Ruskin Gardens has been designing and managing award-winning gardens up and down the Peninsula for over 40 years. We are trusted by some of the most respected landscape architects and designers in the area to uphold their aesthetic vision as the garden matures over time. We provide our clients horticulturally informed feedback about what is working and what can be improved, always with an eye for the original design intent.
Amy Palmer, CEO
Amy joined her mother in the family business as a landscape design apprentice in 2000. She started the maintenance side of the business in 2001 after seeing so many of her mother's gardens falling apart from a lack of care. Amy is a licensed landscape contractor, certified irrigation manager, has a BS in Physics, and is fluent in Spanish. Her background in systems and software development gives the business a technical edge.
Donna Driscoll, Chief of Staff
Donna studied horticulture as a passionate side hustle while simultaneously achieving excellence in her high tech career. Her business skills elevate our strategy and teamwork. And her passion in horticulture has resulted in broad knowledge with soil microbiology, edible gardening, pest and disease control, and more. She is a Master Gardener and volunteer in their organization.
Shirin Cooper, Arborist
Shirin is an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Aesthetic Pruner®. She has a passion for pruning to enhance structure and show off natural beauty of the tree or plant. She has been leading and directing aesthetic pruning in our gardens for almost a decade whether the work is done by our crews or the client's arborist. She brings a rigor of the latest science and an eye for beauty.
Will Callen, Irrigation Manager
Will plays a fundamental role of managing how water is used in our gardens. With over a decade of irrigation management experience in many different contexts he has a vast knowledge of irrigation technology and tools. He has studied irrigation design, permaculture, and is a Certified Irrigation Technician.
Shannon Harris, Farm to Table Specialist
Shannon's roots were established in permaculture having worked and studied for many years in both the US and abroad in Costa Rica. He has a deep personal commitment to growing food and managing landscapes sustainably. In addition to growing food for our clients, he is our Plant Health Care Specialist tasked with Integrated Pest Management in our gardens.
Daniel Torres, Quality Manager
Daniel is instrumental in maintaining the quality of all the work we do in our gardens. His role is sometimes behind the scenes training and supervising the many operational processes we follow. Other times his role is managing his project crew in the field. He stewards what we call, the Ruskin Way.
Rene Hernandez, Senior Maintenance Manager
Rene is responsible for training our Maintenance Supervisors in the Ruskin Way. We believe the learning is an infinite game. There are many different ways to garden. Our practices have been customized to the specific context that we work in here in Silicon Valley. We teach and learn our methods of gardening in an apprenticeship model working side by side.
Debby Ruskin, In Memoriam
Debby Ruskin started Ruskin Gardens Co. in the 1970s as a young mother. She has designed hundreds of gardens in Silicon Valley and is beloved by clients and colleagues. She completed a certificate in Landscape Architecture at UC Berkeley and Ornamental Horticulture at Foothill College in 1992. She served on the region and national boards of the APLD for many years. Debby got her angel wings in 2020 but we feel her presence with us everyday.
Our Crew
We are so grateful to this hardworking and dedicated group of people! Us, as of 2019...