Dean DeSantis, President of Salem-based DeSantis Landscapes, is constantly striving to raise the bar for the landscaping industry. His company takes pride in providing excellent customer service, designing sustainable landscapes, and helping employees to develop and improve.

The company’s commitment to training and customer service has been strong since the beginning. Founder Tony DeSantis was a proponent of landscape certification standards and he helped found the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association (OLCA). The company’s environmental ethic grew over the years, and DeSantis Landscapes is now a member of the Oregon Natural Step Network, an organization supporting businesses on a path to sustainability.

“The company’s environmental vision statement helped us to keep environmental concerns in front of us. Over time we developed a critical mass in our management team to begin even more seriously developing sustainable standards and practices. This eventually lead to our EarthSense(™) approach,” says Dean DeSantis. The EarthSense(™) approach offers clients organic fertilizers and compost tea to keep plants and soil healthy. It also incorporates site-specific design and cultural practices as well as emissions-reducing equipment.

When Vice President Ken DeSantis asked one of their largest clients if they would be interested in trying out the program, the garden’s owners agreed and DeSantis began making changes. They scaled down the lawn and planted more Northwest natives, supplementing them with other low-maintenance plants. They constructed dry-set stone paths that allow rainwater to flow freely through the spaces. They installed drip irrigation to conserve water and switched to natural fertilizers and pest controls. To control weeds, for example, they began applying an annual mulch of compost around plants, then used an oscillating hoe to take out any weeds that did appear. “The property looked good to begin with, and it looks better now,” says Ken DeSantis. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the health and the visual aesthetics of the property.”

In April 2005, DeSantis Landscapes began using biodiesel in all of their diesel trucks, lawnmowers and other large equipment. They started off using B20 and switched to B99 in 2007, which is 99% biodiesel and 1% petroleum diesel. In 2006 the company used nearly 9,400 gallons of B20. This decreased their annual emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by nearly 42,000 pounds, which is roughly the emissions equivalent of four average cars. It is a decision they are proud of for many reasons including supporting the domestic economy, reducing their contribution to global warming and protecting their employees’ health. “My employees appreciate not having to breathe the noxious fumes of petroleum diesel,” says Dean DeSantis.

Additional ecological business practices in DeSantis Landscapes’ day-to-day operations include: the use of three hybrid cars for its sales and management team; four-cycle backpack blowers that reduce emissions by as much as 80 percent and decrease decibel levels by 45 percent as compared with two-cycle blowers; the conversion to green power for its office utilities; and recycling plastic plant containers. Many of these practices go above and beyond the Eco-Logical Business certification requirements.

Given the company’s environmental ethic, DeSantis Landscapes was a natural fit for the Eco-Logical Business certification. However, they still had to make a few important improvements to become an “Ecobiz.” They took care of some general housekeeping in their shop and made sure the area where potentially hazardous chemicals are stored was protected by a secondary containment system in the case of spills. The company also made some improvements to their vehicle and equipment washing area. DeSantis used their own landscaping expertise to create a simple vegetated swale with berms to slow down the wash water and allow it to infiltrate the topsoil and plants to help absorb and filter the water. DeSantis estimates that the company spent under $1,000 in labor and materials to complete the entire certification process.

DeSantis Landscapes is proud to be the first full-service commercial landscaper to receive the Eco-Logical Business certification.