Gasper Landscape Design & construction Staff

We at Gasper Landscape Design & Construction are extremely proud to attract and retain some of the best people in the landscaping business. Talented, experienced and hand picked, our staff is committed to the highest standards of excellence for all landscape, design and installation projects, from our first consultation to the continued maintenance of your completed design.

Our dedicated staff represents a broad spectrum of talent and training, with the shared goal of creating beautifully innovative, one-of-a-kind solutions that meet every client’s dreams and desires.

Robert Gasper is president and founder of Gasper Landscape Design & Construction and Gasper Home and Garden Showplace. His professional experience spans several different careers, from working in the airline industry to managing the family delicatessen business. His break into the field of landscape design and architecture began when he first started helping friends spruce up their homes and gardens on weekends. Bob saw this as an opportunity to combine his love of the outdoors and growing things with his love and acumen for business.

It is Bob’s entrepreneurial vision which has guided the company through more than 20 years of growth, evolving from a one-man operation to a full service landscape design and build firm, as well as a state of the art retail garden center in Bucks County. Bob works closely with members of the Gasper team and takes an interest in every project bearing the company name.

Michael Mauri has been with Gasper Landscape Design & Construction since its inception. Originally a project foreman, Michael’s strong background and proven experience in every aspect of project construction and management led to his appointment as vice president in charge of operations. Michael coordinates the task-specific daily assignment of Gasper’s 12 planting, irrigation and drainage, construction, and hardscaping crews. He also manages all project construction related materials inventories and is the chairman of Gasper’s Safety Committee. Michael holds numerous certificates from both industry affiliates and Rutgers University in landscape lighting, irrigation and plant material identification.

Jeff Karr is the vice president in charge of construction at Gasper, and has been with the company since 1996. In the course of his tenure, Jeff has gained hands-on experience in all aspects of landscape construction. This experience has served our company well in Jeff’s ability to train our construction crews and oversee all phases of project construction.

Most recently, Jeff has acted as the general contractor for the construction of Gasper’s new office and retail facility in Bucks County, PA, which entailed the coordination of numerous subcontractors as well as Gasper’s own masonry and construction crews through all phases of construction.

Jeff’s background includes a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from Ursinus College. He also has his state certified pesticide applicator’s license and is qualified as an I.C.P.I. installer. Outside of Gasper, Jeff volunteers on the Occupational Advisory Board at Bucks County Technical School.

Mary Bowe has been a member of Gasper’s in-house design team since 1996. Her love of garden design stems from her experiences playing in the victory gardens of her great-grandfather and grandparents. (She insisted that she was actually “helping” when she picked every single flower to be found on several different occasions.)

Her practical training as a designer includes bachelor’s degrees in both Fine Arts and Landscape Architecture. She received her B.S.L.A., cum laude, from Temple University in August of 1992. In September of 1992, she became an instructor at Temple’s Department of Landscape Architecture, and taught classes in Land Planning, Graphic Communication and Landscape Design for seven years. Mary truly believes that she has the best job in the whole world.

Thaddeus Brown has been with Gasper since 1997 as an in-house conceptual designer and planting planner. Before becoming the driving force behind the company’s move from hand-drawn work to CAD system drawings, Thaddeus was a former design department manager for eight years.

His responsibilities include the review and control of all design work produced by Gasper, project presentations, site management and client development. Most recently, Thaddeus has been involved in CAD 3D modeling of proposed design work to assist clients in visualizing their projects. Thaddeus is a summa cum laude graduate from Temple University with an associate’s degree in Landscape Design and Horticulture. Prior to joining Gasper, Thaddeus was the assistant director of Horticulture at the Andalusia Foundation and Arboretum.

His current passion outside of the office is collecting and breeding hybrid daylilies.

James Contento, a member of the Gasper design and sales team since 2001, serves as a valuable asset to the company, both as a designer and a project manager. James has been working in the landscape industry since 1979 and has five award-winning Philadelphia Flower Show exhibits to his credit. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture in 1982. James has volunteered his time to the Pennsylvania Nurserymen’s Association by serving on their trade show committee and helping to develop the grounds for their headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Jim Folz comes to the Gasper’s Landscape design and sales team with over 10 years of hands-on field experience as one of Gasper’s top foremen. His construction background has translated into strong project management skills from the beginning design process through all phases of project implementation. Jim has augmented his construction skills with ongoing coursework at Rutgers University in residential landscape design. He is a member of Gasper’s Safety Committee and has earned numerous certificates in hardscape construction, lighting and irrigation installation.

Peter Haring joined the Gasper sales and design team in 1996 where he was instrumental in the development of estimating procedures and construction practices. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan. Peter’s strong planting design skills and love of the “New American Garden” style have richly influenced many of Gasper’s finest projects.

Nick Lupinacci has been a member of the Gasper sales and design team since 2003. A devotee of naturalistic garden design, Nick is constantly engaged in the development of both his home garden and his planting design ideas. Challenged by the limited space offered by his townhome, Nick is often reinventing both his patio and the surrounding garden. He is always experimenting with ideas for combining native plants with the daylilies he is constantly collecting and hybridizing.

Nick is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and earned a bachelor’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture. With more than eight years of professional experience Nick has been instrumental in the development and integration of Gasper’s 3D presentation software.

Eric McQuiston manages the in-house design team at Gasper. Eric received his bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University after his service in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is involved in many aspects of the company’s growth and development, contributing his expertise on a daily basis. Eric has experience and training in all aspects of landscape design and installation, including the design, construction, administration and management of projects. He is a certified Master Gardener and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

John Schweizer is the senior sales designer at Gasper Landscape Design & Construction and has been with the company since 1996. While attending Bloomsburg University as a biology major, John’s “summer job” quickly became his newfound career. After graduation, John began working full time in the landscape industry and has accumulated 10 years of professional experience as a landscape construction foreman.

This hands-on experience in all areas of design and construction has served John well in his ability to communicate complex design solutions to his clients, as well as helped him oversee the project management of many of Gasper’s largest installations. John has been the project manager for several of Gasper’s P.L.N.A. award-winning projects and cares for every project, large or small, as though it were for his own home.

John’s time outside the office revolves around his wife and four children, either relaxing at home and working in his ever-evolving garden, or attending any number of sporting events, concerts, and dance recitals in which his children are engaged.

Donna Shumpert, who has been with Gasper since the spring of 2003, is one of the newest members of our team. Her bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture has given her an excellent background for her profession, but it is Donna’s strong organizational skills and dedication to customer service which makes her such an asset to Gasper. Her job as assistant to Gasper’s senior sales designer requires her to manage the details on numerous current job sites, from plant selection to permits, coordinated and on-time so that projects run smoothly and clients are kept informed and happy through every phase of their project.

In addition to her bachelor’s degree, Donna has completed coursework in landscape design at Johnson County Community College in Lawrence, Kansas.

When not working in the office or on a project site, Donna can typically be found working on the garden renovations of her new home with her two golden retrievers, Scotch and Schoshie. Although she has not achieved success in teaching her canine gardening companions to weed effectively, Donna reports that they are incredibly good at digging.