The 2010 APLD International Landscape Design Awards

If you consider yourself a good landscape designer, how would you feel offering some of your best work in competition before the eyes of some of the world’s best landscape-design judges? Each year this is possible for members of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) in the APLD International Landscape Design Awards Program. Non-members are also welcome to enter.

The entry criteria are evaluated yearly by the APLD awards committee, then the entry forms are released in the fall, with an early-February deadline. The present entry categories include Residential, Non-residential, Small Gardens, Show Gardens, Planting Design and Specialty projects.

The entries that receive awards can be either merit or gold. From the gold-awarded entries, an APLD International Landscape Designer of the Year is chosen. All designers who receive an award then receive the benefits of APLD’s far-reaching public relations service. 2009’s Landscape Designer of the Year, Margie Grace, was even treated to a weekend media blitz in New York City, which featured a meeting with the people at Martha Stewart Living. Margie will also be highlighted in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

The stringent judging process features international judges. This year’s judges were C. Colston Burrell; Norman Booth, FASLA; Robin Templar Williams, FSGD, APLD; Julie Moir Messervy; W. Gary Smith, ASLA; Mark Gregory; and Susan Appleget Hurst.

The pool of entries for 2010 was quite strong and produced 20 award winners. James Doyle, of James Doyle Design Associates, Greenwich, Conn., was named 2010 APLD International Landscape Designer of the Year for his project at Harmony Farm (shown). Eighteen of the entries were judged to be meritorious and included:

Non-Residential

Axel Lohrer - A sensitive restoration of a historical European village center

Planting Design

Rick Laughlin, APLD - A renewed front yard adding color and texture while improving sustainability

Bobbie Burdick, A costal Maine landscape holding quite true to its provenance

Residential Design

Amelia Lima, APLD - A pool area redo with contemporary curvilinear flair

Kathy Snyder Hubner, APLD - Courtyard living, San Miguel style, with vibrant colors that solved problems and offered usable spaces

Barry Block – A modern woodland front entrance featuring native grasses

Margie Grace – A completely edible front yard with a very personal story

Brian Jordison – A formal design featuring wonderful water features and impressive night lighting

Margie Grace – A paradise of a rose garden with unforgettable colors

Richard Schuster, APLD - a yard redesign with strong wall work and plant treatment

Salsbury/Schweyer Design, APLD, - a revived backyard held together with strong hardscape lines and lush textures

Kathryn Prideaux – a great improvement over an original design with bold hardscaping and mindfulness to sustainability

Laura Morton, APLD, - an amazing rejuvenation of a small yard that turns an eyesore into a boldly designed mission and Andalusia styled gem

Small Garden

M J McCabe –an oriental garden highlighted a small site while serving to mask an unfavorable view

Specialty Projects

Barry Block – fine crafted gunite spa with bluestone patio energized a spot off a deck

Douglas Owens-Pike – a front lawn area is completely transformed into a prairie with numerous native plants

Paul Connelly, APLD, - the pool area of a mid century modern home gets a new look on life with numerous amenities blazing with bold colors

Richard Harper, APLD –a sketch of an offbeat crooked tree house leads to a kid hideaway

Two entries received a gold award.

Scott Britnizer – a tremendous transformation turning an old house on an odd lot into a many faceted masterpiece

James Doyle Associates – a masterful redesign of an old farm with superb craftsmanship, restraint, and harmony that created a unified and functional setting

Two entries also were selected by the judges for special honorable mention. They were the projects of Axel Lorher and Margie Grace.

From all of these fine candidates, James Doyle Associates was chosen to be the 2010 APLD International Landscape Designer of the Year.

The awardees will be honored at the APLD conference in Dallas in September, and will be highlighted in The Designer magazine and on the APLD website. The 2011 APLD International Landscape Design Awards entry form will be available in fall 2010 on www.apld.org.