Meet Will Raap, Founder and Chairman

Will Raap

When I started Gardener’s Supply in 1983, I hoped that our little company could be a force for making the world better through gardening. We’ve been at it for nearly 30 years now, encouraging millions of people to get their hands in the soil and grow healthier, more beautiful and more sustainable gardens — while along the way, becoming better stewards of the land.

From the beginning, we have devoted a large percentage of any profits that we made to broader, gardening-inspired ‘good works’. These have ranged from community composting and urban farming projects to habitat restoration, energy conservation and hunger relief programs. Through our Garden Crusader Awards, we have also recognized and come to know hundreds of remarkable gardeners who, through their own enthusiasm and commitment, are using gardening to transform local schools, communities, ecosystems and economies.

Our dedication to gardening – and to gardeners everywhere — grows stronger every year. At the same time, the need for solutions to broader issues of food quality and security, depletion of fresh water supplies, habitat loss and climate change are increasing.

With the day-to-day operations of Gardener’s Supply in the hands of its enthusiastic employee-owners, I’ve turned my attention to some of these broader challenges. Having studied the loss of topsoil, forests, wetlands and habitat, I believe there’s a compelling need for a new, restorative land ethic. Nurturing the earth is what gardeners do every day and that’s exactly what I’m committed to doing more of in Vermont, the U.S. and Central America. I hope you’ll be inspired to learn more.

• Restoring a River Valley — One Business at a Time: Using values-based enterprises to yield a more sustainable economy — if it works in Vermont, can it work elsewhere?
• Solutions for Climate Change:The importance of what we grow and what we eat.
• Cultivating a Nation of Gardeners and Earth Stewards: Since our company's beginning in 1983, Gardener's Supply has been on a crusade to educate, equip and inspire more successful gardeners.
• Confessions of an Aging Baby Boomer:How Gardener's Supply came to be
• Can Cutting Teak Help the Environment?:As we struggle to understand the causes and possible solutions to global climate change, we are also coming the better understand the critical role played by the earth's forests
• Rain Gardens Reduce Runoff: Beautify your landscape and safeguard the health of local water resources.
• Water-Smart Gardening in Costa Rica: Meeting the challenges of a world in need
• How Herbal Flea Wipes Got Us in Hot Water: It was the spring of 1993. The Feds were after us.
• The Earth Needs Trees—Now, More than Ever: The special role of topical rainforests in maintaining the earth's environmental health.
• Create Topsoil 100 Times Faster: Earthworms and red wigglers can significantly improve the quality of your soil and the health of your plants.
• Seeds in the Hands of Giants: Gardeners can help protect genetic diversity.