Susan Durisek’s blog

If you’ve driven up Newtown Pike lately, you’re sure to have noticed the brilliant orange & yellow  floral display at the Fasig-Tipton entryway.   The Henkel Denmark landscape company gets credit for a gorgeous job of redoing the stonework as well.   As Gordon Denmark says, “the wave of color reveals itself as you approach over the hill’s crest.”  Last May,  Lisa Russell and Bart Hufnagel went to Color Point, a 15 acre wholesale greenhouse just outside of Paris, looking for a vibrant color combination and hardy, healthy plants to create a checkerboard pattern. Russell says the large marigolds they found were an outstanding choice; it took six people a day to plant them all.    

This month, Henkel Denmark is also employing their awesome landscaping crew to do some Back-to-School spiffin’ up around some elementary school grounds.  “We wanted to give something back to the community,” says Denmark.  Both men, Denmark and partner Bill Henkel, have children who have passed through local elementary schools, and appreciate the value of the educational community and the positive power of welcoming surroundings for parents and students as the school year begins.  So they’re closing down Henkel Denmark offices for a day on August 6, and sending everyone out on a mission to bring flowers, mulch, and even to trim some trees, to about ten city schools, including Clay’s Mill, Julius Marks, Harrison, Booker T., Ashland, Glendover and Yates.  The effort was coordinated with the school district, to assure compliance with regulations; an advance team identified specific goals for each location.  Henkel Denmark’s vendors and sub-contractors also are on-board and offering help:  Landscaper’s Corner is providing mulch; Pemberton Greenhouse, flowers; Community Tree Care, chipping and hauling; and Todd Kelly’s Nursery, some perennials.   

 The report card grade? This idea gets an   A+