Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey Wilson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
They say that ‘ past is prologue’: our past directs our destiny. This rings true for me. Professionally, I spent the first thirty-seven years working in Manhattan as a cosmetic dentist. It was lucrative and very demanding work. I felt like I was wearing “golden handcuffs. ” The only way I was able to optimally perform was revisiting the days of my youth where I spent countless hours helping my dad build his incredible gardens. I spent 15 years in this form of garden therapy at my home in Bucks County, Pa before I discovered that “horticultural therapy” was a profession I could both study and share. I decided to leave dentistry, and become trained as a horticultural therapist. My lifelong training and practice of the science and art of dentistry paved the way for me to also train as a landscape designer. With these complementary certifications, I was invited to be part of a design team for creating a healing garden at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic and ultimately moved to Jacksonville . I am also a certified spiritual director in the Episcopal church and a forest therapy guide. The mission of my business, Trey Gardens, LLC, to design garden spaces, and plant-based activities to deepen our connection with Nature to improve well-being. I work in commercial, residential, and institutional settings. I work with doctors, architects, builders, nurses, business and homeowners alike. My life purpose and passion are aligned in ways that I could never have imagined.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My challenges have been largely self imposed.: giving oneself permission to professionally start over; returning to the classroom later in life; moving to a new city, and learning how to build a new business almost forty years later.
The challenge of finding the right buyer for my dental practice and working through that transition presented challenges; however, this was not as bewildering as the walls my strong sense of self protection created along the way!!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a landscape designer, forest therapy guide, and horticultural therapist. I design gardens and activities for people of all ages (3- 90 ) that deepen the connection to Nature. My work as a dentist and spiritual director allow me to listen very deeply to the needs and desires of my clients and design unique and personal garden spaces and programs tailored to each person, family, business, and community . I am known as both an artist and a scientist. I understand plants and people at the very granular to the collective levels. I am most proud of the diversity of both my clientele and garden spaces. My clientele include children, residents in memory care, Fortune 500 companies , and the young family who wants to grow their own food. Gardens I designs can be healing, pollinator, , native, rooftop, meditation, and Japanese gardens, to name but a few. What sets me apart from others is the role that faith plays in my work ethic; in being creative across multiple disciplines equips me to envision; and my conviction that life is best played as a team sport-I am a very thorough and effective collaborator, I also sow the seeds of healing through public speaking and have lectured and taught classes formally over thirty years.
How do you define success?
Success is living in the place where one’s purpose and passion most fruitfully intersect.
Pricing:
- Forest therapy : $50 per person /2-hour session
- Landscape design: on a per project basis
- Public speaking: $350 per session plus travel expenses
- Horticultural therapy: based on the number of sessions and cost of materials
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.treysgardens.com
- Instagram: @treygardens
- Facebook: @treygardens
- LinkedIn: Trey Wilson, HT
- Youtube: @ TreyGardens
