Dave Phelps

Dave has been in the landscape industry since the mid 80’s. With degrees in horticulture and landscape architecture and decades of experience as a landscape contractor, arborist, and landscape architect, Dave is known for solving landscape problems, complying with the California MWELO, AB 1572, creating Vegetation Management Plans, and promoting progenerative landscape practices. He enjoys helping others create awesome landscapes and become better gardeners through his designs and consultations as well as speaking and online courses and content.

Benjamin Hoover

Benjamin Hoover is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Nursery Production in the Plant Sciences Department at Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo). He has been at Cal Poly for 13 years. He holds a B.S. in Horticulture from Temple University and both an M.S. and a Ph.D. in horticulture from Penn State University. Prior to graduate study, he spent 10 years at Behmerwald (BAY-mur-wald) Nursery (Skippack, PA) producing landscape plants for wholesale and retail sales.

At Cal Poly, Ben teaches Plant Propagation, Plant Materials I and II, Horticultural Production Techniques, Experimental Techniques and Analysis, and Nursery Production. He coaches the Cal Poly National Collegiate Landscape Competition team and advises the Horticulture Club. Ben enjoys helping students at Cal Poly see the art and science of horticulture, as well as myriad exciting opportunities for innovation.

Ben is a horticulturist and plant nerd who is eternally curious. He loves being an educator and researcher because it gives him opportunities to learn something new every day. He is interested in plant selection, plant propagation, plant health, hiking, running, books, statistics, and baseball. Last but not least, he is blessed beyond measure by his family [wife: Pamela, sons: Dietrich (8-years old) and Martin (6-years old)].

Ed Laivo

Ed Laivo is a highly experienced horticulturalist with over 45 years in plant production, nursery management, sales, and marketing. He specializes in fruit trees and edible landscaping, focusing on techniques for small-space gardening and water conservation.

Laivo has been instrumental in introducing many popular fruit varieties, including stone fruits, figs, pomegranates, and blueberries, to home gardeners. He is also a well-known media personality, having appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, and contributed articles to many gardening periodicals, podcasts, and blogs. His notable works include producing the “Backyard Orchard Culture” paper for Dave Wilson Nursery and serving as a contributing editor for the “Sunset Garden Book” and the UC publication #3485, “The Home Orchard.”

He has also held key leadership positions, serving as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Dave Wilson Nursery, Four Winds Growers, and The Burchell Nursery. Today, Laivo divides his time as a consultant and lecturer for various horticultural businesses, Master Gardener groups, and universities. Although partially retired, he continues to share his expertise through video content on his “Ed’Able Solutions” social media pages found on You tube, Face Book, and Instagram.

Ron McCabe

Ron McCabe is the founder and president of Everbearing Services, bringing more than 25 years of experience supporting small business growth, including over 15 years focused specifically on the landscaping industry.

Ron is internationally recognized for his expertise in search engine optimization and has ranked among the top professionals in the global MOZ.com SEO community. He combines marketing insight with a background in engineering and technology to help businesses scale from small operations to multi-million- dollar companies. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, a published contributor to respected trade magazines, and holds 14 issued patents with 22 more pending. Ron has also helped several clients achieve successful exits and has maintained a client turnover rate below 7 percent since 2009.