Hinsdale Magazine | Home & Garden
The art of listening HOW JANE DILWORTH & ASSOCIATES DELIGHTS CLIENTS BY LARRY ATSEFF PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY JANE DILWORTH & ASSOCIATES
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or those who want a landscape setting around their home with an inspired, personal touch, meet Tillie Bruss, owner of Jane Dilworth & Associates in Downers Grove. Tillie’s grandfather Carl started his nursery and landscaping business in 1952, and several Bruss family members have carried on, including her dad Bill. After working summers during the '90s at Planter’s Palette in Winfield as a young teen, Bruss found that landscaping and working with the land was in her blood too. So, she received her bachelor's degree in horticulture with a landscape design emphasis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and started in the family business, (the only woman on staff,) in 1999. As Bruss continued to gain plenty of practical experience, early on, she also showed an ability to design beautiful landscapes and gardens, while developing a knack for listening. “Instead of taking the easy way and
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recommending ‘just tear it all out' and imposing a design, I decided I would take another approach and listen carefully to a client’s ideas, and use the knowledge and ideas of myself and my team to come back with a more thoughtful design,” Bruss said. “It is pretty rewarding when I show people my recommendations and ask, ‘Is this what you had in mind?’ The response invariably is, ‘This is so much more than I imagined.'" With Bruss, so much more can also mean beautiful gardens. “A lot of people are into gardening, and I especially like to help them with a garden they will really enjoy, whether it is a flower garden, a vegetable garden, a rock garden or a display of plantings,” she said. After 17 years in the family business, Bruss decided to start on her own in 2017 with Tillie Bruss Landscapes. Slowly and surely, mostly through referrals, her business grew. Then, about two years ago, Jane Dilworth, who knew Bruss and recognized her talent
and ways of treating clients, decided to retire, and approached her about taking over Jane Dilworth & Associates. Bruss said the transition has been seamless. “We approach projects the same way, and all of her very experienced team, from design to installation, were willing to stay on," she said. "We have an experienced design staff with Sue Krone, a registered landscape architect, and Alison Eaton, a landscape designer. Our landscape crew has a been working together as a team for close to 20 years with Jane Dilworth, which is unheard of in the industry.” While her focus is primarily residential landscaping, Bruss donates her talent and time improving surroundings around athletic fields and other non-profit locations that can use some outside beautification. Looking ahead, one of her four children, a son who is currently in high school, is showing some interest in the business. Starting this summer, he’ll be on the crew.
