I come from a long line of gardeners, including my father, grandfather, and great uncles! I started taking an interest in and caring for the extensive landscape around my childhood home, and later taught at internationally-known museums and science centers. My master's degree in Horticulture from Penn State included college-level coursework in landscape maintenance, annual and perennial plants, taxonomy, soils, ecology, plant pathology, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), greenhouse operation and management, ethnobotany, and more. My thesis included authoring a chapter about gardening with native plants for the Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardner training manual. I have presented to Master Gardeners and garden clubs in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Oregon, and have taught college level botany at Central Oregon Community College and gardening with native plants at Piedmont Virginia Community College. I continue my education by attending classes and workshops to maintain my CECs and subscribe to numerous magazines and newsletters to stay current on horticultural topics.

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I moved to Bend in 2007 with my family and started my business full-time in 2014 when I separated and needed to support myself and my 2 children, and could not find a living wage job in Bend that would hire a former stay-at-home mom like me, despite my extensive experience. Since then we have served hundreds of clients throughout Central Oregon. In August 2024 The Garden Specialists celebrated 10 years serving Bend! Want to join the party? Get on our client list!