Photo: BrightViewSpanning three days and calling on the aid of more than 25 BrightView volunteers, a healing and sensory garden was designed and installed for the Denver Children’s Home (DCH). DCH is an organization that restores hope and health to traumatized children and families through therapeutic, community-based and educational services.
Previously an empty piece of land located across the street from a school, the garden now features outdoor seating, designated spaces for artwork and touch-friendly plants that children and staff can enjoy.
“I have always had an interest in sensory gardens, so being able to design one and now see the resulting impact it has on these children is very rewarding,” said Leigh DuFresne, a landscape designer with BrightView.
DuFresne’s focus was to include different textures and colors in the design to bring the area to life and create a touchable, unique garden.
BrightView’s teams from across Denver all worked together to get the materials donated, and they then split the project into three phases with each branch responsible for different steps in the process.
BrightView’s Denver South team installed boulders and did the demolition, Denver East installed the plants and mulch, Denver West installed flagstone and pathways and Denver North helped with all three phases.
The teams, in total, installed 10 tons of Crusher Fines Breeze, 230 perennials, mulch, flagstone, 13 shrubs and 10 trees. Weekly maintenance to the garden has been added to the schedule of the Denver East team.
A dedication ceremony and ribbon-cutting was held at the beginning of October, and BrightView and DCH will continue to work together to make sure the new garden continues to thrive and help DCH better serve children in need of assistance programs.
“Everybody involved has been very excited to lend our expertise and to make an impact for these kids and families,” DuFresne said.
Photo: BrightView
