Does Plant Specialists have its own garden ?

Design and InstallationGarden CareLighting and Irrigation
Written By Peter Morris

Yes we do !!!

If you have had the opportunity to visit the Plant Specialists head office you will have seen the spectacular location.

Plant Specialists has been greening New York City for over 50 years. Our talented team of landscape designers have worked on many of the cities most established gardens.

We originally started in Manhattan in 1974 with husband and wife team Dagny and Tim Du Val - can you believe that ! its incredible for any business to survive in this city that long !

Plant Specialists custom made Pergolas and planter boxes are on the rooftop of Plant Specialists office.

In 1974 through until the late 1980's we were located in Manhattan - story goes that Tim and Dagny even had chickens on their rooftop garden. It was Tim and Dagny's vision in the late 80's to move to our current location in Long Island City.

We started 50 years ago as an interior plants company - look at us know with a full team of landscape designers specializing in green roofs, green walls - interiors and exteriors .

In the 80’s Long Island City was a scary destination - the likes of Amazon were clamoring to stay away from Long Island City let alone move an entire empire there ! The area was nothing like it is now.

Our oasis rests on the corner of 43rd Avenue and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City.

We share our location with several amazing businesses - the main one being The Foundry which is a function and event space run by the talented Alison Du Val and her amazing team. Allison ( Tim and Dagny's daughter ) produces incredible events, weddings, film shoots - you name it they do it.

English ivy covers 6 of the chimney stacks in our building - it really is a spectacular space - and one that we love to show off. So if you are in the area - and you have a bottle of wine that you would like to share .......

Our gardeners and garden design team work in this wonderful green oasis with New York City as our backdrop !

We have been gardening here at our HQ for thirty plus years - my my my - how time flies !

Many weddings are held in our courtyard.

What a wonderful green wall back drop with the city standing guard behind us !

Amazing !

PLANT SPECIALISTS

GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 53 YEARS !

Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBA

All photographs used with our own permission !

Article was edited and re posted from the original of February 2, 2020

Peter Morris

Peter was born and raised on a beautiful green island in the midst of a tropical rainforest. He was introduced into the world of plants at the age of six when his grandmother, an avid Spanish gardener herself, asked him to help her grow seeds for her pepper garden. He was hooked! By the time he was a teen, he had his own rose and orchid collection numbering in the hundreds. Botany was in his blood, and that is what he set out to study.

His passion brought him to NY in the late seventies to further his education. His tenacity allowed him to work full time at Plant Specialists while he completed a MS in Plant Biology. As a manager at the time he felt unsatisfied with his knowledge of business and business processes. Peter felt compelled to learn, so he then pursued and completed an MBA in Quality Management within a few short years.

Peter’s other passion is teaching. His natural ability is quickly consumed by our staff in all subjects in Botany, Horticulture, and Landscaping. He created an immense reference library of more than 3,500 plants providing an invaluable resource for our staff.

Peter’s breadth of knowledge and wisdom allows him to effectively diagnose the needs of plants. Sometimes just by walking into a garden he can create a prescription that fixes even the hardest issue. He is our Staff Botanist, Diagnostician, and all around Mentor. Recently, he has put his immense knowledge and skills into developing a new department that focuses on Plant Healthcare. As he puts it, “Magic through Science”. The PHC staff that surround him have avidly consumed his teachings. Substantially developing their own plant wisdom, many have taken on difficult plant health issues with spectacular results.

Plant Healthcare has been an instant success with customers! The proper treatment of insects and diseases including Organic methods has made pest control a necessity for every plant. Correcting hormonal imbalances caused by planting in containers or refurbishing soils leached of nutrients by irrigation systems are big challenges PHC has become quite comfortable addressing. The scientific approach to the complex demands of keeping plants healthy in our harsh city environment has made many a customer say WOW!

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