ABOUT

I am fortunate to do what I love and to have the amazing clients I get to work with every day. My experience in landscape project management, landscape design, wholesale plant production, and the garden center setting all contribute to my ability to create horticulturally diverse, ecologically beneficial, and well-built outdoor spaces to achieve each client's unique landscape vision.

I emphasize the importance of native plants with a balance of cultivars and exotics to extend seasonal interest and perform in each site's specific conditions.

When I’m not at a client’s home, you’ll find me exploring public gardens, local farmer's markets, experimenting in the kitchen, or traveling to our latest camping destination with my wife Kiana. Growing up in rural South Dakota, I was first exposed to the world of people and plants at my grandfather's greenhouse and nursery operation. Norm's Greenhouse & Nursery, founded in 1971 as a hobby for a young Instructor of Horticulture at South Dakota State University, quickly became the source for locally grown, unique annuals, vegetables, perennials, trees, and shrubs in the Brookings area. This was where I worked throughout high school and quickly became interested, particularly in the diversity and landscape use of ornamental plants. I learned the green industry was where I could spend my days enjoying the natural world and using my creativity.

I earned a bachelor's degree in Horticulture emphasizing Landscape Design, Installation, & Management at Iowa State University-the perfect combination of the scientific and creative elements of Horticulture I was so fascinated by. While at ISU, I had the opportunity to work under Dr. Grant Thompson as an undergraduate research and teaching assistant in the Sustainable Landscape & Management (SLAM) Lab. I worked on numerous projects including:

Soil remediation & health in urban landscape development
Specifying urban forest diversity assessment
Controlled-release fertilizer use in native perennial establishment
Rootball manipulation for container trees
Improving the woody plant identification course student resources, content, and delivery