The Designer
Jeremy A. Schmidt
Horticulturist. Garden designer. Writer. Speaker. Lifelong student of the natural world.
Jeremy A. Schmidt
Founder & Principal Designer
"The most compelling gardens are not built — they are revealed."
Jeremy A. Schmidt
As Founder and Principal Designer of HORTCO, Jeremy specializes in creating immersive, plant-driven landscapes that combine exceptional horticulture with artful stone composition. For nearly three decades, he has helped clients uncover the hidden potential within their landscapes, transforming overlooked spaces into thriving gardens rich with beauty, discovery, and ecological value.
Jeremy's career spans leadership roles at some of North America's most respected horticultural institutions. Most recently, he served as Director of Horticulture at Bellingrath Gardens & Home, where he provided strategic leadership across display horticulture, landscape maintenance, greenhouse production, display design, and retail nursery operations.
Prior to that, he spent fifteen years at Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, helping steward one of the continent's most significant living plant collections and contributing to plant breeding, botanical exploration, conservation, and collections development programs.
3M+
Pounds of natural stone personally placed
200T
Reclaimed concrete transformed into botanical display
30yrs
Of horticultural practice and plant exploration
Stone, Plants & Place
Known for his expertise in crevice gardens, rock gardens, botanical displays, and rare plant cultivation, Jeremy has personally stacked more than three million pounds of natural stone in pursuit of creating extraordinary growing conditions for plants.
His installations include the design and construction of one of the world's largest crevice gardens, transforming more than 200 tons of reclaimed concrete into a botanical display supporting thousands of plant taxa.
Through every installation, Jeremy remains guided by the conviction that great gardens become more themselves over time. By blending horticultural expertise, artistic vision, and a deep understanding of natural systems, he creates landscapes designed not only to flourish today, but to grow richer and more meaningful with each passing season.
Research & Education
Jeremy is an accomplished plant explorer, researcher, and educator. His work studying native Trillium populations throughout the eastern and midwestern United States has contributed to a deeper understanding of the genus and advanced conservation efforts.
He has authored more than twenty professional publications, spoken at national conferences and botanical institutions across the country, and shared his horticultural knowledge with hundreds of thousands of gardeners through articles, presentations, videos, and educational programs.
His contributions to the horticultural profession have been recognized with numerous honors, including the North American Rock Garden Society Award of Merit, the Geoffrey Charlesworth Writing Prize, and recognition among Greenhouse Product News' Top 40 Under 40.
Credentials & Background
Education
- B.S. Landscape Horticulture — Southern Illinois University
- A.S. Horticulture — Illinois Central College
- Advanced Curatorial & Research Training — Longwood Gardens
Career
- Director of Horticulture — Bellingrath Gardens & Home
- Fifteen years — Plant Delights Nursery & Juniper Level Botanic Garden
- Founder & Principal Designer — HORTCO
Recognition
- North American Rock Garden Society Award of Merit
- Geoffrey Charlesworth Writing Prize
- Greenhouse Product News Top 40 Under 40
Expertise
- Crevice & rock garden design and construction
- Rare plant cultivation and botanical collections
- Native Trillium research and conservation
- 20+ professional publications
Start a Conversation
Jeremy works with a select number of clients each year. If you believe your property has potential waiting to be revealed, we'd love to hear from you.