Bios

Andrew Keys

Andrew Keys – Topsfield, MA

A self-professed plant nut, Andrew Keys is the principal of Oakleaf Green Landscape Design of Topsfield, Mass., 20 miles north of Boston. Andrew blogs at Garden Smackdown, an exercise in extreme plant geekery with a dash of pop culture. Andrew also contributes to Fine Gardening Magazine!

A lifelong gardener, Andrew started Oakleaf Green in 2009, with the philosophy that the crux of every 21st century design problem is our role as stewards of the Earth. Through Oakleaf Green he offers accredited organic design/build services with a focus on planting design and specification.

Connect with Andrew at LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter.

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Christina Salwitz

Christina Salwitz – Renton, WA

THE PERSONAL GARDEN COACH

Christina Salwitz is a home garden training specialist

Christina provides every level of gardener with a fresh and objective perspective on their special needs. By focusing on organic methods, improving soil quality, pruning technique and seasonal focus, Christina translates “garden speak” into a language that gets people of all ages excited about achieving their gardening dreams! Christina has a fun, dynamic and enthusiastic approach to teaching. She has a unique and way of connecting to clients and students to make them feel like they can do anything! Her unique style is crafted through leading numerous Technical College courses, seminars for garden clubs, radio shows, and many articles that she has written for various gardening publications. With her experience in world-class nurseries for the more than twenty years, Christina has heard it all! Specializing in instructing adult gardeners, experienced or not, in how to become a confident gardener. With an exceptional focus on saving each client MONEY, TIME and LABOR, she has become foremost in gardening education for many years. Christine Blogs at The Personal Garden Coach.

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David Cristiani – Albuquerque, NM

David Cristiani

David Cristiani, author of the blog The Desert Edge. David has over 20 years of experience designing outdoor environments in the Southwest. His projects include a variety of resource-conservative commercial, institutional, and residential designs. David has merged the practice of landscape design with his knowledge of climate and the study of arid-region plant geography and species composition. This unique insight has proved valuable for both site-specific design work and for assisting regional growers, by collecting seed and cuttings for large-scale production of promising high desert plant introductions.

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Debbie Roberts

Debbie Roberts – Stamford, CT

A lifelong love of digging in the dirt eventually lead Debbie Roberts to a career as a professional landscape designer. Debbie is the owner of Roberts & Roberts Landscape and Garden Design, where she specializes in designing low-resource sustainable gardens to complement each client’s unique lifestyle.  Her own garden, located in southwestern Connecticut, is used to test and trial plants and gain as much hands-on experience as possible so she can pass it along as a garden coach and in the garden design classes she teaches.

Debbie is a founding member of the Connecticut chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Her articles about gardening and landscape design have appeared in a variety of regional magazines and newspapers.  Debbie shares her thoughts on gardening and design at A Garden of Possibilities.

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Douglas Owens-Pike

Douglas Owens-Pike – Minneapolis, MN

Following his MS degree in plant ecology at the University of Washington, Douglas Owens-Pike looked around, could find little evidence of landscapes designed for the health of our planet, and founded EnergyScapes in 1989.  We plan, transform and nurture landscapes for beauty and sustainability.  Doug writes about and teaches these principles in forums including: MN Landscape Arboretum, MN DNR, MN State Hort Soc, Friends of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.

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Jenny Peterson – Austin, TX

Jenny Peterson

Jenny Peterson is the owner of J. Peterson Garden Design inAustin, Texas, a design-and-build company specializing in small space landscaping—patios & balconies, terraces, container gardening and smaller urban and suburban settings.  JPGD is committed to organic methods and the practice of xeriscaping to conserve water.

In addition to landscape design, Jenny writes for her blog, jpetersongardendesign as well as for various lifestyle websites.

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Jocelyn Chilvers

Jocelyn Chilvers – Denver, CO

Jocelyn Chilvers is a professional garden designer with a passion for creating beautiful landscapes that are lifestyle friendly and Colorado “green.”  A graduate of Colorado State University’s landscape horticulture/design program, Chilvers has over 25 years of experience helping clients in the Denver area enhance their outdoor environments.  She also lectures and teaches a range of design related classes at Denver Botanic Gardens, ProGreen Expo, and garden centers throughout the region.  Her work has been featured in numerous regional publications as well as Sunset’s Backyard Makeovers. Chilvers enjoys sharing her vision of the world of plants and garden design through her blog, The Art Garden.

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Lesley Hegarty

Lesley Hegarty – Bristol, Avon, UK

After studying modern languages at university, careers in the Royal Navy and stock broking in the City of London, Lesley Hegarty’s interest in plants and design was ignited by taking on a rather unruly and very challenging garden full of potential and a great training ground for all things horticultural.

A Royal Horticultural Society Diploma in Horticulture and formal garden design training at the prestigious Pickard School followed and culminated in Lesley teaming up with Robert Webber to form The Hegarty Webber Partnership. Together they design a wide variety of gardens from country estates to city courtyards.

After advising clients on investment in stocks and shares, Lesley is finding much greater satisfaction in inspiring clients to realize the real joy and ‘guaranteed return’ to be gained from investing in their gardens.

Outside of work, Lesley enjoys music, playing tennis, all things French and an active family.

Website (and integral blog): The Hegarty Webber Partnership

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Mary Gallagher Gray – Burke, VA

Mary Gallagher Gray

A northern Virginia native, Mary Gallagher Gray has always loved the outdoors and drawn great inspiration from nature.  This love, combined with the desire to pursue a creative profession, led her to dive headlong into the study of landscape design back in 2007.  Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Sustainable Landscaping at George Washington University, Mary also does freelance garden design and coaching  in the Metro DC area.

Mary is also a lifelong writer, and loves to muse about gardening, design, and the environment on her blog Black Walnut Dispatch.

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Robert Webber

Robert Webber -Bristol, Avon, UK

Robert Webber grew up in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He read modern history at university, but after 10 years in the City of London in international banking he returned to his ‘roots’ and retrained in amenity horticulture at Cannington College, Somerset. After 13 years as Head Gardener of Bristol University Botanic Garden, he left to train as a garden designer, living proof that Arians do re-invent themselves.

Robert now works with Lesley Hegarty in their garden design partnership based in Bristol and North Somerset. Their design ethos combines rigorous attention to the client brief, context and plantsmanship, with an imaginative use of space and a contemporary twist. They have designed as far afield as Scotland and Tuscany.

Left to his own devices and with a deep enough pot of money Robert would become a serious art collector.

Website (and integral blog): The Hegarty Webber Partnership

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Rochelle Greayer

Rochelle Greayer – Boston, MA

Boston Based, but world minded Rochelle Greayer, is a design obsessed garden creator, writer and ‘go local’ advocate. She is the owner of Greayer Design Associates, founder of multiple farmers markets and the editor of Studio ‘g’, a landscape design blog full of ideas for creating unique gardens. Rochelle is one of the co-authors of The Garden Makers Manual and The Garden Design Workbook, as well as a regular contributor to Landscape Middle East Magazine.  She has won numerous design awards including a Bronze Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for a show garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in England. Her work has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Design New England, and Landscape Architecture magazines among others.  Connect with Rochelle through the Studio ‘g’ group page on Facebook or on Twitter.

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Scott Hokunson – Granby, CT

Scott Hokunson

Scott Hokunson, designer and principle behind Blue Heron Landscape Design, has been creating landscapes since 1981, and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to each project. A proponent of natural and sustainable principles, Scott works closely with his clients to create elegant outdoor living spaces, minimizing the impact on the environment through all phases of the project, including ongoing stewardship.

Scott is also a garden writer, whose work has been featured in Fine Gardening Magazine and Connecticut Gardener Magazine. He writes the company blog Blue Heron Landscapes, and is a founding member of the international garden design blog Garden Designers Roundtable.

Scott lectures to garden clubs and other interested organizations on garden design, plants and gardening, and in 2011, he served as an advisor to a class on Sustainable Landscape Design at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

Since 2009, Scott has been co-host and designer for The Ultimate Backyard Makeover show on FoxCT. The show airs on Father’s Day weekend.

Follow Scott on Twitter, and connect with him on LinkedIn. Become a fan of Blue Heron Landscape Design on Facebook!

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Shirley Bovshow

Shirley Bovshow – Los Angeles, CA

Shirley Bovshow is an in-demand landscape designer in California as well as a nationally- recognized garden television host and new garden media broadcaster. Shirley describes her approach to landscape design as “out of the box,” (she drags a ladder around new projects to envision the yard from different heights) and demands “multi-purpose” function from her landscapes.

“It’s not good enough that a landscape stand there and ‘look pretty!’  It has to do something for me! Feed me! Save me some money on the water and electricity bill! Function as a sanctuary and entertaining showplace!  Increase the value of my home!” Shirley commands.

Check out Shirley’s website her syndicated blo g, Eden Makers and watch her trailblazing online garden TV show, the Garden World Report.

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Susan Cohan

Susan Cohan – Chatham, NJ

Susan Cohan, APLD, is a woman with an opinion.  A landscape designer blogging as Miss R, she is a lover of the land, passionate about design and living a creative life.

Her boutique landscape design studio, Susan Cohan Gardens specializes in residential landscape design and creating artfully designed spaces for outdoor living.  Susan is an active user of social media… some of the many places you connect with her are Twitter, Facebook, Susan aka Miss R, or just see more eye candy on her Flickr page.

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