The Excellence in Landscape Awards recognize the skills and expertise of landscape professionals. This program celebrates the finest landscaping projects across Illinois, highlighting outstanding artistry, craftsmanship, and sustainable practices in various sectors. The purpose of the awards is to honor the work of those who elevate the profession.

Winners are announced at the prestigious Awards Night during the iLandscape Show, offering industry-wide recognition.

Awards Categories

Gold, Silver, and Merit awards are given in the following categories:

Artistry and Craftsmanship

Commercial Landscape Construction

Commercial Landscape Maintenance

Residential Landscape Construction

Residential Landscape Maintenance

Specialty Element

All submissions are also eligible for the Professionals Choice Award and the prestigious
Judges Award

Select an Application to Begin

The deadline to submit awards applications is November 11, 2024. Winners will be contacted in January 2025 with their results.

The “Artistry & Craftsmanship Award” highlights the “Best in Show” for a specific landscape feature. To make it even more exciting; each year the theme will change, such as “Fire”, “Water”, “Illumination”, and etc.

The 2025 theme will be: Moving Water Features

The Boutique Level recognizes small to mid-size (less than 1 acre) landscape projects that demonstrate outstanding creativity, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. It offers an opportunity for landscape professionals to showcase exceptional work in more intimate settings, highlighting the unique challenges and successes of boutique projects.

This application recognizes large-scale landscape projects that demonstrate exceptional expertise in design, execution, and maintenance. This award celebrates the highest level of professionalism in delivering complex, collaborative projects that significantly enhance outdoor spaces.

Application Resources

As the Excellence in Landscape Awards Program application requires several steps, we have provided this system which will allow you to save the progress of your application. In order to implement this we require the following information.

Review the Awards Entry Submission Guidelines and Awards Preparation Tips before getting started.

To ensure that your entered information is not lost due to computer or technical errors, ILCA advises applicants to type their entry descriptions into Microsoft Word (or another text program) and then copy and paste the information into the appropriate sections of the online application-OR-copy and paste the descriptions entered into the online application into Word (or another text program) before submitting or saving the application.

A sample application has been uploaded for reference. We recommend saving your work in a Word or similar document in the event of a technical difficulty.

Applications may be saved for completion at a later time.
An email will be sent to the submitter with the link.

Applications that have not been updated for 120 days will be removed from the system