Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/146141
landscaper of the year finalist Following in the Family Footsteps By Tina Grady Barbaccia W hen Eric Bruss went to college, his goal was to get as far away from the landscaping business as possible. Growing up surrounded by the industry, he wanted a break. "My family owned and ran a garden center," Bruss says. "It was seven days a week. When I wasn't at school, I was working there." Bruss, now owner of Wheaton, Illinois-based Bruss Landscaping, double majored in art and photography when he went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. However, after about a year following this course of study, he wasn't able to stay focused. Bruss wasn't doing so well in college, but in high school, he had been always been an excellent student, so he decided to make a change. "The first day of classes my sophomore year [in college], I had a change of heart," says Bruss, who now has the Association of Professional Landscape After trying to distance himself from the industry, a third-generation landscaper realizes he truly has a passion for plants – and finding that life-work balance. Designers (APLD) designation. "I walked into the Department of Horticulture and talked to the dean about coming into the program." The dean asked Bruss to take the program's exit exam to test his knowledge of the industry. "I didn't realize how much of an education I had from working in the family business," Bruss notes. "I basically aced my exam. I dropped my entire schedule and got enrolled in the horticulture/landscape track, and it was the right move." The CSU program was a five-year degree, but Bruss graduated in four and did exceptionally well. He had started a business in Fort Collins, Colorado, with another horticulture student and operated it a u g u s t 2013 TLC0813_LOY.indd 27 TotalLa nd s ca p e C a re . c o m 27 7/24/13 2:44 PM