Fisher House Gets A New Look

It rained. It hailed. There were wild temperature swings. But that wasn’t enough to stop the Allentuck Landscaping crew from their mission; give Fisher House at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland a new look.

Fisher House provides a home away from home to to injured soldiers and their families while they are receiving treatment at the center. Their vital mission is to provide families a peaceful place to heal together. To find out more about Fisher House, go to http://www.fisherhouse.org/ or view a great video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMsuzqmzrq0.

Allentuck Landscaping Co. gutted the existing landscape and installed over 60 shrubs, 415 perennials and ground covers, and 10 tons of stone. The five crews on site were each assigned areas of responsibility; David Chavez’s crew applied their artistic touch to building a 48’ foot long stone wall in front of Building A, Hector Solano’s crew planted the front of Building B, and Melvin Castillo’s crew took the task of making the central park look amazing.

In just over eight hours, the landscape around Fisher House had morphed into a beautiful and tranquil setting that we hope our recovering soldiers and their families can relax in and enjoy. The day was capped off with a visit from the base commander, Admiral Nathan, and the presentation of a commemorative coin and Naval Medical Center hats for everyone.

Thank you to our suppliers who donated their materials and made the day possible; Season’s Nursery, Country Springs Wholesale Nursery, Ernest Maier Block Co., Liberty Gas and John Deere Landscapes. A very special thank-you to Fisher House for allowing Allentuck Landscaping Co. the opportunity to help America’s heroes.

Bruce Allentuck Leads Design Charette at Dufief Elementary

Earlier this month, a group of over twenty parents and teachers, as well as about the same number of energized elementary school students, gathered for pizza and to design a new garden at Dufief Elementary School in North Potomac, Maryland. It was my pleassure to lead them through this exercise.

Some of the parameters for the new garden were:

• accessible to special needs students
• attract butterflies and bees
• spring color
• something for all of the senses

We broke into four teams. Each team worked very hard to put their ideas on paper and then presented their designs to the whole group. In the end, the best ideas from each team were collected and put into the master plan.

This was a great evening and showed how a community can create wonderful spaces for itself. Thnak you Dufief for including me.

Here are the results!