Our Why
My Why?

Why should you work with us? Why don't I tell you a little more about myself to answer that!

The long answer would require me to write a full book on my love of nature, wildlife, the earth and my journey to starting this business.

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The short answer is that I care and this is my true passion. 

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The middle answer is that I grew up in eastern Ontario (ever heard of Munster Hamlet?), and among playing with my friends, many different sports and mastering NeoPets in the early days of the internet, I could always be happy and captivated when outside. I have always been enthralled by wildlife. From small insects like ants, to large mammals like White-tailed Deer. I was the kid that wouldn't pay attention to the conversation in the car, and would interrupt everyone by yelling, '4 deer in the field!!,' or 'there's a coyote over there!' I was always on the look-out for wildlife. This only increased with my first camera that my parents got me one Christmas, a crop-sensor Nikon DSLR. With 2 lenses and an inexpensive camera, my eyes were opened further to the world of wildlife by documenting them through photos. With a 300 mm lens, I was able to get closer to deer than ever before. I could see their whiskers on their noses, and I learned to watch them and observe their behaviour. I was able to take snap shots of birds I had never seen before. 

This was all paired with my education at Carleton University, where I studied under various professors, including Mr. Runtz, an enthusiastic, wild man who genuinely loves wildlife as well. That enthusiasm helped hold my love for wildlife as I left my teens and began to care more about partying and friends than I did about alone time in nature. After taking both the 1st and 2nd year natural history courses with Mr. Runtz, I continued to the 4th year ornithology course that would eventually allow me to gain the nick name, 'bird nerd' from my closest friends and family. This caried through to my college education at Algonquin College in Pembroke, ON, where I studied Outdoor Adventure Naturalism. This paired my love for our outdoors with sports and physical activity. A granola group of young adults learning about hiking, biking, white-water rafting and sea kayaking, while always focusing on the trees, geology and wildlife that surrounds us within Ontario. 

From here, I ventured away to Alberta with a goal of making money to travel the world with close friends. This was quickly altered when I met my future wife and my passions and life direction battled one another. The stunning landscapes of Alberta kept me preoccupied and engaged, while their sea of large mammals kept my camera shutter clicking. Life continued and with that came 2 kids and a second cross-country move back to Ontario. A career in carpentry took over while we were in the early throws of family life. Eventually settling just north of Belleville, we purchased just shy of 3 acres and begin living the country life. 

Our property is set along a slow country road that is lined by farm fields and small pockets of forest. A winding creek runs along the road and cuts through our tiny piece of earth. The front acre along the road used to be cut, an acre of nothing but grass and a lack of life. One of the first things we did when we moved in was to introduce ourselves to our neighbours and I immediately asked our neighbour bordering this cut grass monoculture if he would mind if I let it go fallow. An incredibly nice man, he was quick to respond and let me know that I was free to do what I wanted with my land and it wouldn't bother him. That was that. I immediately allowed a full acre of land to begin it's transformation back to some sense of wild. 

Behind the creek though, that's where our home was and we continued cutting what the previous owners cut. This means roughly 1.2 acres of grass, very few trees and little life. Maybe 3 years in, I decided to leave roughly 30 feet along our one side to grow. This quickly transformed into young black cherry trees and a large swath of goldenrod and asters in the fall. I was amazed at the life within this stretch in the fall season. The stunning gold of the goldenrod attracted so much life. 

The following year, I left the rear of the property, which abutted a rotational farm field to do the same. What was originally maybe 3 or 4 feet of long grass transitioned into roughly 15 feet of young ash trees sprouting, manitoba maple and more goldenrod. The raspberries from the field edges began to invade and the separation of this property and the monoculture farm land was taking shape. 

From here, we slowly added trees, and planted as much as possible. Sugar maples a plenty, black willow, white and red oak, white pine, hackberry and a honey locust. We got most of the trees from Lower Trent Conservation's spring tree sales. An incredibly cost effective way to add native plants to any landscape. Missing the immediate joy of large trees, we then began purchasing 1 or 2 large potted saplings a year. This was from the Root Cellar in nearby Thomasburg. Trees anywhere from roughly 8' to 12' in height, we witnessed our property take shape with taller spots of life, sprouting from a short, flat, dry lawn. 

This continued for a few years until the adjoining parcel of land in-front of us, an acre of land that we were beside and behind, was surveyed. To this point, roughly 7 years, we were with the understanding that this property was too close to the creek, which dissected it, and it's low lying area was regularly flooded with spring run-off and occasional heavy rain events. While we didn't use this land, as it was not our own, it was a follow field that abutted the creek and gave refuge to many animals. I had seen deer bed down here in the summer, beavers, muskrats and even an otter use this area beside the creek. Various bird species, insects a plenty, and no doubt many snakes and frogs. On more than one occassion, I witnessed a short-tailed weasel bound across the drive way from our land into this vacant land. 

We were in for quite a shock when the local conservation authority let us know that yes this was indeed a flood plain, but because the creek wasn't provincially mapped, they couldn't technically classify the floodplain of the creek. This meant that working with the 30 meter setbacks from the creek bank, the owner of the land found a buildable envelope and begin building a new home. The home was kept to the front of the property, away from the creek. This was a shock, but all within normal rights and a residential building lot being used for a home, which only makes sense. However, when the new owners moved in, we quickly saw what comes with new housing. Natural destruction came quick and heavy. Cleared right down to the creek, dogwoods, alders, iris, joe-pye-weed, grasses, ash trees and sumac were removed to leave only the tight grasses clinging to life kept at 3 inches maximum. New non-native trees have been planted and we have seen a visible drop in wildlife in the area. This shock affected me more than I thought it would. I felt physically harmed to see this habitat essentially being eliminated. This also came at the same time that my growing business of building new homes and completing renovations was becoming successful. 

With all of this together, I took the chance to learn more about our local area. More about our ecosystems and wildlife. More about how things need to work together. The more I learned, the more often I found that the answer was always the same, it begins with the plants. Native plants, and a good variety of native plants was the key to begin a restoration of any landscape. To begin at square one, bringing in the nutrients and connectivity of a healthy soil network. From there the insects come back, resilient as ever, to give way to those that feed on those insects, both parasitic and predatory. Once that has begun, the food web continues, growing until you finish with the apex predators. The total web though, always beginning with the soil and the plants. 

I found myself within an awakening of learning, mostly centered around the teachings of Doug Tallamy. An American that started Homegrown National Park and who transformed their own 10 acres from an annually farmed field with poor soil and no biodiversity into a haven of forests and fields of native plants and an incredible array of wildlife, most importantly caterpillars. For more on him and his teachings, please view the 'Inspiration' tab. 

From this, a new business venture rose in my mind and it culminated here, with Plant Wild. I am a firm believer that the best way to truly learn something is from past failure. In this case, I needed to fail, to degrade land and our environment to see how I could help improve it, how I could become part of the solution, not the problem. As I continue to improve my property with more diversity of native plants, removing invasive plants and cutting less grass, I see the incredible bounce back of life. With plans of a Miyawaki Forest in the spring of 2026 and more planting of native plants and shrubs, as a posed to trees, I am genuinely excited for the future of this property and the wildlife that calls it home. As I continue this, my knowledge and skill set will only improve, allowing me to better help others do the same. All with the goal to improve our area collectively, one property at a time.

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