5 Minutes With … Jake Scott
Jake Scott is garden center manager at Piedmont Feed & Garden Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
What brought you to the garden center world?
After graduating from North Carolina State University, I was a high school agriculture teacher focusing on horticulture and agricultural science. When the opportunity to move back home and become a garden center manager became available, I was ready for a career change.
What do you love about your job?
I love that, in the garden center, no two days are ever the same. I can try to plan and predict how tomorrow will be, but when tomorrow comes, some new challenge or adventure will arise. A customer will challenge me to think more in depth about a landscape design or pest problem they are having, or a plant truck will pull up just as an afternoon storm comes along. I enjoy working with all my staff, and we really make each day fun and exciting.
If you weren’t in this profession, what would you be doing?
If I wasn’t working in the horticulture field, I would love to be a graphic designer working with mixed media.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I enjoy spending time by the pool, with my family or outside gardening with my dog Gabby.
What’s something that few people know about you?
Few people know that I had my own cake business during high school and, afterward, attended culinary school before transferring to NC State.
Favorite plant to grow? Why?
This is such a hard question to answer as a garden center manager, but I must say I love planting and designing with annuals. There is something exciting about being able to change your landscape from season to season.
Videos
