Member Profile - Landscape Ontario

Radical empathy: When caring for green spaces means caring about people

Aaron Harpell is now in the business of building people up.

Happiness is a winning formula at Gardenzilla

A focus on employee happiness helps Gardenzilla to maintain the high standard the company has already set for itself in the East York community.

Making customers and employees happy by design

What happens behind the scenes translates to continued success for over 30 years.

Will Joyce, owner, Cudmore's Landscape & Design.

Second generation takes the helm at Cudmore's

Family-owned landscaping and design company in Oakville started as a retail garden centre in 1986.

Investing in crews makes a leader

The first thing you notice when entering Burch Landscape Services’ office in Waterloo, Ont., is a wall of framed certificates.

Creative Landscape Depot takes natural opportunities for growth

Agility, excitement and risk are words that arise frequently in conversation with Jordan Ward, owner of Creative Landscape Depot.

Building on a foundation of trust

Yards Unlimited Landscaping is a family owned and operated design/build company in Ottawa, Ont.

Showcase of dreams: Visualizing the future with M.E. Contracting

For a duo who started from scratch in a new country, reaching this level of success brings great satisfaction.

Project by Partridge Fine Landscapes using Select Stone natural stone products.

Select Stone celebrates three decades of growth

Select Stone Supply is celebrating 30 years of specializing in boulders, blocks, and other bespoke stone products.

Peace in a bee-loud glade

Lavish Gardens was recently awarded a Green Stamp Award for their work on Stonehouse Meadow — a sustainable landscape project.

A turn in the road

After 38 years in the landscape industry, Jim Mosher of Landscape Plus felt it was time for a change.

Landscape artistry: Turning blank canvases into masterpieces

Tucked into the heart of wine country in Beamsville, Ont., you’ll find the masters of craft and artistry of LandArt, a design/build company dedicated to high-end residential landscapes.

Success through focus

D.B. Maw Landscaping proves longevity in business comes from understanding the needs of your clients and building a team that can provide those needs.

A legacy of family values

Greentario Landscaping is a family business that wasn’t supposed to be a family business.

Lake of Bays Garden Centre

From bush to bounty: Successful garden centre started as a firewood supplier.

Sandhill Nursery owner Tim Cantelon

Sandhill Nursery has become known for more than plants

Sandhill Nursery is more than just a place to buy plants: it has also become a destination, a spot that appeals even to those with little knowledge or interest in landscaping or gardening.

Dutchmaster marks a major milestone

Throughout its five decades in business, innovation has played an important role in Dutchmaster Nurseries’ success.

Jessica, Gordon, Conor and Danny Milligan from Strathmore Landscape Contractors.

Strathmore: From nursery to national commercial landscaping

Strathmore Landscape Contractors aims to set a standard in commercial landscaping — and it all starts with their people.

Lakeshore Landscaping establishes community involvement

In 2003, shortly after starting their own business, brothers Matt and Ryan Pawluk discovered a neglected 21-year-old beech tree.

Rockscape specializes in landscaping projects on island cottages and homes in the Muskoka, Georgian Bay and Haliburton area.

Strong culture produces incredible results

This year’s Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence were amazingly fruitful for Rockscape.

Cypress Gardeners Port Carling, Ont.

Sherri Hornsey of Cypress Gardeners empowers her team to make the right decisions.

Gelderlands uses the latest technology in order to realize a client’s vision.

Gelderlands Landscaping

Started by Brandon Gelderman in 2014, Gelderlands Landscaping is a relative newcomer to the landscape scene in Burlington, Ont.

Forest Ridge Landscaping brings a family-run, relationship building approach to commercial, municipal and residential clients.

Member Profile: Forest Ridge Landscaping

Gerry Visco calls on his love of fine art to problem-solve and stay flexible.

(L-R): Chris Mace, Finlay Gifford, Darren McDonough, Shawn Lefebvre, Dave Blankestijn, Nathan Helder.

Gelderman Landscape Services has been caring about people for 65 years

Core values help to get everyone on board and to maintain family atmosphere.

Avalon Landscaping pride themselves on offering clients a complete and unique landscape.

Avalon Landscaping, Holland Landing Ontario

Avalon Landscaping’s Ed and Anita Chanady are partners in both business and in life.

Landscape architect Ron Koudys has always believed in a bright, green future.

Lucky to love landscapes

Member profile: Ron Koudys Landscape Architects, London, Ont.

Kathy Thomas and her partner, son-in-law Todd Rainey, guide the company to its success.

Green Thumb Landscaping

Green Thumb Landscaping has enjoyed 49 years of moving forward, becoming a successful business, growing and thriving in a time when change in the industry is happening so fast.

Hella Keppo.

Stems Interior Landscaping takes green leadership indoors

Hella Keppo grows a childhood hobby into a lifelong passion.

Arlene Hazzan Green and Marc Green are co-owners of The Backyard Urban Farm Company.

Member profile: The Backyard Urban Farm Company

Taking urban gardening to a whole new level.

Tania, Tony and Mark Pacitto.

Member Profile Beaver Valley Stone

Family values and forward-thinking have been keys to success for 30 years.

Jen Raedts, general manager and Laurie-Ann Stuart, owner of LA Gardens.

Laurie-Ann Stuart finds her true calling

Owner of LA Gardens takes time to build relationships with clients and landscape pros.

Christine Moffit and Janet Mott (top left and right) work alongside the team of Michael Hogg, Siar Mohammad Ishaq and Kristal MacMillan at a client’s Rosedale neighbourhood home.

Business owners find work life balance

Management style empowers workers to become leaders.

Discipline feels good

Adapting to a meet the needs of independent garden centres.

Owners of Valleyview Gardens have always valued a strong work ethic.

Strong values continue success for second generation

Larry Varlese at Valleyview Gardens in Markham, Ont., ensures second-generation business success by respecting the values and efforts of the generation before.

Work on Frank Stronach Park in Newmarket, Ont., won Bruce Wilson Landscaping a national award.

Enriching the lay of the land

Bruce Wilson Landscaping has grown from lawn maintenance and snow removal to building award winning commercial projects.

Matt Grove was drawn to horticulture at a young age.

Gardens are about people

Matt Gove of the Local Gardener was once a teenager with a dream. Now his customers' dreams come true.

Jamie and Brian Perras: Two generations on the same team.

38 years and a five-year plan

The transition from father to son is working well for the Perras family.

Total Gardening Services focuses on residential maintenance in Guelph, Ont.

Making the right choices for 35 years

Member profile on Total Gardening Services of Guelph, Ont.

Genoscape specializes in environmentally responsible landscapes and often incorporate ponds and water features in their designs.

Drawn to water

A profile of LO member, Genoscape.

The rejuvenated Healing Garden at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ont.

Dusty Miller rejuvenates hospital garden

Brian Miller's efforts assist patients and families affected by cancer.

Shawn Gallaugher and Jeremy Feenstra on the job this summer in Huntsville, Ont.

Benefits of a great relationship

A landscape architect and landscape contractor work toward a common goal.

Performing annual maintenace on landscape lighting ensures a homeowner gets the most enjoyment from their investment.

The gods of water and light

Milton, Ont.-based Rain Gods provide quality lighting and irrigation to clients.

Homeowners of this property wanted a unique artistic element that could also be enjoyed from inside the house (below).

Kim Price Landscape Design

Combining a love for the outdoors with a passion for design results in a rewarding career change.

Some residential properties in and around Perth are cottages or vacation homes of people from Ottawa; a niche specialty for Terrascapes.

Thriving in small town Ontario

Terrascapes Landscape & Design is making an impact in and around Perth, Ont.

Gardens at the place of business are used to train employees and to showcase work to clients.

A lifetime of learning at Simply Landscaping & Garden Designs

A profile on LO member, Pam McCormick.

Lighting up Turks and Caicos

LO member establishes booming business in Caribbean islands.

Co-owners Brent Tripp and Daniel Button are very happy with the success of their business after just six years in operation.

Living the dream in Quinte West

Daniel Button and Brent Tripp of Signature Landscape Concepts of Belleville, Ont., are happy business owners.

Company co-founders Lucy Godinho (foreground) and Darla Hauraney have created a successful business using a team of independent gardeners.

The Garden Girls working in all the right places

Not your typical landscape maintenance company.

Lino Ammaturo immigrated to Canada from Italy at 22-years-old with a degree in horticulture and the dream of owning a garden centre. In 1976, he realized his vision with Woodhill Garden Centre at 320 Steeles Ave. E. in Thornhill.

Woodhill Garden Centre celebrates 40th anniversary

Family and staff share the values of honesty, passion and hard work.

2015 Casey van Maris Award winner John D’Ambrosio regularly invests in professional photography as well as online advertising for his business, Pro-Land Landscape Construction.

Sky's the limit for Pro-Land Landscape Construction

A detailed look at the company who won the 2015 Casey van Maris Award.

The MacDowell Residence is a 2016 Landscape Ontario Award of Excellence winner in the $100,000-250,000 category, which features a pool and spill-over spa with natural stone coping, a large natural waterfall and a premium-blend pavestone patio.

Having a solid base key to Cedar Springs success

Growth provides a unique business opportunity.

In order to provide year-round employment to key crew members, Paul Rapai began manufacturing natural wood skateboard decks, which have grown in popularity over the past few years.

Fox Hollow Farms celebrates 40 years with pride

Fox Hollow Farms near Langton is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

John Veldman has taken his company from a small garden centre to one of the largest property management companies in Southwestern Ontario.

Courtland Property Management’s software saves time and money

Anyone who thinks the green industry is nothing more than cutting lawns and throwing around soil with a shovel, should speak with John Veldman of Courtland Professional Property Management of Tillsonburg.

Little Gardens in Parry Sound is truly a family business. Son Ian and his father Ralph oversee the busy garden centre and landscaping company that has been operating since 1941.

Little Gardens has found success in Parry Sound since 1941

Back in 1941, Canada was well into World War II with its people and the economy geared towards the cause.

Wolfe Bonham’s company has one of the more intricate logos in the landscape industry.

Wolfegang Bonham enhances lives of couple battling cancer

It has been said many times that the landscape industry is the business of enhancing lives.

DiMarco Landscape Lighting crew. From left, Laurie Barnes, Joe Willemse, Nick Brazier, Theresa DiMarco, Frank DiMarco, Stew Dunn, Wyatt Lambert and Kevin Mitchell.

After injury, Frank DiMarco brings more passion to his company

Landscape Lighting pro knows the true value of loyalty and friendship.

Mike Pennington has created some very creative social media communication that displays the pride and talent of the industry.

Lakeridge Contracting shows its pride through social media

Lakeridge Contracting empowers staff to connect with customers online.

A high-end result for a high-end location won Shades of Summer national recognition.

Shades of Summer wastes no time in winning maintenance awards

In very short time, Shades of Summer Landscaping and Maintenance in Waterdown has won a number of industry awards.

Urban Meadows offers a unique service in the landscape industry. His agricultural background allowed B.J. Jordan to provide farm services, which includes everything from haying to manure handling.

Urban Meadows knows timing is key to success

William Jordan traded a welder for a lawn mower at the age of 12.

Verbinnen’s Nursery grows about 120 varieties of native trees and shrubs on 26 acres near Dundas.

Native beauty appreciated in John Verbinnen’s world

Nursery grower, John Verbinnen is a man of passion.

Bob Wilton poses with his classic 1973 Ford 150 dressed in Clintar colours that marks the year Wilton began his company.

In its 40th year, Clintar Landscape Management continues to grow

Company began spraying weeds and soon added grass cutting and landscaping.

Peter Rofner of Richmond Nursery doesn’t just talk about helping the environment.

Richmond Nursery diverts horticultural plastic from landfills

Ottawa-area nursery has become the area’s only full-circle plastic pot recycling depot.

The ladies of Snips Landscape and Nursery, Alena Dawson, Tasha Beck, Kristi Montovani and Laura DeGraff, pose with what they call the tombstone, which greets visitors to Snips Landscape’s 10-acre site just outside Welland.

Snips Landscape passionately promotes green roofs

Four women operate the 30-year old company with passion, knowledge and determination.

Members of the second and third generation of the Thiebaud family operating OGS in 2013. In front, from left, Drew Thiebaud, Rene Thiebaud, Marc Thiebaud, and Marc Thiebaud Jr., and in back, from left, Mike Thiebaud, Rich Thiebaud, Stephen Thiebaud, Jonathan Thiebaud, and Jennifer Thiebaud.

Thiebaud family marks 60 years of success at OGS

One of the oldest companies in the area, OGS is in good hands to take the company into the next era with passion and pride.

Howard and Lorrie Dunington-Grubb in the late 1930s

History of Sheridan Nurseries is 100 years of people growing a nursery

A history of Canada’s largest combined garden centre retailer and grower.

Recycling had nothing to do with environmental concerns back in the day, it was a good business move. In this case, food cans from local hospitals became the first containers in the nursery industry.

Association recognizes Gord Shuttleworth, industry pioneer, innovator and inventor

Shuttleworth is an industry pioneer, past president of Landscape Ontario, innovator, inventor, and to many who know him, a good guy.

Family members who work to make Lloyd’s Landscaping a success. In front, from left, Kim Cotter, Stephanie Lemesurier and Louise Tyrrell, and in back, Paul Lloyd, Brian Cotter, Chris Lemesurier and Scott Lloyd. Absent are Rick Sr., who spends the winters in Florida, and Rick Jr.

Lloyd’s Landscaping family celebrates 50 years on the job

Lloyd’s Landscaping in Pickering is truly a family business. And, this year the family is celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.

A massive stone bridge connects the driveway to the home across the two ponds.

Dunington-Grubb winner began with bike and lawnmower

David Kampen has come a long way from his days when he entered the landscape trade at age 13.

Son and father, Perry and Peter Grobe, are proud of their business’s growth over the past 50 years.

Grobe family success based on 50 years of passion and insisting on quality

This year Grobe’s Nursery and Garden Centre in Breslau not only looks back with pride on 50 years of success, but ahead to a promising future built on passion and good business sense.

Pat Lamanna is a good friend to industry and Landscape Ontario.

Pat Lamanna sees generous industry service as opportunity

When you speak to Pat Lamanna about success in business, it always comes around to having the ability to recognize an opportunity.

Sue See and her son Farley are proud of their family business history.

Pride and passion are keys to 80 years at Moore Water Gardens

Moore Water Gardens in Port Stanley is celebrating 80 years of business success over three generations.

Kees Govers’ horticulture background helped him create a unique installation system for his company LiveRoof Ontario.

Kees Govers on the ground floor of fast-growing green roof industry

LO member Kees Govers is one of the driving forces behind the concept of green roofs.

Only nine people in the history of Landscape Ontario have received a Life Membership. Hank Gelderman received the honour in 2009. In photo at the presentation, are from left, Bob Tubby, past president, Bob Adams, president in 2009, Hank Gelderman, and Tony DiGiovanni, executive director.

Life member ready to begin a busy new phase

Hank Gelderman has spent his life operating a successful company and in volunteer service to his community

Jorg Hermanns and his innovative blower truck.

Taste for adventure and good business sense bring success to Hermanns Contracting

One only needs to speak with Jorg Hermanns for a short time to discover he is a dynamic, energetic and creative thinker.

Rick and Colleen Emmons.

Windermere Garden Centre celebrates 35 years of success in Muskoka

To find the District of Muskoka’s largest indoor garden centre, one must drive 42 kilometres west from Huntsville, along the meandering two-lane Highway 141.

Maciulis shows off his first magazine.

Designer’s passion results in new landscape magazine

Dave Maciulis CLD is a passionate man. He’s passionate about landscape design. He’s passionate about business. He’s passionate about certification.

Tony Sgambelluri stands in front of his garden centre in Grimsby.

Ridgeview Garden Centre grows from a small fruit stand

Tony Sgambelluri began business 15 years ago with a small fruit stand on the side of Highway 81 in Grimsby.

Janet Ennamorato takes a moment in her own garden.

Janet Ennamorato remembers when design was all about selling plants

A career as a teacher was her plan. But as with many of life’s plans...

Chris Le Conte of Smart Watering Systems demonstrates harvesting rainwater within attractive landscape.

Smart Watering Systems in forefront of irrigation industry’s innovations

In just three short years, Chris Le Conte has taken his company from a concept to an award-winning and highly respected and profitable enterprise.

Rob and Linda Tester work hard for both their business and community.

Success means more than dollars at TNT Property Maintenance

Rob and Linda Tester of TNT Property Maintenance measure their success not just in dollars, but in relationships with family, community, staff, association and business.

The 10 van Stralen brothers, from left, Seth, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, Tim, James, Derek, Ben and Mark.

Big family creating big business

The ten van Stralen brothers, from left, Seth, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, Tim, James, Derek, Ben and Mark.

Visitors to the site may take their own tour, or one of the scheduled tour dates. Paul Morris shows map of the trails available on site.

Acorus Restoration grew from passion for the environment

Paul Morris has combined his love of plants, passion for the environment, a science-based education, and his solid business sense to create Acorus Restoration Native Plant Nursery.

The original garden centre in Waterdown was damaged by fire in the late 1970s.

Connon Nurseries celebrates 100 years in horticulture

Looking back at 100 years of family history

The management team at Green Thumb Landscaping, from left: Keri Thomas, Kathy Thomas, Todd Rainey and Melanie Girouard.

Tragedy strengthens family business

Kathy Thomas' entrepreneurial style helps her to succeed in the face of adversity.

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