The LNA Master Landscapers Association’s annual Landscape Excellence Awards are synonymous with quality, innovation, creativity and craftsmanship at the very highest levels. This year’s Award winners are an embodiment of these ideals.
With 25 categories of awards presented in 2018, the list is representative of the modern work practices performed by landscape contractors throughout NSW and the ACT. The LNA Landscape Excellence Awards are both inspirational and act as a showcase for the fine knowledge, experience and skills the very best cutting-edge landscapers in the industry possess.
The five Husqvarna Australia Awards are the most prestigious of the Awards, celebrating the top achievements in landscape construction, design and maintenance across all categories. The esteemed judges found the entries to be of world-class standard, frequently innovative and finished with outstanding skill and finesse.
In the last issue of LCM, we introduced to you this year’s LNA Master Landscapers Association Excellence Awards, Husqvarna Australia Residential Award Winners. In this issue we will acquaint you with the winners of the Commercial categories. Enjoy!
Husqvarna Australia Commercial Landscape Construction of the Year Award
Winner: Design Landscapes Australia Pty Ltd
Project: The Ian Potter Wild Play Garden
The Ian Potter Wild Play Garden is a space designed to attract 30,000 visitors annually and rarely requires closure for maintenance. The primary target audience is children aged 5-12, with a secondary audience of children aged 2-4. The space has been designed and constructed to be an inclusive and engaging playspace for children of all abilities, a space of joy where children’s imaginations can be captured.
This very special garden needed to be creative and include playful elements where children can learn about plants and animals and explore their curiosity. The space also needed to be appropriate for parents and carers to relax and enjoy the outdoors while still supervising children.
The Ian Potter Wild Play Garden is a standout project that is aesthetically engaging and encompasses a vast range of landscape construction elements and thoughtful advanced plantings. The resulting space is a recognition of the formal and informal nature of the learning process where children can be introduced to the wide range of wonders the Australian outdoors can offer in a space filled with both natural and constructed play activities and areas to explore.
The garden is a meandering adventure playground with something new to discover around every corner! Waterplay areas with waterfalls, sprinklers and natural stone have been combined with rope bridges, lush varied gardens, paths and stairs to hidden spaces and a large bamboo shade structure.
Every aspect of this space has been finished to the highest possible standard and each aspect of design and construction has been carefully considered. This includes the implementation of a raft of sustainability measures and green practices helping to ensure the ongoing health and longevity of the space. The result is a landscape that any child or adult will love. This space is a wonderful achievement and the project is an outstanding success.
Husqvarna Australia Commercial Maintenance of the Year Award
Winner: Green Options
Project: The Kings School
The Kings School campus caters to staff and 1650 students aged Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12. It is designed to be inclusive and creative, including many different learning spaces. The maintenance contractors for this landscape, Green Options, maintain a full-time team of horticulturalists and greenkeepers to care for the large-scale grounds with the utmost care and attention to detail.
Catering to this large user group, the Kings School grounds include a number of different outdoor environments, each requiring specialist skills and knowledge to keep them in the best possible condition. Some of these specific outdoor areas include both common maintenance features such as garden beds, turf, maintenance of heritage planting, edging and cleaning of pathways, as well as more unusual features such as a cattle yard, mountain bike tracks, swimming pools, rowing yards, Pre-Kindergarten zones, boarding houses and asset protection zones along boundaries.
In judging the maintenance of the Kings School grounds, the panel praised the workmanship and attention to detail of Green Options staff. An innovative weed management system employed by the maintenance team is particularly effective, especially in combination with the strong plant knowledge demonstrated by the selection and implementation of the pest and disease approaches. The entire site is extremely well-managed and manicured and the horticultural practices employed have a positive impact on the environment by reducing green waste.
The result of the dedication, commitment and skill of this specialist team of contractors is overall beautiful, extensive, immaculate grounds in peak condition for the varied uses of the landscape.
For more information regarding the LNA Excellence Award winners, or to learn more about the LNA’s outstanding service as the peak industry body in NSW and the ACT, please visit the website www.landscapenswact.com.au