Gardener's Journal

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Kathy LaLiberte
Director of Gardening
As a founding employee, I've worn many different hats over the years. When I'm not at work (and the ground isn't frozen!) I'm usually tending the gardens around my home in Richmond, Vt., which I started 22 years ago. They include a large vegetable garden, seasonal greenhouse, cutting garden, perennial gardens, rock garden, shade garden, berry plantings, lots of container plants and a meadow garden. It's a huge amount of work, but there's no place I'd rather be than in the garden.

Maree Gaetani
Public Relations Director
I enjoy working with garden writers, the media, and various organizations, helping people learn about our products and about trends in gardening. I also coordinate our company's good works and donations programs, including the annual Garden Crusader Awards. My Italian father and grandfather inducted me into gardening at an early age, and I've been a certified Master Gardener since 2002.

Ann Whitman
Nursery Supervisor

I supervise the tree, shrub, and perennial nursery at Gardener’s Supply’s garden center in Williston, VT. For a natural teacher and plant geek, it’s a perfect occupation. Twenty years ago, the yard around our old farmhouse was a blank canvas waiting to be planned and planted. I’ve spent the past two decades adding apple, pear and cherry trees, blueberries, raspberries and elderberries. The native shrub borders along the road and brook shelter and feed scores of songbirds. Our fertile soil has supported 20 vegetable gardens over the years, plus ever-expanding bulb and perennial gardens. Fussing with orchids, tropical houseplants and terrariums keep me occupied during the long New England winters. I have a B.S. in Horticulture and an M.A. in Landscape Design, and have written four gardening books.

David Grist
Online Content Coordinator
When I started working at Gardener's Supply back in the 1990s, my Vermont backyard was pretty green—with grass. Today, there's just a tiny bit of the original lawn left. Most of the available space has given way to trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and stonework. I work part-time at Gardener's Supply, which allows me to take on seasonal work with a local landscaper. In that role, I get to see and maintain a few dozen gardens and learn a lot in the process. I believe that all gardening is good gardening, whether it's a whiskey barrel of red salvia at the gas station or a tapestry of heuchera along a stone walkway.

Sarah Taparauskas
Gardener
I take care of 3 acres of display gardens at the Gardener's Supply store and offices in Burlington, VT. The gardens feature annual and perennial flowers, spring- and fall-blooming bulbs, vegetables and other edible plants, wildflowers, roses and water gardens. We also have a wildlife habitat garden that’s been certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Our product development team always has some interesting projects underway, and you're welcome to tour these gardens as well. During the summer months, the gardens are open for self-guided tours from dawn to dusk.

You can "tour" the gardens in a slide show.

Will Raap
Founder and Chairman
Our company began small, with a staff of just eight avid gardeners. We now have more than 250 employee-owners and are one of the largest online and catalog gardening companies in the country. My wife Lynette and I tend about an acre of gardens around our house, which includes many woodland plants, a water garden and dozens of container plantings. Our vegetables come from the Intervale Community Farm, Vermont's largest membership farm. Lynette and I also spend several months each year in Costa Rica, where I have founded a watershed restoration enterprise, a sustainable agriculture and agroforestry education center, and Central America's first CSA membership farm. I am also developing a reforestation and timber management venture, available in the U.S. as Reforest Teak.