May 24: Sean James “Crystal Ball: Garden Trends for 2017”

Sean has been gardening professionally since he was sixteen and speaking to horticultural societies for more than 25 years when he graduated from the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture. Sean ran Fern Ridge Landscaping & Eco-consulting for over 20 years, recently handing it over to his leadership team. He now owns ‘Sean James Consulting & Design’, focusing on teaching, speaking, writing, designing and consulting. He is a 2X past president of the Milton & District Horticultural Society. He designed the award-winning sustainable Anderson Parkette in Oakville and several other landmark gardens. He has written several regular eco-gardening columns as well as articles for Garden Making magazine, Ontario Gardener, Trellis, (the magazine for the Toronto Botanical Garden), as well as in the global digital newsletter for the Perennial Plant Association. He’s also a member of Master Gardeners of Ontario. He has had the privilege to help put together the national curriculum for Horticultural Apprentices. He’s been featured on the CBC and on two HGTV shows including ‘Green Force’. He’s co-hosted ‘the Garden Show’ with Charlie Dobbin and been on the radio in Halifax and Ottawa with Niki Jabbour. He chairs Landscape Ontario’s Environmental Stewardship Committee and sits on the Ontario Invasive Plant Council’s Horticultural Outreach Collaborative, and the Perennial Plant Association’s Environmental Committee. Sean grew up surrounded by nature, near Crawford Lake in Campbellville, so it was destined that he would choose a career like landscaping.