Proposed by: a member of Des Moines Founders Garden Club, Zone XI

Douglas Hoerr, horticulturist and principal of Chicago-based Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects with studios in Kansas City, MO, Los Angeles, and Richmond, VA, has been influential in the inventive transformation and creation of global public and private green spaces. In his words, “People expect more out of landscapes now. It’s more than seamlessness, more than beauty—it’s making a healthier planet, cooling the planet, cleansing the air with our horticulture, and improving our mental health and connection to nature.”

His work focuses on the site, microclimate, correct plant selection, and an appreciation for the surrounding architecture. In 1991, his high-profile streetscape design for the entrance of the Crate & Barrel flagship store in Chicago was a horticultural, cultural, and retail sensation. He was subsequently commissioned to reimagine the two-plus mile stretch of plantings in the derelict median of Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile. His work inspired Chicago’s urban-greening movement and influenced nationwide city greening.

As chair of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s first green roof advisory committee, in 2002 Hoerr proposed that Apple Computer, Inc. install a roof garden to mitigate the heat island effect, and he has since been involved in designing green roofs nationwide, including the four-plus acre Meadow at Old Chicago Post Office and the five-acre Skylawn at POST Houston.

Hoerr’s multimillion-dollar horticultural transformation of Des Moines began in 2001 when community leaders were captivated by the GCA Gold Star Speaker’s presentation to Des Moines Founders Garden Club and commissioned him to develop Ingersoll Avenue as a unified, pedestrian-friendly street, transform the median on Fleur Drive, and design gardens at the original Des Moines Public Library (now the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates) and Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Hoerr was the 2023 recipient of the Zone XI Horticulture Commendation for artfully blending natural and built landscapes.