Why Enter the TEIL Awards? Past Winners Share What the Recognition Means

You've completed the project. The client is happy. Your team has moved on to the next job.
So why take the time to enter an awards program?

For past winners of the Texas Excellence in Landscaping Awards (TEIL), the answer goes beyond bringing home an award.

TEIL gives Texas green industry professionals an opportunity to document their best work, recognize the people behind it and earn industry recognition for what their companies have accomplished.
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With the October 5 application deadline approaching, we asked recent winners what earning a TEIL Award meant to them.

View Application & Brochure Here

Recognition for the Work Your Team Is Already Doing

For Southern Botanical, earning a TEIL Award provides outside recognition of the quality its teams deliver.

​"Winning a TEIL Award means a great deal to Southern Botanical. It’s tangible recognition of the caliber of work our teams deliver.”

Jeanette Gallardo, Marketing Coordinator at Southern Botanical, also has simple advice for companies wondering whether they should enter:

“If you’re on the fence about applying, do it: the recognition speaks for itself.”

There's an important point in that advice: your team has already done the difficult part.
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The project has been designed, installed, maintained or transformed. Entering TEIL gives you an opportunity to document that accomplishment and put the team's work in front of industry peers.

​An Award Can Help Build Your Company's Reputation

​For Set Roots owner Kyle McLaughlin, TEIL recognition became part of a much larger company story. After purchasing the company in 2017 following 12 years working for a large commercial landscape maintenance firm, McLaughlin says Set Roots initially took on smaller projects because those were the opportunities available to the company.

As the business grew, so did the work.

McLaughlin says earning a TEIL Award “legitimized us as a high-end residential design build company” and became a testament to the work of his team. 

For him personally, the recognition represented something more.

He described reaching that level as a remarkable achievement, something he hadn’t imagined would be possible when the company was getting started.

That’s one of the strongest reasons to consider entering. The project you’re completing today could become part of the story you tell about your company tomorrow

Even the Submission Process Can Have Value

Winning isn't the only benefit.
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Landscape architect Matt W. Stevens began submitting projects to TEIL a few years after starting his own company and overseeing the installation of his designs.

He found value in the process itself.

“The process gave me a chance to self-reflect and share my process with others.”

The project photography he gathered for his entries also became material he could use on his own website. Stevens says he values having a statewide organization that can validate the work being done in the landscape design-build industry. 

Gallardo shared a similar perspective, noting that preparing a submission can “deepen your appreciation for the work your team has already accomplished.

​Think Your Project Isn't Award-Worthy? Take Another Look.

TEIL recognizes outstanding Texas landscape projects across residential and commercial installation, maintenance, design, special projects and unique features.

Your project doesn't have to look like someone else's winning project. Instead, consider the story behind your own work.

• What challenge did your team face?
• What expertise or craftsmanship did it require?
• What solution did you develop?
• What changed because of the work?

Those are the stories worth documenting.
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A strong TEIL entry doesn't require complicated marketing language. Start with a clear challenge → solution → result, then use strong project photography to support the story.

​Your Work Is Done. Don't Let the Opportunity Pass.

If you've already started a TEIL application, now is the time to finish it. If you haven't started, there is still time to put your project forward. Applications close October 5.

TEIL is open to green industry professionals with projects in Texas, and TNLA membership is not required. Entry fees are $250 for TNLA members and $300 for nonmembers. Winners will be recognized February 23, 2027, at the TNLA Awards Festival during the Lone Star Hort Forum in Waco.

Your team did the work. Give them the opportunity to have it recognized.

Start application here

Questions? Contact Amber Aultman at [email protected] or call 512-579-3864.