The Acres Group, official landscaper of the Kane County Cougars, recently received a prestigious Excellence in Landscape Gold Award from the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association for its work at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

Floral additions to the ballpark last year include a large begonia baseball nestled in a carpet of verbena outside one of the entrances (as seen at the top of this post), and more than 350 annuals planted around the sign display seen when entering the ballpark grounds from Cherry Lane (seen below).

The Acres Group also planted 36 maple trees inside the ballpark, and added “The Patio,” which consists of multi-colored Adirondack patio furniture, Rosetta stone walls, and a limestone path in the first-base lawn seating area.

“We’d like to congratulate Acres Group on receiving such a prestigious award in recognition of their impressive work at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark,” Cougars owner Cheryl Froehlich said in a press release. “We heard compliments from numerous fans throughout the season regarding the large baseball when entering the ballpark, the planting of maple trees and a landscaped area which perfectly framed our vision of ‘The Patio’ inside the ballpark.”

*All photos courtesy of the Kane County Cougars