The Competitions
Special Entries
Celebrate the places that make a difference in your community: schools, pubs, parks, allotments, stations, war memorials and more. There are 19 categories to choose from.
Stand Alone entries for 2027
Tuesday 1 December 2026 to Monday 31 May 2027
Two ways to enter
A Special can be part of your Main Competition entry, or entered on its own if your community isn’t taking part in the Main Competition. The marking is the same either way.
No extra fee
With your Main Competition entry
✓ Enter up to 10 Specials, one per category
✓ Talk through your ideas with your judges on the spring tour
✓ After spring judging, we’ll email you a link to enter your Specials
✓ Use the link once for each Special, by 31 May
Please wait for this link. Don’t enter your Specials as Stand Alone entries, or you’ll pay £45 for each one when they’re free with your Main Competition entry. All 19 categories are open to you, including Community Champion and Private Gardens.
£45 per entry
As a Stand Alone entry
✓ For groups and communities not in the Main Competition
✓ 17 of the 19 categories are open to Stand Alone entries
✓ Entries open 1 December 2026 and close 31 May 2027
✓ Pay online when you complete the entry form
The 19 categories
Every category is open to Main Competition entrants. Stand Alone entries can enter any category except Community Champion and Private Gardens.
1
Business and out of town retail parks
2
Community Champion and Young Community Champion
Main Competition entrants only
3
Schools
4
Care and residential homes, hospices and day centres
5
Religious establishments
6
Small and large commercial premises
7
Pubs
8
Hotels and guest houses
9
Conservation projects
10
Bus, Metro and railway stations
11
Parks
12
Town centre retail areas and Business Improvement Districts
13
Private gardens
Main Competition entrants only
14
Grounds of hospitals, universities and other public buildings
15
Sports grounds
16
Residential communities
17
Allotments
18
Tourist and visitor attractions, and country estates
19
War memorials
How Specials are judged
Judges visit your Special during the summer tour in July. Every Special is marked out of 100, with half the marks for horticulture. Awards are presented at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 29 September 2027.
50
Horticultural achievement
50% of the marks for every Special: standards of gardening knowledge, skills and practice.
25
Two further areas
25% each. Which two areas depends on the type of Special, and they’re set out for each category in the criteria PDF.
25
Community Champions
Not marked. The Trustees decide these awards from the nominations they receive.
Good to know
Send us a photo. Each Special needs one landscape digital photograph for the Awards Ceremony. Use our photo uploader.
Specials or It’s Your Neighbourhood? The same area can’t be entered as both, unless a volunteer group looks after a specific area within a wider entry, such as a public park.
Bloom groups. Bloom groups behind a Main Competition entry can’t also enter Specials or It’s Your Neighbourhood.
Not sure it’s ready? Your judges may suggest an entry waits a year to mature. They’re happy to advise.
Questions about Specials?
Our Entrants Co-ordinator, Colleen Ashwin Kean, can help you choose a category.