florida that has been neglected. The landscaping project will incorporate native plants like bald cypress and showy southern gems like crepe myrtle in its design. The creek experiences regular flooding and suffers from poor water quality. Reintroducing native plants will combat many of these issues, helped by the carefully crafted landscaping installations that serve to mitigate the damage from flooding.
This award recognizes urban landscaping is at its best: bringing new life to a city while working with nature, not against it.
SQ2 POPS, Toronto, Canada
Toronto Urban Design Awards | Award of Excellence – Small Open spaces 2021
Alexandra Park is a courtyard nestled at the center of four buildings. The geometric landscaping design of the project itself beautifully compliments the modern architecture of the surrounding buildings. The park is accessible to the public by the street, so the design includes open spaces and bright lighting to maintain good visibility. At the same time, there are specimen trees used to maintain an element of privacy for the townhouse yards.
Another soon-to-be popular 2022 landscaping plant trend pops up in SQ2 POPS: an urban food garden! The landscaping project includes fruit trees throughout the space.
Premium Residential Landscaping Designs
Le 6504, Québec, Canada
Association des paysagistes professionnels du Québec | Milan Havlin Award 2020
This landscaping project was a first-time win for Paysage Knowlton (Knowlton Landscapes, for our English-speaking friends). It’s no surprise why Le 6504 received the prestigious Milan Havlin award.
The landscaping plants used in this riverfront property had to be carefully planned out. Given the property’s proximity to the river, any materials used had to integrate well with local plants and wildlife. This resulted in a masterful transition between the outdoor living space and pool area to the riverbank. The choice and composition of the native shrubs and plants in the garden elicits a storybook feel without compromising on the luxury of the home. Le 6504 proves you can have it all. The property’s landscaping design boasts manicured sophistication in the front of the property, and artful disarray in the back.
Cooper Landscape Project, New Jersey
National Association of Landscape Professionals | 2021 Awards of Excellence – Silver, Residential Design/Build – $25,000 to $100,000
By: Landscape Solutions, Bill Schau
The beautiful thing about the landscaping industry is we turn any home into an oasis. The Cooper Landscape Project in New Jersey showcases just that.
Within a single 50’x50’ space in a backyard, this team created 5 distinct landscaping projects. First, hardscaping defined the grilling and eating areas. Then boulders, hedges and accent shrubs were used throughout the landscaping design to add contrast to the softscape materials. Finally, the project included deliberate play of terrain height. Not only did this make the space feel bigger, but it allows each distinct area to have its own feel. The reading nook is tranquil, the lawn area is open, and the dining and pit areas are inviting.
Creekside Residence, New York
ASLA New York | 2021 Merit Award – Large-scale Residential Design
By: Renee Byers, Landscape Architect, P.C.
Some projects are defined by the creative challenges they bring and then some landscape designers flawlessly rise to the occasion. There’s no better example of this than the Scarsdale, New York Creekside Residence. The designers worked with nature to create an area of tranquil sophistication.
This property has a brook running through the backyard. With bodies of water come obstacles such as run-off and drainage concerns, not to mention the fact that the creek itself ran along the entire property line. The landscaping team designed a natural bridge over the creek: a stone bridge with a lawn covering. With that one move, they created a solution that seamlessly blends into the quiet elegance of the site, while being a sound option for local fauna.
A specimen Japanese maple as a visual focal point in the entertainment area, a mature katsura tree and a weeping beach add to the serenity of the garden. As you approach the creek, you’ll find a rain garden to help with stormwater management and buffer plants on either side of the creek to improve drainage.
The Lentz Residence, Texas
NALP | Gold – Residential Landscape Contracting, $100,000 to $500,000
By: LandPatterns Inc
The theme of this Texan residential landscaping project is “Native Woodland”. If you’re interested in landscaping designs focused on incorporating native flora, this is the project for you. A concentrated effort was put into making sure everything from the grasses to the Post Oak trees were native to the area.
The beautiful light-colored hardscaping is complemented by evergreen shrubs in layered arrangements and Texas Pink Skullcap shrubs. The manicured Zoysia lawn gives way to rustic ornamental grasses along the tree groves. The ornamental grasses themselves are a well thought-out mix of Side Oats Gramma, Inland Sea Oats and Little Bluestem. They dot the ground with feathery seed heads in the winter and blue-tinged grasses in the summer. Yucca and Lenten Rose shrubs also decorate the yard space.
The residence includes a gravel-garden for which the limestone and gravel were brought in from south Texas. A Yaupon Holly specimen tree brightens the space with a pop of color.
In order to not disturb the sensitive Post Oak, a lot of the irrigation, weeding and planting was done manually. The Lentz residence landscaping project is a true labor of love from start to finish.
Commercial Landscaping Installations
House of Flowers, California
ASLA New York | 2021 Merit Award – General Design
By: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
The House of Flowers is right by the Flowers Vineyards along California’s Sonoma Coast. A focal element of this project is the differing elevation levels throughout the property. As a result, the native flora used within this project is varied and constantly changing as the elevation dips into the valley below.
Furthermore, the guiding light to the Flowers Vineyards and Winery is sustainability. They considered the ecological footprint of landscaping maintenance, and so the planting designs were created with low-impact maintenance in mind.
Consequently, there are over two dozen oak species in this project and countless perennials. Yet the landscaping plants weren’t simply chosen to create a different experience at each stop-point along the winery. They serve to support pollinator species, reminding visitors that the winery is but one element of the region’s agricultural production.
***
Which was your favorite landscape design? Tell us on Facebook! You can also check out our earlier post on Star Wars inspired landscape designs.
