In 1987 Beth and Freddie Smith took their love of gardening to the streets of New Orleans. They started a lawn and garden maintenance company and quickly moved into landscape planning and installation. In 1993, GardenSmith outgrew its first location and bought a building with enough space to house the growing operation. The location offered an opportunity to enter the retail business. A full time service technician, Joseph Breaux, was added to the staff. GardenSmith could now service their own equipment as well as that of retail customers. GardenSmith now carries many lines of lawn and garden equipment and parts.
The most recent addition to the business is the nursery, close to Beth's heart, where old roses, perennials, herbs, and heirloom plants are propagated and sold. Karin Barnum joined the staff to manage the greenhouses and "make babies" from many unusual passalong plants.
Elizabeth M. Smith—President
Beth loves plants, especially her old roses and other unique plants; in fact, it's sometimes hard for her to part with her favorites. About the only thing she likes more than plants is her family, mainly her four grandchildren.
Frederick L. Smith—Project Coordinator
Freddie is in charge of organizing and completing special projects and doing all other necessary things around the shop. He oversees the general operation and special landscape projects.
Joseph P. Breaux—Service Manager
Joe has been with us since we opened and has taken care of all our equipment and that of our customers ever since. He has attended every school and class offered to be certified to deal with all different makes of engines and equipment. We especially appreciate his sense of humor—maybe even more than his mechanical abilities!
Karin Barnum—Greenhouse Manager
Karin is an accomplished propagator from seed, cutting, division, you name it. She takes in all sorts of plants from eager-to-share customers and they flourish. She came to us from Germany by marrying a local man. Thank you, Kyle.
Michael Patrick O'Connor—Landscape Division Manager
Michael came to us this fall to take over our landscape department. He has his master's degree in landscape architecture and is a licensed horticulturist, arborist, landscape contractor and pesticide applicator. Most important to us is his love of plants—especially our kind! What a great addition to our staff!
Stewart Hughes—Vice President
Beth's son handles all the money matters for the shop—thank goodness! He excels in sales and we often call on him to wheel and deal with or for customers. Somehow he can always smooth the way—whether a financing arrangement for a large commercial sale or just finding a part for a desperate customer. He's also our in house computer expert.
