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Our Team

When you rely on our team for your lawn maintenance and garden care, you avoid the frustration of dealing with less-than-professional companies and enjoy a more streamlined experience & individualized attention. You can always get the precise services that you need to get the results you desire since we do not offer pre-set packages, and our horticultural professionals will review your unique landscape & make recommendations to give you the greatest impact for your investment into your property.

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Meet Our Experts

Team Leaders

Lawn and Garden Care Experts

Landscaping Experts

Team Leaders

craig hutchinson

Craig Hutchinson

A love of beautiful gardens, a passion for client service, and a natural way with people: all three came together when Craig Hutchinson left university…

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Darren 400

Darren Young

Darren was just 22 when Craig first hired him as a maintenance trainee, and he’s mentored and promoted him ever since…

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Brent 2

Brent Donaldson

Brent always knew he wanted to do something “green” but he wasn’t sure exactly what. So he enrolled in Fleming College’s School of Environmental…

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Nancyw

Nancy Weiss

Nancy is a passionate gardener (and self-described flower child) with a long track record of creating unique gardens and for being at the leading edge…

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Raina 2

Raina

To help build on her childhood love of watching gardens grow and change, Raina attended Humber College for the Landscape Technician Program…

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Lawn and Garden Care Experts

Ben

Ben Gossin

In the 1990s, Ben wasn’t sure what career path to follow. First, he studied interior design at Humber College then switched to graphic design at Seneca…

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andrew farquha

Andrew Farquhar

Maintenance Foreperson

steven perry

Steven Perry

Maintenance Foreperson

francisco miranda

Francisco Miranda

Maintenance Foreperson

Landscaping Experts

jim cape

Jim Cape

Jim has more experience keeping gardens lush and healthy than just about anyone you’ll ever meet, having devoted almost his entire working life to making…

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larissa stipetic

Larissa Stipetic

Larissa’s career with Lawrence Park began in 1996. At first, she helped the Maintenance crews during the busy spring and fall cleanup periods. In 1999, she came on board…

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Kari Tolppanen 2

Kari Tolppanen

Kari brings a Scandinavian sensibility to Lawrence Park. He was born in Finland where he studied landscape design, construction and maintenance. Upon completion of…

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jackson scott

Jackson Scott

Landscape Designer

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craig hutchinson

Craig Hutchinson

Founder, President
(Certified Horticulturalist)

A love of beautiful gardens, a passion for client service, and a natural way with people: all three came together when Craig Hutchinson left university, started Lawrence Park Garden Care, and earned a certificate in horticulture. Craig grew up in Lawrence Park and like many teenagers, spent his summers cutting grass for his neighbours and their friends. But unlike other teenagers, Craig took the work seriously and in his spare time, was devouring books on gardening and landscape design. “I was lucky to have an English mother who loved gardening and had tons of books.” Over the years, Craig has surrounded himself with smart people with diverse backgrounds, diverse talents, diverse points of view and ideas—but they all share his passion for landscape design and the quest for new products and practices that are environmentally friendly. They also share his mission to give clients the gardens of their dreams while making the process enjoyable.

Today, Craig continues to oversee properties under his care, and is a familiar face in the community, donating his time and the company’s services to events like Arbor Day, park plantings and cleanups.

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Darren 400

Darren Young

Horticultural Service Representative
(With Lawrence Park since 1993)

Darren was just 22 when Craig first hired him as a maintenance trainee, and he’s mentored and promoted him ever since. Today, with over 20 years of practical experience in garden care and landscaping, Darren not only manages two crews that perform fieldwork, he also does a lot of work behind the scenes, working closely with other departments to ensure that even the biggest projects progress seamlessly from start to finish. Darren regularly does site visits to ensure that his properties are looking their best, and also to connect with clients he has long-standing relationships with. 

“I’ve known some of them for 20 years and I’ve had my hand in their gardens, so I know their expectations and what it takes to keep them happy…I need to know my team is keeping their gardens looking as good as I used to.” Darren really takes the “care” part of the company’s name to heart.

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Brent 2

Brent Donaldson

Team Leader
Horticultural Service Representative
(With Lawrence Park since 2008)

Brent always knew he wanted to do something “green” but he wasn’t sure exactly what. So he enrolled in Fleming College’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences and studied forestry, geology, fish and wildlife, gaming and integrated pest management. What he enjoyed most, however, was working at the college in groundskeeping and landscaping, which he continued to do for two years after finishing. Next, he landed a job with a landscaping firm in Toronto and began a three-year apprenticeship program in Horticulture at Humber College. He was then hired by a design-build landscaping company in Toronto and within a year, became a foreman. After that, he studied Landscape Design and Drafting at Ryerson and by the time he joined Lawrence Park, he had a decade of experience under his belt. Today he manages crews on two routes and provides exceptional customer service to his clients, some of whom have been with the firm since the very beginning. Brent is proud to be with a professional company that cares deeply about clients’ gardens and is proactive about protecting them.

“Most other companies don’t look for problems like tree, lawn and plant diseases or insect infestations. (Most) hire summer students with no vested interest in the properties they serve. My foremen have a good eight or nine years of experience and their crewmates have four or five years. So they know what they’re doing—and it shows.”

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Nancyw

Nancy Weiss

Landscape Service Representative
Certified Green Roof Installer
(With Lawrence Park since 2005)

Nancy is a passionate gardener (and self-described flower child) with a long track record of creating unique gardens and for being at the leading edge of new concepts in landscaping. She began as a country gardener on a tiny island off Vancouver Island, then converted to urban gardening when she moved to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. In Toronto, she studied graphic design before completing several courses in gardening and landscaping at Ryerson, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and Landscape Ontario. At Lawrence Park, Nancy organizes annual plantings, does some design work and purchasing, and is still a country gardener at heart. She often delights clients and their children by planting small veggie gardens or planting a few containers with vegetables and herbs so they can watch their plants grow and then pick them at their freshest. She also works with Larissa to create stunning seasonal urn displays. Increasingly, she’s involved in the latest horticultural and landscaping innovations. She’s a certified green roof installer and has created a spectacular mobile food wall (which she later adapted to include seasonal plants).

“Green walls are living architecture and could have a huge impact on…our environment.” She also creates “living playgrounds.” “They integrate plants into children’s play areas…and research shows that they encourage more creative, cooperative play.” “What I love about being in horticulture is that you’re an artist, but you get to work with living material…and get to contribute to the environment and to children’s lives. The possibilities are unbelievable and there’s always more to learn.“

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Raina 2

Raina

Lead Landscape Designer
Project Manager

To help build on her childhood love of watching gardens grow and change, Raina attended Humber College for the Landscape Technician Program. She joined Lawrence Park Garden Care in 1998 and has only continued to expand her knowledge and experience, accumulating a number of landscape design accolades for her practical and elegant designs. Among these accomplishments, Raina was a key part of the team that won Toronto’s first Platinum LEED Canada certification for a green residential property. Clients love working with Raina, because she knows exactly how to craft their vision into a final design that reflects their individual tastes and styles. Not only is she able to achieve a contemporary landscape or English garden a client is looking for, but she can also offer expert guidance about how to meet their practical every day needs, from controlling rainwater to designing a space with dogs in mind. Raina pushes the envelope of landscape design not just with her visionary ideas but with her exceptional organizational skills as well. Every project Raina develops has a realistic estimate and timelines, and her clients can always feel confident that she will complete their projects on time. For Raina, landscape design challenges are an opportunity to astound. 

She has extensive experience with all hardscape and construction related activities for landscapes and loves working on natural gardens and anything else that can meet and exceed her client’s needs.

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Ben

Ben Gossin

Maintenance Foreman

In the 1990s, Ben wasn’t sure what career path to follow. First, he studied interior design at Humber College then switched to graphic design at Seneca. But he couldn’t face the prospect of working indoors, so he channeled his creativity into making gardens more beautiful. He spent the next several years working for landscaping firms serving large estate properties in the Bridle Path area, learning everything he could from his employers, reference books, the Internet and a succession of Landscape Ontario seminars. As he worked his way up, he also saved his money. So when the owner of the company he was working for retired, Ben was able to buy it. After five years, he sold it and came to work for Lawrence Park. The degree of organization at Lawrence Park was a revelation and a relief. “It was very different…a lot fewer headaches (for me), not having to do all the admin work as well as the maintenance work.” The crew he now leads serves the same kinds of large estate properties in the same neighbourhoods he knows and loves. 

“These properties are all different and they often have exotic trees and shrubs that require special care.” He takes great pride in his work, often taking before and after pictures showing “his” gardens before spring clean-up and again in mid-summer. In the off-season, he does snow clearance and takes courses at Landscape Ontario in crew management, greenscapes and various horticultural topics. Currently, he’s working toward certification in landscape design.

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jim cape

Jim Cape

Landscape Operations Manager
Certified Landscape Technician
Certified Green Roof Installer
(With Lawrence Park since 1990)

Jim has more experience keeping gardens lush and healthy than just about anyone you’ll ever meet, having devoted almost his entire working life to making gardens beautiful. Before joining Lawrence Park, Jim had spent several years in landscaping companies gaining experience in planting, pruning and stonework. He also studied Horticulture at Humber College and became a Certified Landscape Technician. Since then, he has taken every opportunity to advance his skills and knowledge by taking Landscape Ontario seminars on best practices in everything from grading, stonework and plant identification to job estimating, crew management and green roof installation. Now he’s studying to become Certified Horticultural Technician. At present, Jim runs one field crew and oversees three others while acting as liaison between the field staff and office. He loves that Lawrence Park offers such a broad range of services because it provides him and crews with never-ending variety. “You’re not just doing stonework from April till December. You could be cutting down trees one week and planting them the next. It keeps you fresh – it’s never boring.” He doesn’t mind working in the evenings in order to talk to clients, estimate jobs, or pick up materials on his way home so “the crew can start their work first thing in the morning and not keep our clients waiting.” 

He and his crewmembers love to transform gardens and see jobs through from start to finish so they can say: “We made that (and) it’s beautiful.” He particularly loves “going onto a property that hasn’t been pruned or weeded in ages…to completely clean it up and have the client come home at the end of the day, look at it and say: ‘Oh wow!’”

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larissa stipetic

Larissa Stipetic

Landscaping Supervisor
Certified Landscape Technician
(With Lawrence Park since 1996)

Larissa’s career with Lawrence Park began in 1996. At first, she helped the Maintenance crews during the busy spring and fall cleanup periods. In 1999, she came on board full-time in the Landscaping department and began four years of night courses at Humber College in horticulture and landscape design. Still an avid course-taker, she enjoys attending the one- and two-day workshops that Landscape Ontario offers each winter.

Because her husband works for an airline, she travels often—but even then, she can’t stop thinking about ways to do her job better. “I get a chance to see urns and plant material in other parts of the world. I love tropical woodlands and rock formations. I get quite excited and take lots of pictures.” (Good ones, too. She studied photography at Ryerson.) She then applies these ideas to the urns she creates while taking into account your preferences and the look of your house, and the style of your garden.

With urns, “If something’s really popular and has been featured in décor magazines, everyone will want it, but I don’t want everyone to have the same thing.” So she’ll arrange the elements differently and make each client’s urns unique, whereas “Some companies do the same thing for everybody.”

She loves that Lawrence Park trains its people so well. “Some companies just tell you what to do and don’t teach you why… but people like to be experts in their field and be able to answer clients who ask why they’re doing something.” For example, one of her clients complained that her big-leaf hydrangea wouldn’t bloom. It turned out that another garden care company had cut the bush back to the ground instead of pruning it selectively. “They didn’t know that the flowers only grow on old wood!”

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Kari Tolppanen 2

Kari Tolppanen

Landscape Service Representative

Kari brings a Scandinavian sensibility to Lawrence Park. He was born in Finland where he studied landscape design, construction and maintenance. Upon completion of his studies, he was invited by the college from which he graduated to join the faculty to teach those subjects both at elementary and advanced levels. His college also sent him to England for a few months to study golf course construction and maintenance. Kari immigrated to Canada in 1999. After completion of his Master’s degree in B.C., he moved to Toronto where he finished his Ph.D. a few years later. At Lawrence Park, Kari works as a landscape designer.

He loves meeting with clients and designing beautiful gardens which bring happiness to his clients’ lives. Kari says that few things bring him more happiness than satisfied, happy customers.

No two properties are the same – get your personalized garden care plan now

No two Lawrence Park, Rosedale, Forest Hill, North Toronto, Bridle Path and Hoggs Hollow gardens are the same, and our goal is to help you realize your garden’s full potential by helping it become healthier and more beautiful each year.

Factors like drainage and groundwater, previous landscaping or construction, soil quality and the presence of large trees all have an impact on the details of the job, so you need a company that you can trust to meet your precise needs.

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3960 Chesswood Dr
Toronto, ON M3J 2W6

(416) 206-9603 Request a Consultation

Serving: Lawrence Park, Rosedale, Forest Hill, North Toronto, Bridle Path and Hoggs Hollow

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