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Newsletter Archive: DeSantis Newsletter/July 2007
| Masterful Solution |
Imaginative Engineering Conserves Precious Water & Taps Earth's Energy
DeSantis Landscapes has long been known for masterful landscaping. More recently, our sustainable landscaping service, DeSantis EarthSense has gotten attention for its comprehensive approach to sustainable landscaping practices. With our work at Pringle Creek Community in Salem, we've helped create a hybrid geo-thermal irrigation system that breaks new ground. Click here to learn more about DeSantis EarthSense.
Working with project planners, DeSantis designed an irrigation system that optimizes water use from an onsite well AND taps the earth's energy to heat and cool homes at Pringle Creek Community in Salem, Oregon
Resource Management
The developers of Pringle Creek Community (located on a portion of the former Fairview site in Salem, Oregon) are creating a world-class planned community that incorporates cutting edge sustainable practices and technology. Thoughtful use of precious water and natural resources is a key component of the equation. When the project planners sought a totally integrated approach to managing and optimizing water resources on the site, they turned to DeSantis.
Says Dean DeSantis, "Pringle Creek Community may be the most sustainable development under construction in the nation. For us, it's an opportunity to demonstrate how landscaping encompasses every detail of the land a home rests on from water use to energy conservation to applied technology to an understanding of how we fit into the larger picture as home owners, families, neighbors and citizens." Click here to learn more about the DeSantis approach to landscaping.
Energy From The Earth
Working with Sustainable Development, Inc., Opsis Architecture and others, we designed an irrigation system that optimizes water use from the onsite well AND taps the earth's energy to heat and cool homes. By interconnecting the geo-thermal and the irrigation systems, we eliminated piping redundancy thus reducing the use of PVC pipe by 50%. Here's how it works:
Water is extracted from the on-site well where the ground temperature remains a steady 55 degrees year-round. The water enters the heat pump which then extracts energy from the ground water. On warm days converting that energy to cool air and on cool days to warm air. This use of geothermal technology greatly reduces energy use which is up to 400% more efficient than conventional forced air systems. Once the water has been used for heating or cooling, it enters the irrigation portion of the system tasked with irrigating the common areas in the community. Water that is not distributed to the landscape is returned to the aquifer via an injection well, thereby "closing the resource loop."
Integrated Intelligence
A key component to the systems' efficiency is an on-site weather station linked to a centrally controlled computer system. The weather station constantly monitors humidity, temperature, wind speed and precipitation. This information is fed to a computer which processes atmospheric data against such constants as soil type, plant mix and other criteria. In effect, the whole system is "smart" watering only when and where water is needed.
About Pringle Creek Community
Pringle Creek Community offers140 home sites on 32 acres of land adjoining the revitalized Pringle Creek in South Salem. The current plan includes several mixed-use buildings surrounding an open, park-like plaza. These buildings will be a combination of restored historic structures and new construction, each one renovated or built to meet the U.S. Green Building Councils' LEED standards.
Also in the plan are open greenways and 12 acres of natural areas. Storm water will be managed by rain gardens or "mini bio-swales" planted with native scrubbing plants and ornamentals. The rain gardens will eliminate the need for storm drains that would otherwise burden Salem's existing storm water management system. Click here for more information about Pringle Creek Community.
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DeSantisEarthSense is an environmentally sound landscape program that yields long-term health benefits and sustainable beauty.
What Our Customers Are Saying
Dear DeSantis Landscapes,
My wife and I wish to say it was a pleasure to work with your team during the recently completed makeover of our front yard. We particularly enjoyed the collaboration and exchange of ideas with your designer, Tina Miller.
Likewise, we were very impressed with the work done by Ben and his team of Luke and Rosario. They obviously take pride in their work, as the outcome clearly shows. As they often said, "We want to do this just right, just as Tina wants it to look."
We can say that we would recommend your company without reservation. Believe us, we tell our friends, "If you use DeSantis, you'll be pleased with the result." We plan to have you do further work next Spring.
Sincerely Yours,
Jerry and Mary Way
Brenda Knobloch
Brenda Knobloch brings over 25 years of landscape design and installation experience to DeSantis Landscapes as their new Designer and Estimator. Brenda holds an A.A.degree in Horticulture and is also a Certified Landscape Technician and Certified Nursery Professional. Brenda says, "I am excited to represent a company that shares my values and vision for creating environments of lasting beauty. I am grateful for an employer that shares my passion for creating and installing healing and therapeutic gardens."
Brenda is currently enrolled in Horticultural Therapy classes through the program at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital and upon completion will receive certification through the American Horticultural Therapy Association.
Click here to learn more about the dedicated people of DeSantis Landscapes.
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| Garden Creation |
DeSantis Fulfills A Dream With Seaside English Garden Design
Joan and Ron Smith snapped up their Seaside, Oregon cottage for three reasons: location, location, location. The house sat on a corner lot just a block from the ocean, "We loved it, Joan says, "but we knew the day would come when we'd move here full time and have to remodel." In 2003, with work on the house proper completed, Joan turned her attention to the landscape. Joan had latticework replaced with porch railings, added a white picket fence and created a space for her dream: a thriving English garden.
"Joan and I shared a vision of a "big garden" in a small space," says Tina Miller of DeSantis Landscapes, "but it was clear to me that the design and plant mix needed to be both robust and manageable."
Even though Joan was an accomplished gardener and had taken master gardening classes, she knew she would need help to fulfill her vision. Enter Tina Miller of DeSantis Landscapes. "Joan and I shared a vision of a "big garden" in a small space," says Tina, "but it was clear to me that the design and plant mix needed to be both robust and manageable." The solution was to select and strategically space voluptuous, fully foliated plants that would bloom 3 5 months of the year. A key part of the design was a mixed perennial flowering border that wraps around the house and extends to the curb. Says Tina, "We wanted the landscape to be snug to the corner so the home was immersed in the landscape even though the lot was small."
Apparently the design was successful. Shortly after completion of the project, Cottage Living Magazine did a feature story on the project and Joan wrote to Tina at DeSantis:
"You remain my garden guru and godmother. I am a gardener because of you thank you so much for that gift! Click here to learn more about DeSantis' desing services.
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