Geoff McDonald – Director

Born and raised in North Vancouver, I had the privilege of learning the craft of gardening from my maternal grandmother, who in turn had learned from her father who was the head gardener at the PNE grounds. I pursued my academic career at UBC with an environmental focus, paying my way by working in nursery sales for GardenWorks . After completing my undergrad, I earned a diploma of Residential Landscape Design, and became a Certified Arborist. I worked for BC Hydro as a consultant to the Vegetation Management department travelling throughout BC doing biomass inventories and species identification.  This opportunity gave me the “plant nerd” stimulus I needed, but didn’t fulfil my passion for design… I found this by starting a landscape design and build company that I ran for 14+ years full time and part time as my schedule allowed. In 2018 my wife Amy and I moved to Courtenay with our 3 girls and began my career in real estate that allows me to visit many amazing home gardens throughout the year. Amy and I are currently working on a transformation of our ½ acre residential property. It is certainly a work-in-progress with a focus of incorporating food production into the ornamental landscape, which I describe as “pretty permaculture”. My girls (11, 13, and 15) enjoy grazing on the garden in the summer and it is a family project which I love.

I look forward to meeting more folks in the society and getting my plant fix at our meetings and information sessions.