To celebrate our 30th year serving Central Ohio, we wanted to use our skills, resources, and relationships to give back to the community that has helped us grow. Below is some information about each of the four commercial landscaping design projects we completed with a thank you to our partners who helped us accomplish these goals!
Mt. Carmel Health’s Garden
Our first commercial landscaping design project was to create a beautiful community garden at the Mt. Carmel Health Franklinton Campus. Their team wanted a spot to grow vegetables and host outdoor classes. Image 1 below shows the empty lot on their property that we started with.
To transform the site, first we needed to remove the existing sod and level the area. 18 tons of crushed limestone were added to create a safe and level walking area. One of our co-founders, Gary Clark, made the custom Cedar planters for the vegetable garden. Our install team added a full irrigation system and our seasonal color department finished off the plan with an assortment of beautiful tropical flowers.
It was wonderful to see the Mt. Carmel team’s excitement and give back our commercial landscaping skills to a client who has partnered with us for years!
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- Future Garden Site
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- Installing Summer Flowers
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- EMI Volunteers and Mt Carmel Staff
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- Senior Leadership Helping the Crew
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- Finishing Touches
East Columbus Elementary School
Our next project was to donate supplies for the beginning of the school year to a local elementary. We met with teachers at East Columbus Elementary School and got a list of the things their students needed most. We picked up several book bags and loaded them with pens, pencils, folders, and more to help these kids be prepared for the year. It was great to see the excitement these students had as we wished them the best for the school year!
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- East Columbus Elementary
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- Students and their New Supplies
Her Song
For our third commercial landscaping design project, we were able to team up with Her Song, a ministry of the Tim Tebow Foundation. Her Song helps women who are survivors of human trafficking with residential support, programs, and spiritual growth opportunities. The organization was able to purchase their first Columbus safe house this year and it needed some work, both inside and out. Since the maintenance of the property will be done by volunteers, our design team planned to make the property functional and require low maintenance.
The first major step in the project was the removal of the old barn foundation. After this was completed, our amazing partners stepped in to help! Kurtz Bros donated 40 cubic yards of topsoil and VSP Trucking donated their time and trucks to get materials to the site. With their help, we were able to fill in the area to create a safe, level yard.
Another goal was to revamp their rear patio to give the residents a beautiful space to relax outside. Our partners at The George J. Igel Company helped immensely by donating the new concrete patio and sidewalks to make the house more accessible. The generous Olen Corporation donated 80 tons of gravel to update the driveway as well.
With that completed, our team came in to add trees, shrubs, and flowers along with training on how to properly care for them. We were also able to get the organization a commercial mower to make mowing this large property quick and easy for the volunteers.
EMI was honored to host the celebration of the opening of the house at our Plain City headquarters. Government leaders, law enforcement, and community members came together to recognize the donations and hard work of everyone involved in reaching this goal. Completing this landscaping design project with the help of our generous partners was such a rewarding experience and we hope these additions bring joy and peace to all that are helped by this amazing organization.
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- New Entrance
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- Community Patio
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- Installing Viburnum for Spring Color
Wyatt’s Make-A-Wish
For our final anniversary commercial landscaping design project, we partnered with Make-A-Wish to create a beautiful koi pond for Wyatt and his family! Elford, Inc. reached out and got us involved in this wonderful opportunity. We helped dig the pond, provided the stone surround, installed the plant material, and restored the lawn after construction. Aquarium Adventures provided and installed the pond liner, pump, and waterfall system. Wyatt himself was a huge help to the project! He was able to ride with our crew member Paul in the excavator to dig the pond and supervised all parts of the project. Our crew said it was the most fun and rewarding project they have been a part of.
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- Pond Excavation and Foundation Outcropping
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- Setting the Overlook Seating
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- Wyatt and his Sister Helping Out
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- Finished Pond
It’s been a great year to give back! Thank you to all our award-winning team members who have made these commercial landscaping design projects a reality and allowed us to grow and become the largest Landscape Service Provider in Central Ohio. We are also grateful to our industry partners who have teamed up with us to give back this year. We are excited to share the projects we have lined up for 2023!
