Deerfield artist takes craft to the garden — the Chicago Bulls’ garden

Deerfield resident Sue Reinish, who owns How Does Your Garden Grow? inc., shows off the large perennial garden she created outside the Berto Center, the Chicago Bulls practice facility in Deerfield. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: October 2, 2012 8:40AM

DEERFIELD — Sue Reinish is an artist.

Her palette offers roses and petunias, pansies and daffodils.

“Everything I do in terms of landscape, I come at it from the vantage point of color,” she said.

Reinish has operated How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. in Deerfield for nearly three decades.

A trained ballerina who taught piano and studied painting, Reinish explained that gardening is a similar creative art form.

“When I design landscapes I am really painting a picture,” Reinish said. “I’m painting in the ground and then it grows.”

When she couldn’t dig up any more space around her home, Reinish took to sharing her talent with others.

Her first “public planting,” she said, was for Briarwood Country Club, where she installed five flower beds near the front entrance of the club.

As a member, she couldn’t receive compensation for her work. In return, however, she got the idea and support to start her own landscaping business.

Today, her team of 10 workers does commercial and residential landscaping across the northern suburbs and in Chicago.

Seven employees have been with How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. for more than a decade. Reinish reciprocates their loyalty by ensuring the typically seasonal business operates year round.

In winter, the crew hangs holiday decorations and plows snow.

Most work, however, is concentrated when the weather is warm and plants are in full bloom.

Projects during the spring and summer months range from lawn mowing and tree trimming to the creation of gardens, ponds, waterfalls and brick patios.

Reinish said the recent creation of a large perennial garden outside the Sheri L. Berto Center in Deerfield was one of the most exciting projects of her career.

Since the Chicago Bulls practice in the facility, Reinish said her workers fought over who got to do the job. On one day, they spotted Bulls superstar Derrick Rose leaving the building.

Needless to say, “it was a feather in my cap,” Reinish said.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. does its fair share of smaller-sized landscaping projects, too.

Reinish recognizes that people are dealing with drastically tighter budgets since the economy took a dip.

That’s why she is happy to take on projects in stages or to keep the work simple, she said.

“My saying is, if you have good taste, I know how to mix plants (and) make something beautiful on small budget or big budget,” Reinish said.