Bring life to your land.
I'm Cam. I design native, edible, and tropical landscapes across Jupiter, the Palm Beaches, Stuart, and the Treasure Coast. All built the Florida-Friendly way. Here's the story behind the name, and how I got here.
Why Longleaf?
The longleaf pine was once the tree of the Southeast. Texas to the Carolinas, over 100 feet tall, vast pine savannas as far as anyone could ride. Early America logged it to the brink. By the time people realized what was happening, maybe 5% was left.
Losing it changed the ecology of the whole region. The landscape here today looks nothing like it did 150 years ago. I named my company after the longleaf as a reminder of what's at stake when we stop stewarding native land.
Honest caveat: longleaf pines don't natively grow this far south. Their range stops up around Central Florida. I've planted a few down here and they've done fine, but they're not really a Treasure Coast native. I still love the name. When I first moved to Florida from New Jersey, I lived on Longleaf Pine Drive in Jupiter. So the name found me twice.
The "Design" half matters just as much. Thoughtful, good design is how you get landscapes that last the longest. Native or not.
"The longleaf pine was almost logged out of existence. And losing it changed the whole ecology of the Southeast. I named my company after it as a reminder of what's at stake. I'm trying to save native Florida, one garden at a time. While making really cool gardens along the way."
How I got here
~14 years ago
Moved to Florida from New Jersey. Started by designing my mom's yard, then a few neighbors', and fell in love with watching things grow in this climate.
A.A. Horticulture
Palm Beach State College. The foundation.
Trained under an ISA Certified Arborist
Learned tree health and proper pruning from the ground up. That's also where my love of native plants really took root.
B.S. Plant Science, University of Florida
Plant science with a focus on garden design & management: soils, ecology, environmental science, native plants, Florida-Friendly practices, propagation. Plus residential landscape-architecture coursework. I chose plants over blueprints. The LA track barely taught plants or Florida soils, and that felt backwards to me.
Two years as designer & project manager
Under a landscape architect, running residential projects start to finish.
Time inside the conventional world
I've worked inside the conventional landscape world. The golf courses, the big spray-everything companies. And I walked away knowing exactly what I didn't want to build.
3.5 years running Longleaf Design
Landscape Designer · Plant Scientist · Native Plant Specialist. Almost every client I've ever worked with still calls me back. That's the proof I care about.
What's coming next
A working farm, a native and edible nursery, and a public demonstration garden with labeled plantings you can walk through and learn from. Details to follow.
Tell me about your yard.
Book a consultation and we'll walk your property together. Let's see what it could become.