I have loved plants from as far back as I can remember; when I was growing up, my Mother played classical music for our house plants and taught me that, just like humans and animals, plants have feelings too.
I would take, what little change I had, and while my friends used their money to buy candy, I would purchase little 99 cent plants from the neighborhood florist and I cared for many of those plants until I was grown and had my first apartment.
I remember scratching in the dry dirt, during the 70's drought, to plant a vegetable garden and worrying, while at school, that it would not remain moist until I returned at the end of the day! While young, I had no idea that I would become a landscaper, but looking back, the 'writing was on the wall!'
On the other side of the Planet in Iran, Ash was having a similar experience; his Mother once called a 'Plant Doctor' to the house to check the vitality and condition of their houseplants. The whole family attended the visit with much enthusiasm and dressed for the occasion! Ash followed their gardener around, from a very young age, asking questions and 'apprenticing' the gentleman as he was allowed at the age of five.
Once an old and diseased tree, but a favorite of Ash's, was cut down while he was away at school. When he arrived home to the news, he desperately grabbed a limb from the remaining pile and rushed off to plant it somewhere on the property- Ash recently visited his old home and saw that that limb had growing into a beautiful 30' arching tree and is alive and well today!
About thirteen years ago, Ash realized that the connection to the earth, that he had as a child, was missing in his adult life and started taking Horticulture classes. I had my own small landscape maintenance business at the time and when we met (as neighbors) ten years ago- our same passion for plants, landscaping and artistry blossomed into Utopic Gardens and has allowed us the wonderful opportunity to create unique, artistic and beautiful landscapes together ever since!
