Scott Parker Landscapes Company Profile

ith Scott Parker's background, you can understand why he is so comfortable working outside. As a child, he spent part of each year in the Caribbean working in gardens and landscape projects with family members. The other part of the year was spent in Maryland, where the weather might not have been as inviting, but certainly offered a dramatic counterpoint to Grand Cayman Island. The contrast in those two places is emblematic of the contrasts that Scott has blended in many areas of his life.

Business and Pleasure
While studying business at UC Berkeley in the 70s, Scott worked as an amateur arborist; he'd been doing that in high school as well. Indeed, Scott says the work paid for a good deal of his education! He always liked working outside, but saw himself as more of a businessman. If landscaping and tree trimming had been the means to an end, before long, the end he was seeking at UCB became less desirable, while his appreciation and enjoyment of the environment grew. He redirected his focus to the work he loved and was good at, and Scott Parker Landscapes was born in 1984.

He was licensed as a landscape contractor in short order, and Scott Parker has been in demand ever since. As a professional and a businessman, Scott can pursue his creative vision with his landscaping designs, and he does so, much to Alameda County residents' delight. Scott's projects always begin with a great deal of thought, particularly regarding water use and sustainability. A high quality landscape necessarily includes a great deal of forethought because the very nature of . . . well, nature . . . is that it grows and changes and its likely moves must be anticipated. Scott knows how to do this intuitively and his designs are smart and beautiful for the long haul. "We do particular, high-quality work," said Scott. He also said that Scott Parker Landscapes uses polyethylene tubing instead of the more prevalent PVC pipe for irrigation lines. Scott explains that polyethylene is much less toxic to gardens and gardeners alike, and he is proud to be one of the few (if not the only) landscaping companies in the Alameda county area to use this environment-friendly material. The team of laborers and tradesmen that work with Scott Parker Landscapes are all hand-selected by Scott. He and the team specialize in California native plants, and similar Mediterranean plantings, all of which are generally low-water, deep-rooting plants providing maximum beauty for minimal effort. Scott also emphasizes recycling and organic gardening practices for all his projects.

Scott likes to be surrounded by living things, despite living and working in an extremely urban environment. "I have a warehouse and it is easily distinguishable from the other ones on the street because it's the only one with anything green around it!" laughed Scott. Such a dedicated supporter of things living is Scott that he has at his domicile in Berkeley chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits and bees! Maintaining this menagerie while in the heart of a metropolis keeps Scott busy, to be sure, but he loves his life and his work, and one cannot argue with the results of that happy union between Scott and his creative landscape pursuits.

Scott Parker Landscapes is a dynamic team, dedicated to the bridging of urban and wild, beautiful and untamed, and Scott can show you how to have it all, right in your own backyard.

---Genevieve Albers
Staff Writer
The Prime Buyer's Report