June Speaker - Garden design including: Potting information, soil preparation, landscape design basics, irrigation and maintenance by David Bassani.
In grade school David was criticized for daydreaming. As an adult he is paid to imagine gardens and to build them. Before gardening David taught school for six years, was Founders Liaison for the L.A. Philharmonic and worked as an insurance agent. His transition from insurance to being a landscape designer happened about 30 years ago. Suzanne, his wife, knew that he was being called on for landscape advice from homeowners and from real estate agents, etc. She asked him what he was waiting for and encouraged David to quit insurance and to design gardens. David took her good advice, ditched his white-collar job and pursued his true passion – horticulture and landscape design.
Within a month there was a dumb luck referral from a Landscape architect named Greg Toland. Greg liked his grooming work at a home in Calabasas that he had designed. He referred David to his third client. It was the Broad Beach Road House of the President of Disney. Fairly quickly other residents of Broad Beach Road became clients, their houses in town and the Four Oaks Cafe. David’s business has continued to grow and is based on referrals; he has never advertised. He is a Licensed Landscape Contractor #893386 who no longer writes contracts.
David has a great aesthetic eye and an extensive knowledge of all things botanical. These qualities are a big bonus for his clients, particularly those who know they want something beautiful but aren’t sure how to best achieve their vision. He has always had a fancy for many types of plants and very much appreciates the information available from local plant societies. He has joined many plant societies including rose, Bromelliad and Tsillandia, Cacti and Succulent, Iris, Rare Fruit Growers, Meconipsis, Hardy Orchids, Mushroom, etc. In the rose world he is the recipient of two Bronze Medals and a member of the International Rose Selection Panel based at Rose Hills directed by Dr. Tommy Cairns. Horticultural Judge, member American Rose Society Advisory Committee, Certified Master Rosarian. President of the Beverly Hills and San Fernando Valley Rose Societies, vice president of Ventura Co Rose Society. I’ve been lecturing for 28 plus years at garden clubs, various organizations, at many garden centers including Green Thumb, schools, libraries, women’s shelters, veterans’ groups, etc. In addition to running his Greenscapes business, David was asked to and became the Landscape Instructor at L.A.U.S.D. West Valley Occupational Center
