Visiting Best Friends Everything you need
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your visit (hours, directions,
where to stay)
James Quinby, Landscape/Greenhouse Manager
James Quinby is the landscape/greenhouse manager at Best Friends. He and his staff are involved in all aspects of landscape design, construction, and maintenance at various developed sites around the sanctuary. They are in the process of building a new greenhouse for landscape use, and already have a larger greenhouse where they grow fruits and vegetables for in-house use. They emphasize environmentally sound and animal-friendly agricultural practices in everything they do.
James graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, with a degree in ornamental horticulture, then worked for a landscape contractor and a property management company before being hired as the horticulturist for the City of Reno Parks Department in Reno, Nevada. He spent 20 years in that position pursuing the more technical horticultural activities of the municipality. Specifically, he maintained a nationally accredited rose garden containing over 3,000 rose plants, and grew over 50,000 annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs for use in parks and around public properties all over town.
He retired from that job in 2003, and started his own business importing and exporting gem stones and indigenous arts and crafts from Guatemala, Thailand, and anywhere else that he felt like going. James says it was a great adventure, but the traveling became tedious, and he decided to return to his roots, so to speak.
James lives in Kanab with his wife, children, and dogs. His new home has a cattery, so he will be adding cats to the mix soon.
