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Burt DeMarche had no intention of following in his fathers footsteps. I was never interested in his business, says DeMarche. And one of the great things about my dad was that he never encouraged me to join him. I never felt any pressure. Burts father, Dickson DeMarche, is an award-winning landscape architect whose designs grace many Fairfield County homes.
But creating beautiful landscapes seems to have been in Burts blood all along. After a couple of semesters studying marketing at the University of Connecticut, Burt found that economics just wasnt his thing. I took a class in horticulture and loved it, he says. He graduated with a bachelors degree in horticulture and he minored in business.
In 1995 Burt and Dickson decided it was time to pool their talents. They formed a new company, The LaurelRock Company, based in Wilton, is named for Connecticuts state flower, the mountain laurel. And if youve ever dug in Connecticut soil youll know where the rock in our name comes from! Burt laughs. The company they created designs and builds landscapes. My dad does the design work and I run the operations. Today they have a staff of 38 professionals that includes architects, designers, horticulturists, gardeners and work crews.
Landscape architecture covers all aspects from grading and drainage of the land to lighting, pools and masonry plans. We have our own crews who take care of the softscape grading, topsoil and planting, says Burt.
Burt and Dicksons work recently won Connecticut Cottages & Gardens Innovations in Design award for a new entryway to a colonial home in Weston. The owners built a new garage and we redesigned the driveway and built a new outdoor living space for them with a pool, spa, patio and firepit, Burt says.
Do you have any plans for new landscaping this year? Drop me a line at fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us
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