Top Landscape Designs From Colorado In 2023

Ten Colorado landscape companies receive ELITE awards.

December 19, 2023

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Tree of Life Landscapes won a Silver Award in Plant Design at the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) ELITE Awards for this eclectic, low-water garden with a colorful plant palate.

The Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC), has announced the recipients of its 2023 ELITE Awards. For over fifty years, the ELITE Awards has been the only state-wide program to recognize landscape companies and professionals across Colorado who demonstrate unparalleled professionalism, excellence, management practices, innovation, and environmental stewardship.

This year’s award winners exhibited impressive commitment to sound business practices, excellence, and innovation,” said ALCC Chief Executive Officer John McMahon. “These companies and their dedicated employees worked creatively in all kinds of conditions and the results speak for themselves.”

This year’s recipients, finalists and a brief description of their project submissions are as follows:

Commercial Landscape Construction

Gold Award: Landtech Contractors for Central 70 Cover Park. Design and build of a quality public park that united the Swansea-Elyria and Globeville neighborhoods, disconnected for more than 50 years when Interstate 70 was constructed. This park on a bridge is nearly five acres in size and includes synthetic turf soccer field, a playground, splash pad play area, picnic structures, stage and event lawn.

Silver Award: Designscapes Colorado for Dicken’s Farm Nature Area. Innovative reclamation of an interactive nature area that experienced catastrophic flooding in 2013, hand selecting and reusing materials deposited by the storm that restored the nature area to a functional space.

Bronze Award: Timberline Landscaping for Panorama Park. Largest park renovation in the history of Colorado Springs that transformed an uninteresting, unused area to an accessible and vibrant space including an event gazebo, shaded playground and a skate park.

Residential Landscape Construction

Gold Award: Singing Hills Landscape for Modern on Monaco. Remodeling of an outdoor living space that included a large, first-of-its-kind hot tub that can convert into a small pool as well as a custom fabricated driveway gate, patios, outdoor kitchen, garden areas and lighting.

Design/Build Project Under $500K

Gold Award: Lifescape Colorado for Hillside Beauty. Innovative landscape that blended the clients’ home directly into the forest and included many custom elements including a “stream bed” water feature.

Silver Award: Wild Heritage Gardens and Design for Divine Residence – Books and Berries. Environmentally focused re-design of a sod landscape that incorporated diverse, low-water plants, berry bushes, and dry river swales weaving through the landscape.

Bronze Award (tie): Hughes Landscaping for Gilstrap Home. Creative landscape that used an LED lighting plan, two colors of rock, and a cobble dry creek to match the home and provide a relaxing ambiance while protecting the landscape from heavy rain.

Bronze Award (tie): Phase One Landscapes for The Overlook at Deer Creek Mesa. Design and construction of a year-round outdoor living and entertainment space to support various activities with retaining walls, xeric/native plants and water features that matched the home and environment.

Design/Build Project Greater Than $500,000

Gold Award: Designscapes Colorado for Kianna Creek Ranch – extensive design and construction of a 200-acre landscape in Sedalia that connected houses, garden and orchard, stables, barns and other elements into a cohesive ranch.

Silver Award: Lifescape Colorado for Haute Hideaway. Renovation of an outdated landscape in Larkspur that transformed the space around the client’s home into a true getaway with modern features and plants chosen to help stand up to the natural environment of the home.

Bronze Award: Lifescape Colorado for Family Chic Retreat. Creation of a welcoming landscape that saved existing trees, connected the various spaces around the new house and used creative engineering to overcome drainage issues with a creative irrigation system.

Maintenance

Gold Award: Landtech Contractors for Blackstone Metro District. Maintenance of 472,000 square feet of beds, 637,000 square feet of turf and 619,000 square feet of native turf, all while relying on locally sourced water.

Silver Award: Designscapes Colorado for Bowles Metropolitan District. Maintenance of several large parks, streetscapes, and a village center while overcoming the challenges of an extra wet year and tracking/making adjustments to reduce any water waste.

Plant Design

Gold Award: Boulder Landscape and Design for Louisville Secret Garden. Transformation of a backyard using low-water plants that attract pollinators and provide significant amounts of texture, dimension, and bursts of seasonal color while providing year-round interest.

Silver Award: Tree of Life Landscapes for Risoluto. Eclectic, low-water garden with a colorful plant palate that complements its environment and the modern home. 3D renderings, slideshows, and watercolor paintings helped the client envision the proposed design.

Bronze Award: Designscapes Colorado for Country Club Renovation. Renovation of country club gardens using plants that create year-round color and structure to fit their historic neighborhood, using concept drawing and color renderings to help the client choose a final design.

Sustainability

Gold Award: Tree of Life Landscapes for Tenuto. Creative use of a SME retaining wall that holds over six feet of “vertical garden” to provide a verdant ambiance of native plant species while also serving as a retaining wall.