Landscaping for a Mouse

Jeff Bowen has worked for a number of landscape companies in his career. His list of employers includes his father, the well-respected Brickman Group and himself. But there are no doubts regarding his favorite employer ever
– Walt Disney World.

“It was the best job I ever had – an amazing experience,” he explained, the
enthusiasm still obvious in his voice, nearly 20 years after leaving Mickey
& Co.

Bowen ended up at Disney after his father died and he left the business. After leaving his home in Chicago for sunny Orlando in 1982, he became part
of a 100-person team focused on preparing the Epcot Center’s landscaping for its impending opening. New opportunities exposed him to many facets of Walt Disney’s creation, and all apparently measured up to his expectations.

“Everybody knows the name Disney, and everyone represents Disney’s trees,
bushes, grasses and landscaping as the best in the world,” Bowen explained.
“The expectations were the ultimate.”

Among those expectations was the idea that employees would truly understand
their work. “Disney made us all get Florida horticultural knowledge,” Bowen
pointed out. “There were no ifs, ands or buts about it, so I got an
education through an internal horticulture program that the company paid
for, and now I realize that was the best thing Disney could’ve done for me.”

After his work at Epcot, Bowen worked in different areas for the company as
well. “After Epcot, I got into horticultural training and went to Lake Buena
Vista (a Disney property) to train college graduates on how to do the things
that they were shown how to do but didn’t have the field experience for – pruning, fertilizing, planting and so forth,” he explained.

Bowen’s next stop was serving as project coordinator for all Florida
properties outside of the Orlando parks. “We had a beach house in Melbourne, property in Vero Beach, a bank, a KinderCare and so on,” he recalled. “I really didn’t understand what budgeting meant until I left Disney. If we needed to spend money, it was always there.”

Besides accumulating interesting stories – he can confirm the much-rumored
labyrinth of tunnels beneath the parks – Bowen also learned much while
working at Disney. “I learned about hiring for attitude and training for
aptitude,” he noted, adding that this was critical at a place where most
landscaping took place after the parks had closed at night. “Those are the
things that make it such an outstanding company, and I think it will be that
way forever.”

The author is Editor/Publisher of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at bwest@lawnandlandscape.com.