Myth 1: “My projects are modest in budget and smaller in scale. They cannot achieve the same recognition as a large project.”

The reality: the recognition on offer is for the quality of your workmanship, not the size of your project.

“…the recognition you are after is the quality of your workmanship against industry standard. It can be small and perfect and get a gold or large and imperfect and get a bronze.”

Janet Clarke, Chairman, Registered Master Landscapers

Head Judge Penny Cliffin was asked what people assume will impress the judges but makes very little difference. Her answer was short: “Huge budgets.” In some years Premier Awards, and even the Supreme Award, have gone to smaller-scale projects.

Myth 2: “There is a lot of writing involved, and that is not my strength.”

The reality: you do not have to rely on words alone.

Good photos show the spaces in a landscape, and video shows how a space feels to move through. For 2027, video is being developed further, building on its use in the 2025 programme, with more scope to tell your project’s story. The judges cannot visit everywhere, and video is one of the best ways to communicate space and quality.

Janet Clarke, Chairman of Registered Master Landscapers, says clear descriptions do help the judges understand a project. The hope is that being able to provide video with an audio soundtrack, covering the questions posed in the submission, will allow a level of communication that suits both you and the judges.

A tip: speak your answers into an AI tool to organise your thoughts. Upload the list of questions so it can help you put them in a logical order, then check the facts and make sure your own voice comes through.

To help you prepare before entries open on 1 December, there is a guide for each category type: Design; Build: Soft landscaping; Build: Hardscape; Maintain; and Environmental / Regeneration. Find them here.

Myth 3: “There is no point entering unless I can win the Supreme Award.”

The reality: winning is only one outcome, and it comes second.

Every entry is assessed on its own merit, against the industry’s standard, by a panel of independent professionals. Projects that reach a high enough standard are awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal. The top-scoring project in each category is named a Premier Award winner and is then eligible for consideration for the Supreme Award.

Janet Clarke, Chairman of Registered Master Landscapers, sees independent assessment as one of the main advantages of entering. A medal is useful in promoting your work to the public, and a Premier or Supreme Award is the icing on the cake. Past entrants agree:

“When we entered, we didn’t expect to get anywhere but managed to pick up gold. It’s really benefitted us as a business – we’ve actually had a few people contact us just because they’ve seen we’re an award winner.”

Jon Russell, Managing Director, Sculptural Landscapes (gold medal, 2021)

Myth 4: “Preparing an entry is a lot of work for something I will only use once.”

The reality: the work keeps paying off.

Janet Clarke, Chairman of Registered Master Landscapers, calls this the easiest myth to bust. Yes, it is a lot of work, but answering the questions gives you insights into the parts of landscaping that make a quality landscape, and you may not have considered them before. Your entry and its photographs can then be used by you indefinitely to promote your company, and by Registered Master Landscapers across its social media, website and newsletters, which reach an audience of thousands.

Previous entrants told us that preparing an entry gave them the push to arrange good photography and properly document a project, which left them with content for their own website and social media.

The benefit reaches the team behind the project too. Scott Humphrey of Humphreys Landscaping, a 2021 winner, says that winning has been “empowering for our staff as it is recognition of the hard work that they have all put into developing the gardens to the high standard that was required to win the awards.”