Learn more about our well-rounded team and their interests (other than their passion for creating biodiverse native landscaping).
Operations
Sheldon Galloway, Owner & Head of Operations
Sheldon learned about the importance of environmentally friendly practices at a young age from his father, who was a soil conservationist—he likes to joke that he could recognize four different types of lawn grasses by the time he was three years old! As he grew up, he quickly saw the value in adding native plants back to the landscape. After studying Landscape Design at Purdue University, he entered the landscaping industry and began a career as one of the first landscape installers in the area to emphasize the use of native plants in residential landscapes. He has now run a successful landscape company specializing in the use of native plants and natural materials for over 30 years.
Favorite Design Elements:
“Every project and every garden needs water, whether as a stream, a pond, a bubbling boulder, or another type of water feature. Water brings life into a garden.”
Favorite Part of the Job:
Sheldon loves seeing the transformation in projects from what was to “what can be,” especially when clients are as wowed by the transformation as he is. He considers himself an artist, creating living art that grows to meet his vision—the challenge is that, as living art, his work can also die. He has an appreciation for the ephemeral nature of artful landscaping and how it grows and changes over time.
Fun Fact:
Sheldon spends his free time restoring his historic 1901 Queen Anne-style home in downtown Durham. He also keeps saltwater reef tanks and enjoys watching how these tiny ecosystems constantly evolve.
Cassandra Bridges, Operations Assistant
Cassandra has a degree in Environmental Studies from UNC Chapel Hill. She has worked in various aspects of the native plant industry for the last eight years and has experience in shoreline stabilization research, landscaping, fine gardening, propagation, seed collection, and environmental education. At Garden Environments, she handles most of the day-to-day communication with new and prospective clients before they start working with a designer.
Favorite Part of the Job:
“I love being able to watch the design and installation process unfold from start to finish. As an administrative member of the team, I get to see each of our designers at work, and I’m constantly impressed by everyone’s creativity and talent. It’s also a lot of fun to do follow-up site visits for clients and see how their landscapes look years after installation. Sometimes you don’t get to see the final product until plants have had several years to grow in and get established, and I love comparing before and after photos of our clients’ sites.”
Fun Fact:
Outside of work, Cassandra spends her time training birds of prey! She helps run a local non-profit that cares for hawks, falcons, owls, and other raptors, and she presents educational programs for the community to teach people about these amazing birds.
Design Team
Aurora Cloutier, Landscape Designer
Aurora grew up on an organic farm outside Asheville, where she learned about plant care and propagation. After studying herbalism for several years, she changed direction and began working at local plant nurseries—first as a broker and then as a designer. During this time, she also worked independently as a fine gardener and gained experience in structural pruning, maintenance, landscape design, and plant needs and preferences. She always had an affinity for native plants, and as she transitioned to a full-time career in landscape design, she continued to pursue opportunities that focused on environmental restoration and creating native habitat in residential areas.
Favorite Design Elements:
Aurora loves incorporating stone into the landscape in the form of crevice gardens and xeriscaping. She also enjoys projects where she can play around with different textures and add as much plant diversity as possible. She wants to do more bog gardens with carnivorous plants!
Favorite Part of the Job:
“I really like being able to connect people with nature on a deeper level. Getting clients excited about their properties again and giving them a new way to enjoy where they live is so fulfilling.”
Fun Fact:
During her years living in Asheville, Aurora ran a non-profit organization that gentled BLM mustangs and burros and then found homes for them. She currently has two mustangs of her own who live very spoiled lives.
Emily Byrd, Landscape Designer
Emily Byrd is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and Bastyr University in Washington State, where she studied Holistic Landscape Design and Permaculture Design under Dave Boehnlein and Caitlin Gilson. She has experience working for nurseries, permaculture-based communities, hydroponic farms, and food access nonprofits. Prior to working with plants, she designed strategic communications for startups and thinktanks working on food system reform. She is passionate about marrying artful aesthetics with soil-friendly design and growing positive change from the ground up.
Favorite Design Elements:
Emily loves projects that feature edible or medicinal plants in the landscape. She also has a lot of fun installing pocket Piedmont prairies and working with native grasses.
Favorite Part of the Job:
“That initial meeting with a client—when you get the first glimpse of their vision for their space and can start growing that into something real—is really special.”
Fun Fact:
Emily studied yoga and meditation in Kerala, India, and is always planning her next silent retreat.
Locke Rosser, Landscape Designer
Locke has a degree in Landscape Design from NC State University, where he specialized in Garden and Urban Environments. He has worked at the JC Raulston Arboretum and at Juniper Level Botanic Garden, and he also spent six months interning at the Babylonstoren Historic Garden in South Africa. His interest in native plants began during his sophomore year of college, where he studied local flora growing around Raleigh. He began going on walks around town to practice plant identification and quickly fell in love with North Carolina’s rich natural diversity.
Favorite Design Elements:
Locke enjoys projects that incorporate natural stone, and he loves converting ditches and swales into dry creek beds. He also likes adding meadows to residential landscapes, and he likes the challenge of jobs that involve tight spaces or “nooks and crannies.”
Favorite Part of the Job:
“Placing perennials and boulders to evoke natural environments observed throughout North Carolina and beyond. Seeing the amazing stonework our teams install and the variety of landscapes in this area, and seeing projects come together.”
Fun Fact:
Locke loves to travel and see gardens and natural areas in other parts of the world. He has taken botanizing trips to China and South Africa, and he can’t wait to add to this list. He also loves to build sand castles!
Logan Clark, Landscape Designer & Plant Check-In Coordinator
Logan has a BS & Masters in Ecology & Environmental Science; his research focused on population genetics and natural communities. He has done horticultural research for Oregon State and plant pathology work for the USDA. He has also worked in a managerial capacity at Juniper Level Botanic Garden. He’s loved native plants “from the beginning” of his career, when he began working on research projects centering around native plant communities in college. In his free time, he also volunteers with habitat monitoring and plant surveys with local organizations.
Favorite Design Elements:
Logan enjoys designing naturalistic bog gardens and installing Piedmont prairies in place of monoculture lawns. He also hopes to work on more rock gardens and install projects with more of a focus on xeriscaping, creating planting areas that can handle drought and our hot North Carolina summers.
Favorite Part of the Job:
“Bringing a piece of nature into people’s backyards! I enjoy being able to increase habitat connectivity through residential habitat gardening and being able to educate folks on why we do what we do. North Carolina has so many cool native plants that get overlooked or that people don’t know about—why would we need to use exotics/non-natives?”
Fun Fact:
Logan is in a local band and has played instruments including the guitar and drums since he was a kid. He says he’ll do anything other than sing!