Gary started out at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse attending from 1965-1968, and then entered the U.S. Army for another three years. Shortly thereafter, he began working for Paul Swartz Nursery (1972). Gary is currently the Senior Landscape Designer on the sales team. Over the years, Gary has designed and supervised the installation of thousands of landscapes (and counting). He enjoys residential designs that create informal, naturalistic landscapes incorporating tasteful blends of seasonal color, texture and movement. One of his specialties is designing patios, walkways and decks, then combining them with plantings, to create “outdoor rooms”. Gary also derives great enjoyment from incorporating garden ponds and waterfalls into his landscapes. He believes landscapes should reflect his clients’ personalities and ultimately provide them with a relaxing buffer from the stress of our fast-paced society.

The owners of this rural property came to Paul Swartz Nursery with the desire to transform their bland backyard (which was a flat, tree-less expanse of lawn) into an engaging collection of outdoor rooms. A spacious pond/waterfall combo (to provide potential multiple functions) was high on their priority list.

We developed a comprehensive design that met all of the customer's objectives and more. The main feature is a 70,000-gallon pond with a swimming area on one end and a water garden on the other. Soil excavated for the pond was utilized on-site to construct raised planting beds and an "origin" (source) for the water that cascades down the focal center - a five-tiered waterfall.

Overlooking the pond is a rustic flagstone patio area. Nestled next to the seating area is a stone-lined campfire pit. In addition, a small private patio that seats 2-4 people is located near the main spillway.

The landscape plantings are "anchored" with river birch, spruce, and several flowering trees. Oak, white ash and large maple trees were planted to provide shade and brilliant autumn colors. Flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals provide the balance of the landscape planting - adding a succession of background colors from spring through fall. During the winter months, the landscape provides views of interest via gently swaying ornamental grasses, refreshing spruce and pine greenery and intriguing bark textures of river birch. As the temperatures drop, the pond switches gears and becomes a mirror-like ice-skating rink.

Finally, the previously flat lawn areas were re-graded to provide optimal drainage capabilities and noticeably improved by filling in bare areas with sod or grass using our virtually foolproof hydro-seeding process.

Dave earned a degree from the University of Wisconsin prior to entering the landscaping profession in 1988. He has been a Landscape Designer for Paul Swartz Nursery since 1996. Dave derives his greatest satisfaction from working one-on-one with clients to develop aesthetically pleasing landscaping that best meets their needs. Each year he expertly crafts over 200 original designs to his, and most importantly, his customers’ satisfaction. He carefully orchestrates installations and fine-tunes them to perfection on every project.

The photo below is of a lakeside home in need of a complete landscape renovation. The client's objective was to incorporate natural materials to retain the elevation along the deck area and make a subtle transition from the deck elevation to the large span of lawn area leading to the lake. In addition, the client wanted to preserve the lake views from all windows and incorporate year-round color into the landscape.

We used granite boulders for soil retention that blended in nicely with the surrounding naturalized area. A variety of evergreens were used to provide winter color and interest. Horizontal junipers will, in time, cascade over the boulders to further soften the transition in grade levels. Plants including perennials, groundcovers and small ornamental trees were used to provide the balance of year's color goals while allowing an unobstructed view of the lake.

John Mousourakis

John’s journey in landscape design began when he earned a degree from Coastal Carolina College in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Since 1993, when John became a member of the Paul Swartz Nursery design/sales team, he has been working intently with customers guiding them through the entire process of designing, installing and meeting their budget expectations to their complete satisfaction. John designs over 250 landscapes each year and feels his expertise lies in designs featuring low maintenance and four-season interest.

An established customer had recently built a home in a rustic rural setting. Paul Swartz Nursery was contacted to develop a complete landscape design that encompassed a driveway, front walk, brick patio and a seat-wall. After an extensive site evaluation, a drawing was rendered that met all the specifications the customer had outlined. The photos presented here show the landscape from several vantage points shortly after it was finished.

Unique challenges that were effectively resolved included: selecting plants that didn't appeal to deer while providing four-season interest, blending our nursery-grown plants into the surrounding natural area and working within the customer's budgetary and aesthetic guidelines.

Mike Olson

Mike has been employed with Paul Swartz Nursery since 1978. During that time he has designed and installed landscapes for hundreds of his own clients - in addition to acting as the project manager for Senior Designer, Gary Hardt. While possessing a broad range of experiences in landscaping, Mike has gained notable expertise in waterfall, retaining wall, brick paver and synthetic-putting green construction and installation – all integrated within a tasteful matrix of trees, shrubs and groundcovers. His greatest job satisfaction comes from the beauty and functionality his design installations bring to his clients’ homes as their landscapes mature.

This Lake Geneva lakefront project started with the teardown and removal of the existing home. The original landscape had a steep elevation change running 30' out from the house towards the lake. The client hired us to soften the slope and to install a series of steps and walkways out to the lake.

To accomplish this goal, we first brought in several truckloads of fill soil to reduce the severity of the slope. Next, we sculpted terraces from the soil upon which walkways/stairways were set. The construction materials consisted of a combination of granite fieldstones, paver bricks and Lannon stone stairs (6" thick). Plantings of groundcovers, perennials and shrubs were selected to beautify the site and allow for maximum viewing of the lake.

Many aspects of this project are not shown and include: redesigning the circle driveway, creating an additional parking area and installing a Lannon stone stairway (10' wide) along with Fieldstones to create a spectacular entryway to the house.

Ross was born and raised in the nursery/landscape business. Since his grade school days he has worked side-by-side with his Father mastering all aspects of the business including field preparation, planting, pruning and harvesting nursery stock. His design work began in 1982 when he learned to appreciate a “hands on approach” to landscape design and construction and enjoys working with customers to achieve the look they desire. Ross became President of Paul Swartz Nursery in 1996. In his free time, he is very involved in youth sports programs and spending time with his family.

Jerry is one of the newest members of the Design and Sales Team here at Paul Swartz Nursery.  Jerry comes to our Design and Sales Team already possessing a vast amount of design, engineering and installation experience.

In addition to designing and managing projects, Jerry also performs site Foreman responsibilities when needed, giving him that “hands on approach” to all his projects.

Jerry enjoys designing and installing many forms of landscapes from contemporary to naturalistic to rustic project themes.  He believes listening to the customer’s ideas and then incorporating those “base” ideas into a workable, viable design with good seasonal color and texture movement are primary.  Then blending that “base” design into the area’s natural and man made surroundings whether it be contemporary to rustic or any style in between is key to a successful project. 

Jerry’s education in operations management allows him to micro-manage each individual project, allowing the most, while still managing all project budgets.

Jerry’s attention to detail and sense of pride in each project as a designer gives him great satisfaction within the industry he both enjoys and appreciates.

* Jerry is also the Snow & Ice Maintenance Division Manager. View our snow and ice removal services here and please contact Jerry at any time to arrange our services this winter by emailing jerry@paulswartznursery.com