Born in 1957, I grew up in the Forest Lake area of Columbia, SC. My paternal grandparents had moved to Columbia in 1943 when my dad was 13 from Tampa, my grandmother being originally from LaGrange Georgia and my grandfather from Somerset Kentucky.
My grandparents lived on MacGregor Drive between Beltline and East Buchannan. Their deep backyards sloped down to a small creek that ran eastward between MacGregor and Trenholm. In the late 40's and early 50's they began, along with their neighbors the Michaels and the Dixons, to plan and plant a wonderful terraced southern garden in what would become a premier stop on the Columbia garden tour.
My dad didn't seem to catch the gardening bug but he did become an accomplished amateur watercolor painter of roses, camellias, lilies and irises. For years his paintings adorned the walls of banks all over South Carolina, as he gave them as gifts to his bank clients through his work with Calhoun Life Insurance Agency. I have three of his roses over my mantle to this day.
My grandfather died in the mid 1960's so I mostly remember my grandmother Nanny tending the garden. I would walk around with her as a kid as she pruned her camellias or rooted her azaleas, and of course I picked up a lot along the way. She would give me seeds of this or that plant which I would take home and plant at our place on Bridgewood Road. Soon enough I was buying my own seeds and by mid elementary school had my own vegetable and flower gardens. Like many boys my age in the 60's I lived mostly for sports, but I always had my gardening as my first non sports hobby (along with piano).
Nanny had a gardener named Mr. Dove who came weekly. I would often follow him around and work with him (and drive him crazy talking). Eventually he got too old to manage her hilly and slippery yard and walkways, so I took over.
My parents encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit so like many other kids I started mowing and raking lawns at an early age. I can't say that I love mowing. I don't - I guess I did enough to cover a couple of lifetimes - but it was a great way to make money.
When I graduated from 6th grade my parents gave me, along with a couple of other books, The Rockwell's Complete Guide to Successful Gardening. I devoured the Rockwell Guide, and as I learned more I tried more things out in our garden.
But it was not just gardens that held my botanical interest. I loved the woods, and we had a really nice big "woods" near my house. I developed a deep appreciation for the natural world which carried over into a passion at a young age for environmental movements such as the one to preserve the Congaree Swamp from destruction by logging. I was very fortunate to have participated in that effort at various levels.
By the time I got to college I figured I would either become a vet or save the world by becoming an environmental lawyer. A personal faith journey sort of interfered with those plans and sent me to Europe three quarters through my undergraduate studies, but meanwhile I found myself taking and enjoying lots of courses in horticulture and botany.
In the 1980's I got married and taught high school science for five years. Like many teachers I needed to work in the summer to make ends meet. With the combination of my experience in gardening and my understanding of local flora, I found a nice business niche doing what my friend Bill Kunze now calls "jungle taming." In fact, I used that phrase in my fliers back then! It seemed that so many once wonderful gardens had become completely overgrown by vines and saplings, and old plants were in great need of pruning or taking out. I actually had all the work I could handle. It was a great summer job.
In time my life went in another direction. I left Columbia and went back to theological school in Vancouver, and eventually served as a pastor in Greensboro NC for 20 years. Through all those years I never failed to have a vegetable and some sort of flower garden, and I kept reading and learning.
In 2009, due to issues in my family I had left the pastorate after 20 years, and in 2010 come back to Columbia. I had not anticipated taking up gardening work full time, but it worked out that way. I am grateful for the blessing of being outside almost every day, for the privilege of tending so many wonderful gardens, for the opportunity to see so many critters week in and week out as I work. And for the privilege of almost non stop learning! I am surrounded by wonderful books even as I type, books about gardening and southern flora. There is no end to the learning process!
My grandparents lived on MacGregor Drive between Beltline and East Buchannan. Their deep backyards sloped down to a small creek that ran eastward between MacGregor and Trenholm. In the late 40's and early 50's they began, along with their neighbors the Michaels and the Dixons, to plan and plant a wonderful terraced southern garden in what would become a premier stop on the Columbia garden tour.
My dad didn't seem to catch the gardening bug but he did become an accomplished amateur watercolor painter of roses, camellias, lilies and irises. For years his paintings adorned the walls of banks all over South Carolina, as he gave them as gifts to his bank clients through his work with Calhoun Life Insurance Agency. I have three of his roses over my mantle to this day.
My grandfather died in the mid 1960's so I mostly remember my grandmother Nanny tending the garden. I would walk around with her as a kid as she pruned her camellias or rooted her azaleas, and of course I picked up a lot along the way. She would give me seeds of this or that plant which I would take home and plant at our place on Bridgewood Road. Soon enough I was buying my own seeds and by mid elementary school had my own vegetable and flower gardens. Like many boys my age in the 60's I lived mostly for sports, but I always had my gardening as my first non sports hobby (along with piano).
Nanny had a gardener named Mr. Dove who came weekly. I would often follow him around and work with him (and drive him crazy talking). Eventually he got too old to manage her hilly and slippery yard and walkways, so I took over.
My parents encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit so like many other kids I started mowing and raking lawns at an early age. I can't say that I love mowing. I don't - I guess I did enough to cover a couple of lifetimes - but it was a great way to make money.
When I graduated from 6th grade my parents gave me, along with a couple of other books, The Rockwell's Complete Guide to Successful Gardening. I devoured the Rockwell Guide, and as I learned more I tried more things out in our garden.
But it was not just gardens that held my botanical interest. I loved the woods, and we had a really nice big "woods" near my house. I developed a deep appreciation for the natural world which carried over into a passion at a young age for environmental movements such as the one to preserve the Congaree Swamp from destruction by logging. I was very fortunate to have participated in that effort at various levels.
By the time I got to college I figured I would either become a vet or save the world by becoming an environmental lawyer. A personal faith journey sort of interfered with those plans and sent me to Europe three quarters through my undergraduate studies, but meanwhile I found myself taking and enjoying lots of courses in horticulture and botany.
In the 1980's I got married and taught high school science for five years. Like many teachers I needed to work in the summer to make ends meet. With the combination of my experience in gardening and my understanding of local flora, I found a nice business niche doing what my friend Bill Kunze now calls "jungle taming." In fact, I used that phrase in my fliers back then! It seemed that so many once wonderful gardens had become completely overgrown by vines and saplings, and old plants were in great need of pruning or taking out. I actually had all the work I could handle. It was a great summer job.
In time my life went in another direction. I left Columbia and went back to theological school in Vancouver, and eventually served as a pastor in Greensboro NC for 20 years. Through all those years I never failed to have a vegetable and some sort of flower garden, and I kept reading and learning.
In 2009, due to issues in my family I had left the pastorate after 20 years, and in 2010 come back to Columbia. I had not anticipated taking up gardening work full time, but it worked out that way. I am grateful for the blessing of being outside almost every day, for the privilege of tending so many wonderful gardens, for the opportunity to see so many critters week in and week out as I work. And for the privilege of almost non stop learning! I am surrounded by wonderful books even as I type, books about gardening and southern flora. There is no end to the learning process!
