Landscape Design Council Awards 

The Landscape Design Council (LDC) bestows five honorary awards.  Three of the five awards were given at the annual Boston Flower and Garden Show (formerly the New England Spring Flower Show. ) During the Covid 19 Pandemic, the show ceased operations and has not resumed.

These awards are:

• Landscape Design Council Award Certificate: For outstanding accomplishment in the field of landscape design by a garden club or LDC member. Established April 18, 2001 this award will be given when determined by vote of the LDC  Executive Board.

• Landscape Design Council Award for Excellence: In recognition of outstanding civic accomplishment.

• Boston Flower and Garden Show Awards: Qualified Landscape Design Qualified Landscape Design Consultants judge the exhibits competing for these awards.

• • Landscape Design Council Award I:  For excellence in landscape design of a professional garden exhibit. Proposed to and accepted by GCFM Exec Board March 6, 1974.

• • Landscape Design Council Award II:  For the effective use of garden ornament, water features, specimen trees, or topiary in creating a design of distinction. This award was proposed to the Mass Horticultural Society in 1998, accepted 2000, and first awarded 2001.

• • Emily Seaber Parcher Award:  For excellence in landscape design of a naturalistic garden. Established in 1980 by Virginia P. Perry (Chairman 1980-1981), who wrote in her citation that the award was created “so that Emily S. Parcher’s never-ceasing quest for knowledge, her interest in and high standards for the aesthetic in naturalistic gardens, and her infectious enthusiasm to encourage the insecure or novice to ‘give it a try’ will be perpetuated.” The first award was given in 1981.

Award Recipients:

Landscape Design Council Award Certificate:  

For outstanding accomplishment in the field of landscape design by a 

garden club or Landscape Design Council member. 

• 2019 Marie Stella, landscape designer and historian.

• 2009 Holliston Garden Club, landscaping entrance, Marshall Street Recycling Center. 

• 2007 Susan C. Spicer, Designer Chelmsford Country Lane GC, Chelmsford Public Library.

Landscape Design Council Award for Excellence:

 In recognition of outstanding civic accomplishment.

• 2019 Lucinda Brockway, Program Director for Cultural Resources for the Trustees of Reservations and Principal of Past Design.

• 2018 Christine Poff, for her impressive work as director of the Franklin Park Coalition.  She is currently the director of the Community Preservation in Boston.

• 2017 Jean Krasnow has been a volunteer for the last ten years for COGdesign. Jean has guided COG through many ups and downs and has been very instrumental in its recent revival.  Today she is Projects Coordinator, on the Board of Directors, and is serving as the acting Director for COG. In addition, Jean volunteers in the many projects that involve Boston youth. Most notably the Trinity Excellence in Education Program and the Food Project’s Urban Farm Roxbury, Build and Grow Program.

• 2016 Renata von Tscharner is a architect and city planner who is recognized for numerous accomplishments.  In 2000, she started the Charles River Conservancy.  With Tscharner as President of the Charles River Conservancy, this advocacy group brings together organizations and individuals working to provide stewardship and renewal of the Charles River parklands, the 400 acres of state-owned riverfront from the Boston Harbor to the Watertown Dam.

• 2015 Heather Heimarck, ASLA, Director of The Landscape Institute at the Boston Architectural College (BAC).  We recognize Ms. Heimarck for her leadership in landscape design education.  With a background in fine arts, sculpture and community service, she brings a social and environmental ethic to the art of landscape design. Prior to joining the BAC, she was Director of the Landscape Institute at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.  She was the pivotal force in the 2009 transfer of The Landscape Institute to the BAC.  Her efforts enabled former students to complete their studies in landscape design, history, and preservation without interruption.  She continues to share her passion for landscape design as a popular lecturer at the Landscape Design School of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc.

• 2014 Valerie Burns, for her visionary leadership and accomplished works at BNAN (Boston Natural Areas Network).  Since l987, she first served as Executive Director, then as President of BNAN, stepping down in June.  She also served as Vice President of the Trustees of Reservations, an affiliate of BNAN.

• 2013 John Furlong, a registered landscape architect, for his outstanding contributions in service and expertise at the Mass. Assoc. for Olmsted Parks and COGdesign, a non-profit organization.  Also, as a leader and mentor at the Landscape Design Institute at Harvard University and as a consultant to LDS course textbook “Stewards of the Land.”

• 2012 John W. Trexler, Executive Director since 1984, Worcester Horticulture Society, acquired and developed the 132 acre Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. We recognize him for his successful implementation of a Master Plan, his successful fund-raising, and his vision and horticultural expertise that have produced a world-class botanic garden and preserved an historic New England farmstead. Since its purchase in 1986, Tower Hill has offered the public the unique opportunity to witness the implementation of a Master Plan, clearly illustrated throughout the process. Educational programs, carefully planned trails throughout the botanic garden property, and horticultural specimens that thrive in central Massachusetts have appeal for the general public as well as the professional gardener in every season. In 1997, during his tenure as Executive Director, the Cary Award program was established. Administered by the Worcester Horticultural Society, it is designed to educate the public and encourage the use of unusual plants that will thrive in the New England home landscape. We offer this award in appreciation for his contribution to the creative preservation and enhancement of our New England landscape, to the creation of a renowned botanic garden, and in recognition of his unique talents and personal qualities that have increased our knowledge of horticulture and landscape design.

• 2011 Marion Pressley, Pressley Associates, is a professional landscape architect whose consulting firm was established in 1977. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but operating nationally, Pressley Associates prides itself as a responsive and creative team organized to meet their clients' landscape architecture, planning and preservation needs. Their portfolio of projects illustrates both the depth of experience and the quality of their work. The Parks & Greenways projects include; Point State Park, Western Canal Park, Lowell Riverwalk, Brookline Parks, Pope John Paul II Park, South Bay Harbor Trail, and Shore Belt Parkway. 

• 2010 Heidi Kost-Gross, landscape designer and Natural Resources Commissioner for the town of Wellesley, has been a tireless and effective contributor to the Landscape Design Council.  She is past chair of the GCFM's Landscape Design School. A landscape architect more than 15 years, Kost-Gross is principal of G/S Associates. In addition to being a practicing landscape designer and an elected town official, Kost-Gross serves as president of the New England Landscape Design and History Association (NELDHA) and is President of the GCFM. In 2010, she finished a three-year term on the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Board of Trustees. She is a member of the NE Farm and Garden Association, Inc. Kost-Gross earned graduate certificates in Landscape Design History and Landscape Design from the Radcliffe Seminars of Harvard University (now the Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College). She was awarded a Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 

• 2009 Lucia Droby, executive director of COGdesign, oversees the organization's pro bono landscape design services. COGdesign is a catalyst for the installation and ongoing stewardship of beautiful, safe, and useful public green spaces in underserved communities. The organization has completed more than 80 landscape design projects in eastern Massachusetts, partnering with public and private schools, neighborhood parks, "friends" groups, churches, municipal agencies, historic sites, and community gardens.

• 2008 Marion Ryan’s leadership has been constant, and her experience is invaluable to our council. She is an inspiration to us, above all constantly encouraging us to participate in our communities with civic-beautification projects. Ryan's credentials include a long history of service to regional, state, and national organizations. She is past president of the GCFM, past chairman of the Massachusetts LDC, past chairman of the Landscape Design School, and past president of the Community League Garden Club of Weston. She has served as assistant treasurer of the Massachusetts LDC.

• 2007 Sally McGuire Muspratt has generously shared her expertise with the community at large through her educational and design work.  She chairs the Civic Development Committee of the GCFM, is past chairman of the Landscape Design School, and of the Landscape Design Council of MA. She serves as a member of The Park Overseers Committee, the Kelleher Rose Garden Advisory Committee of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the West Roxbury Main Streets Design Committee. She also serves on the Arnold Arboretum's Director's Advisory Committee and the Boston Redevelopment Authority's Arnold Arboretum Task Force.  Muspratt holds a graduate certificate in landscape design from Radcliffe College, a certificate in landscape maintenance from University of Massachusetts Ext., a BA from Harvard University, and a MA from Newnham College, Cambridge, England.

• 2006 Paul Rogers, horticultural consultant, advisor on a wide range of projects for institutions such as Old Sturbridge Village, municipal ties such as Worcester’s Municipal Park, recreation facilities, and numerous residential properties. As an educator, he lectures at the Landscape Institute at the Arnold Arboretum, and Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He also teaches at the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts' Landscape Design School and Gardening Study School, where he is a great favorite with students. For twenty years Rogers served as the landscape superintendent at Holy Cross, whose campus is a registered arboretum that has won national landscaping awards. He is past chairman of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, past president of the Worcester County Horticultural Society (which awarded him a Director’s Silver Medal), and past president of the Horticultural Club of Boston. The selected charity is the Worcester Horticultural Society - Library Fund.

• 2004 Joseph Hudak, former Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design for over twenty years, and teacher at the Radcliffe Seminars Program. A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Mr. Hudak is also the author of numerous books on design and horticulture, and an honorary member of the LDC of MA. This award is to honor his generous service as LDC Advisor to the National Garden Clubs, and for sharing his knowledge at our Landscape Design School, and with the Landscape Design Council on both the state as well as national level.

• 2003 Owen Rogers, Ph.D., former Professor of Horticulture, Plant Biology Department, University of New Hampshire, Chairman of the Plant Sciences Dept. followed by the Chairmanship of the Genetics Program. Dr. Rogers' research has concentrated on ornamental plant genetics and late-blooming lilacs. Serving on many state boards and plant societies, including the National Arboretum Advisors' Council and Trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, his enthusiastic popular lectures have been a high point of our Landscape Design School since 1986. Dr. Owens check was directed to the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission.

• 2002 Susan Dumaine, a garden designer, horticulturist, propagator, teacher, tour leader, lecturer, writer, timeless volunteer and extraordinary gardener. She is dedicated to our plant world and the societies that support that world. Her enthusiasm and service span decades. Our award recognizes her outstanding talents and contributions. Ms. Dumaine's check was directed to the New England Wildflower Society.

• 2001 Alice Hennessey, Director of the Menino Project, which transformed the Gardner Street Landfill to Millennium Park—nearly 100 acres along the Charles River off VFW Parkway in West Roxbury. For 45 years she has been a dedicated worker and teacher of conservation and "greening and growing" with the schools, the Friends of the West Roxbury Library, the playgrounds, the Girl Scouts, the West Roxbury Historical Society, and other ventures. She is the founder of the West Roxbury Friends of Rosie's Place. Alice believes: "Women initiate ideas and carry out projects that involve the entire community and give them a pride of ownership."

• 1999 Shirley Muirhead, for her lifetime of outstanding work with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and for five years Director of Landscape Design. She designed, contracted and supervised construction of projects such as award-winning Angell Memorial Park (Post Office Square), Chinatown Gateway Park, and the Rose Kennedy Garden (North End). Produced guidelines for major Boston development parcels, and served on planning boards.

• 1998 Eugenie Beal, for establishing the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Boston Natural Areas Fund (serving 20 years as its president) - lifetime commitment to protect, preserve, and expand the open spaces. She was founding chairman of the Boston Conservation Commission, director of the City of Boston Environment Dep't, served on the state/city Commission for Boston Harbor Beaches, chairs the Boston Common Committee of the Friends of the Public Garden and Common.

• 1996 Leo Levy, for developing private/public partnerships in the city of Newton and with other towns and organizations. His Ieadership, statesmanship, vision and energy have resulted in 37 new programs in Newton, touching the lives of an estimated 1000 volunteers, 4,000 school children and 83,000 Newton residents. He developed the Urban Street Tree Task Force which inspired Tree Endowment Fund and Plant-A-Tree Campaign.