About Me

My name is Gavin Witmeyer.  I grew up in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  My family and I have lived on a 16 acre property for most of my life.  When I was young, we grew larger amounts of vegetables in our small-scale fields.  The ‘woods’ make up most of our property.  Growing up in this area with many ecosystems in one, general space (ridges, swamps, creeks/springs, fields and my own backyard) nursed my interest in Horticulture.  I first learned the real meaning of responsibility and ‘hard work’ when I was about 8 years old when my mother had an injury and my father was busy with work.  I was assigned to take care of the animals on our ‘homestead’.  We had goats, chickens, rabbits, pheasants, ducks, a dog and of course some goldfish.  :)  Along with taking care of the animals, I was also very interested in helping my mother with the gardening around the house.  In the spring, about the time I was in middle school, my parents had become so busy with work that they had asked me to clean-up the beds around the house and mulch them.  This is where we figured out my niche.  My dad was so impressed with my work ethic and the neatness of the job that he said,”‘You should do this for a living!”  Joking, in a way… But, when my dad speaks, it is almost always worth listening to or considering.  Within the next year or two (Around 14 years old), I had began doing landscaping work for people I knew and was hired at a local landscaping business/nursery.  I had worked there for roughly 2 and 1/2 years.  By the time I was 16, I had the freedom to drive myself around to do work for that business and also for others.  The spring of 2006, I decided to take my ‘business’ seriously and to be seen as a true pro.

In the fall of 2007 (My senior year in high school) I was accepted to a Vo-Tech program for Landscaping and Horticulture at the Brownstown Career and Technology Center.  After taking part in a moch-interview in the program that next spring, I was surprisingly hired, short-notice by the Landscape-contractor that was interviewing my class.  I was an asset for that business for about a year.  After work, in the evenings and on weekends was when I found time to continue to work for my own landscaping business.  This kept me really busy… While I was having the best year for my business, so far, I decided that maybe it was a good time to continue my education before I go full-throttle with my business.

Next, I applied for the Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program (Summer 2008).  My application went through and I was invited for an interview that fall.  After being accepted into the program, I was to start in early January 2009.  I was part of a class of nine student of various ages, from anywhere in the world, but mostly from the US.  I achieved an associate’s degree in Horticulture after studying intensely for two years, with half of my time spent in classes and the other half doing hands-on work around the gardens proper.  I maintained a relationship with my clients and continued to work for them on the weekends while in the program.  I graduated the program in December, 2010 and received an award for outstanding leadership.

I then applied for a four month internship with Matthew Berberich Professional Gardening in Port Townsend, Washington State!