My day-to-day activity are very diverse depending on the particular project that is going on. I can plant 400 perennials one day and plant a thousand pound tree the next. Much of my time is spent running different types of equipment, from little tillers all the way up to tractors and skid steers. I also do a lot of stonework and even wood working projects trying to give clients a custom aspect of their landscape they can enjoy.
A lot of my job deals with handy man and construction skills. I learned much of these from my father who is a jack-of-all-trades. My formal horticulture training came from Metropolitan Community College where I received my associates in applied science of horticulture. I then headed down to Lincoln to the University where I received my BS in Landscape Design.
I do not have one particular favorite plant. I love plants and enjoy the vast varieties that are out there. With most plants, I really try to find the something beautiful or useful they offer. It also depends on the time of the year and my location. In the wintertime, I really enjoy the rough spooky look of the catalpa. While in the springtime, I love seeing the vibrate colors of all the bulbs.
I think most of my green thumb came from growing up on an acreage in Fort Calhoun. l grew up maintaining the landscape and learning to love the open space. On my parents acreage my mother had vast amount of flower beds where I was able to learn from and help take care of. We also did a lot of vegetable gardens every year, where we would then can the food for the months ahead.
My garden in front of my home is a hodgepodge of plant material that has come from many locations. Some of it has come from work where I’ve tore out old material and nursed it back to health. Other perennials have come from my parents’ property where I have divide things. You would probably consider my garden a collector’s garden. It has a lot of plant material in a small place. My backyard is more along the lines of permaculture. Most everything in my backyard is edible from my several different fruit trees to my vegetable garden.
One of my hidden talents that I think I have is that I consider myself a decent baker. I enjoy getting up on the weekends, and baking something sweet, from pies, to muffins, to cakes. I have a little bit of a sweet tooth so most the time when I bake, it is sugary.
My favorite food is probably a bacon cheeseburger. A nicely cooked steak with a baked potato, corn on the cob, and garlic bread is right at the top too.
My favorite outdoor experience is being on a lake in northern Minnesota that family has gone up to for 30 plus years. I love being out on this lake surrounded north mixed deciduous evergreen forest.
The most important part of the garden is the trees and large shrubs. They are bones of the garden and everything else that is in the garden should revolve around them.
I have come to dislike garden critters very much. Especially the gopher that sucked my pole beans down into his burrow.
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