Connor Sullivan wins Young Landscaper of the Year
Canterra co-director Connor Sullivan has been named the 2026 Young Landscaper of the Year after two highly competitive days of practical and professional assessments
The event took place on 18-19 September at Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Canterbury-based landscape architect Connor Sullivan secured the Young Landscaper of the Year 2026 title following a series of written and practical challenges, an interview and a speech to round off the competition.
Finalists were assessed on practical competence, technical knowledge, accuracy, safety, problem solving, communication, leadership and professional judgement across ten sponsored stations.
Platinum supporter Mitre 10 was among a number of businesses backing this year’s competition, including training organisation Primary ITO and industry suppliers such as Readylawn, Straightcurve and others.
Complete suprirse
Sullivan said the result came as a “complete surprise” with the judges giving little indication of how contestants were performing – although they did provide useful advice following each assessment.
“There were quite a few stations where a lot of us hadn’t really had anything to do with the product or didn’t know a huge amount about it,” Sullivan said.
“Once the challenge was complete, you got a decent five or ten minutes to talk to the judge, and they were very helpful.”
Sullivan had identified softscaping as one of his strengths ahead of the competition and that proved to be the case in the day, as he went on to receive the Outstanding Achievement in Softscape Practice Award.
However, the winner must prove themselves across a range of disciplines and Sullivan’s experience in his own business came to the fore.
Young Landscaper of the Year - in the right spirit
Despite the competitive environment, Sullivan said the event maintained a friendly atmosphere in which contestants asked questions, shared information and formed new connections.
“I just wanted to get stuck in and soak up as much information as I could,” he said. “After having a couple of days to reflect, it is a pretty cool feeling to have won.”
