Project In The Park: A Complete Renovation Of Guggenheim Terrace On Daniel Island

Guggenheim Terrace

If you’re ever in the Charleston area, you won’t want to miss the newly renovated Guggenheim Terrace on Daniel Island! The Greenery recently completed the terrace’s hardscape and landscape project for the Town of Daniel Island. Rick Sotiropoulos, Construction Manager for The Greenery, Inc., gave us a rundown of all the area has to offer.

Guggenheim Terrace

It took a total team effort for this unique Daniel Island project including – Thomas & Hutton Engineering, Cape Romain Contractors and The Greenery. 

“The Greenery’s part in the project encompassed the commercial hardscape and landscape renovations of the space, creating a truly multifunctional outdoor space,” says Rick.

Terrace Deck

The deck patio features a segmented block retaining and seating wall. While it looks like stucco, it’s really individual block pieces that are fastened together in the shape of a seat wall.

The Greenery

“It’s a nicer product than your everyday stucco wall,” explains Rick. “Segmented block is widely used for it’s aesthetic properties and functionality.”

The Greenery

The seat wall also includes a concrete cap on the top, which makes it more comfortable for people to sit. 

The Greenery

The terrace also includes a sitting area with trees in a “bosque,” which is a treed open gravel area. Visitors can walk right up to the large Elm trees and sit down in the shade, which creates an additional patio space. The renovation includes planter seat walls, steps and brick flat work connecting the terrace to the rest of the Daniel Island Streetscapes. The landscape design has simple use landscape elements and has incorporated landscape lighting for evening safety and pedestrian use.

The Greenery

The Greenery LLC has an outstanding team of landscape professionals in the Charleston area. Combined with the supervision and leadership of project manager, Brad Stober for The Greenery, Inc., the team completed all hardscaping which provided the beautiful foundation for the terrace’s overall renovation.

The Greenery

It took a team of over a dozen people about two months to finish the hardscapes for this project. The plan for the terrace was designed by Thomas & Hutton Engineering Firm in Charleston.

“It’s a pretty cool project with lots of multifunctional outdoor space,” Rick said.” It’s the perfect place to enjoy this warm summer weather!”

Another great example of how no project is too large for our team of experts to handle. The Greenery has worked on many commercial projects similar to this throughout The Greenery’s customer base of Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Beaufort, Savannah GA and other coastal Georgia and South Carolina regions.

The Greenery’s Commitment to Water Conservation

Water conservation and irrigation is an important topic for The Greenery for both residential landscape maintenance and commercial landscape maintenance in the Hilton Head area and beyond.

The Greenery

As a company, we strive to provide healthy green lawns with minimal use of water. Water conservation is a high priority to us. Our irrigation crews are licensed and trained. We design, install, maintain and repair irrigation systems to help ensure the system’s efficiency. 

Its important to always make sure your irrigation system is working efficiently by monitoring the watering zones. All irrigation clocks run off zones, with each zone dedicated to a specific area of the lawn. The sprinkler zones should water the turf and flowerbeds, not the hardscapes such as pathways. Thankfully with just a little observation and a few adjustments if needed, you can help reduce the amount of water you’re using and therefore reduce your monthly water bill. 

The Greenery

You should be able to check and ensure the settings on the irrigation controller are correct such as the date/time, days of preferred watering and length of run time per each zone. 

How can The Greenery help you with your residential and commercial needs in these areas?

The Greenery

The Greenery can perform an irrigation audit when beginning service at a new property at no additional cost. Our staff identifies the functional problems that exist with the current irrigation system and the estimated cost to get it fully operational. 

Our trained professionals can also identify water saving opportunities such as capping off areas that are no longer required or modifying the system to reduce waste. This helps our customers to save on two very important things – time and money.

The Greenery

Did you know that rain sensors are required by law on Hilton Head Island irrigation systems? The rain sensor is a water saving tool that measures the amount of rainfall and will turn your irrigation system clock on or off depending on the dryness level. Some of the older model sensors have a tendency to wear out after several years, and it might be time for an upgrade. We will make sure that your rain sensor is working properly.

Set the irrigation zones based on which areas will need the most nurturing. New plantings can take a couple months to get established and will require the most water and attention. You should also set run times during the early morning hours to allow the water to filtrate down to the roots. If you run the irrigation system during the heat of the day, the water evaporates too quickly.

It’s also important to ensure the zones don’t incorporate different watering styles/devices. For example, there are three main types of devices: stationary heads, rotary heads and drip irrigation. A spray irrigation device distributes water over a confined area such as small turf or beds. Rotary heads are used for large turf areas to disperse water to larger distances. A drip irrigation device delivers water slowly and steadily to the roots of individual plants. There is far less tendency to over water using the drip method. If a zone incorporates more than one watering device, it will result in loss of water.

The Greenery

Be sure to adjust the irrigation cycle if puddling occurs because this typically leads to run off. Allow water to penetrate into the soil before resuming watering. 

The Greenery also monitors and advises our residential customers about irrigation policies that are required for their community. For example, the Town of Hilton Head recommends watering no more than twice per week. This generally is enough to sustain the landscape if we are receiving regular showers in our area. During long dry periods you may need more, but there is often a cost. Do you know that Public Service Districts will hit you with a penalty fee if you exceed your usage? 

Be sure to adjust the irrigation cycle if puddling occurs because this typically leads to run off. Allow water to penetrate into the soil before resuming watering. 

The Greenery

The Greenery also monitors and advises our residential customers about irrigation policies that are required for their community. For example, the Town of Hilton Head recommends watering no more than twice per week. This generally is enough to sustain the landscape if we are receiving regular showers in our area. During long dry periods you may need more, but there is often a cost. Do you know that Public Service Districts will hit you with a penalty fee if you exceed your usage? 

Employee Owned Landscape Company, Employee Driven Success

The Greenery

An article recently appeared in Turf magazine highlighting the ideals of The Greenery and the success we have had establishing a fully employee-owned company. For the last 40 years, we have strived to build a company made up of passionate and motivated employees and I believe we have some of the best in the business.

In 1973, my parents, Berry and Ruthie Edwards, founded The Greenery on Hilton Head Island with a desire to do landscaping a little differently. They focused on hiring the most experienced and knowledgeable staff knowing that the professionalism and quality these employees brought to the table would play a huge role in the company’s ultimate success.

When my father began considering retirement, he knew he wanted to do something that would help ensure The Greenery’s continuing focus on professionalism and customer satisfaction while rewarding the long term employees. Of course, he could have just sold the company, in hopes that the new ownership would maintain The Greenery’s culture. Instead, he chose to do things a little differently – just like he had in the beginning. He chose to set up The Greenery as a wholly employee-owned enterprise-utilizing a structure called an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). His decision has made all the difference in our company’s growth as a result of our employee owner’s commitment.

The Greenery

Essentially, the formation of the ESOP allowed us to create a trust which distributes shares in the company to employees based on factors such as wages and length of employment. Only .5% of all businesses nationwide adhere to the ESOP model including Publix, New Belgium Brewing and Cliff Bar. But the numbers are growing each year.

The Greenery’s SOP journey began in 2001 and by 2007 we were 100% employee-owned. This vested ownership begins for the employee after a one-year waiting period and continues until they retire or leave the company. Along the way, they enjoy multiple opportunities to increase their shares in the company, either by enrolling on our 401 (k) program or reaching certain milestones in length of service. The longer they work for The Greenery, the more shares they receive.

And that relationship becomes reciprocal. The harder our employees work and the more pride they have in their work – the better they treat their customers, the better the company does. And the better the company does = higher employee stock prices.

There are some challenges that come with being employee owned. The Greenery must meet strict compliance standards from the Department of Labor that ensures the best interest of the employee/owners is being met. Our employee-owners enjoy full transparency. In order to communicate with our employees what exactly an ESOP is and what it can do for them – we utilize regular newsletters, meetings and updates from our ESOP committee.

It’s a challenge that has proven well worth it. Since establishing the ESOP, we’ve grown from about 200 employees to around 650. Our territory now reaches from Hilton Head Island to Charleston to Savannah and lots of places in between.

The Greenery’s growth has largely been driven by our employees (the owners) who each put in that little extra effort to help THEIR company grow.