Meet Dan Gluesenkamp
Dan Gluesenkamp
Dan Gluesenkamp co-founded Designscape Horticulture Services in 1986 together with his wife and business partner, Debra. Designscape is a full-service landscape-contracting company that provides complete turnkey landscape management programs. Headquartered in Nashville, IN, Designscape primarily serves customers in Monroe and Brown counties.
Dan graduated from Ball State University in 1974 with a B.S. degree in Natural Resources, and started his career in horticulture working at the Ball State Greenhouse while attending college. He married Debra in 1983. They began working in Bloomington, IN, on residential properties providing new garden designs and renovations. Under their leadership, Designscape has followed a philosophy of intelligent gardening with great respect for both people and employees as well as for nature and the environment. Today, the company employs about 40 full-time people and its designs and installations can be seen throughout the Midwest region.
The company specializes in naturalistic designs. Designscape likes to incorporate a unique use of natural stone in large-scale hardscapes and water features. Limestone is a particular favorite since it is readily available in southern Indiana. Among other famous landmarks, Indiana limestone forms the exterior of the Empire State Building in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Dan is a past president of the Indiana Nurseryman’s Landscape Association and also an Indiana Accredited Master Horticulturalist. He is an active Board Member of New Song Mission, a volunteer at Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen and he has served on the elder board at New Life Community Church where he is still an active member. Dan has also received numerous awards by himself and on behalf of the company. He is especially proud of the 2010 FUSE Business Innovation – Bill and Gayle Cook, Entrepreneur of the Year Award that recognized the entire Designscape team for possessing the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur, including creativity, initiative, and vision.
When Dan isn’t doing what he loves with his business or just talking with his employees, you can find him scuba diving and traveling with his family.
