About C. Darren Butler: GardenZeus™ Divine Gardening
In this post I’ll offer a professional biography and describe some of my qualifications.
I am a Consulting Arborist, Ecological Landscape Designer, Greywater & Irrigation Designer and Consultant, Landscape & Garden Consultant, Permaculturist, Speaker, and Teacher. I started gardening at age five, working summer landscaping jobs and in orchards as a pre-teen and teen, and as of 2014 I have 27 years of diverse adult experience working with plants, trees, gardens, and landscapes.
I have appeared on international television for a large audience, NPR radio, local television, and in many other media as an expert, and have worked as a testifying arborist expert witness. I maintain many landscape- and plant-related certifications and licenses including ISA Certified Arborist, University of California Master Gardener, Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor, Permaculture Design Certificate, and ISA Certified Tree Risk Assessor.
I have been a frequent presenter at conferences and symposia, and been keynote, plenary, featured, or main-stage speaker at many major events, including 2010 through 2012 California Homeschool Network Annual Conference and Expo, 2011 Southern California Permaculture Convergence, 2010 Huntington Botanic Garden Symposium on Urban Agriculture, 2009 City of Riverside’s Earth Day Festival put on by Habitat for Humanity, and 2009 Long Beach Green Festival, and have been a speaker at dozens of major conferences and events, including the 2008 and 2011 California Statewide Master Gardener Conferences, and the 2010 American Horticultural Society’s Youth and Children Gardening Symposium.
Since 2005 I have offered dozens of workshops, courses, presentations, and retreats to thousands of students and attendees on topics related to gardening, landscape design and management, urban agriculture, trees, irrigation, permaculture, sustainability, horticulture, and more. I have guest-taught or presented in a wide variety of venues such as botanic gardens, university and professional symposia, festivals, water district offices, churches, and community centers.
I have taught Designing Sustainable Landscapes and Diagnosing Plant and Tree Problems for the UCCE LA County Master Gardener Training Program for eight years, and volunteered as a University of California Master Gardener since 2005. From 2007 to 2009 I served on statewide Advisory and Steering Committees for all University of California Master Gardener programs through the statewide MG offices at UC Davis, which influenced the outreach efforts of thousands of California Master Gardeners and more than 100,000 California residents they serve every year.
From 2011 to 2013 I taught two runs of a major, 48-hour train-the-trainer course at the Huntington Botanic Garden on cutting-edge urban agricultural methods called “Urban Ecosystem Agriculture.” From 2010 to 2013, I worked as garden manager and teacher for an at-risk kids’ gardening program at A Place Called Home in South Los Angeles. In 2010 I blogged at KPCC radio’s Facebook community, The Freeway. In 2008 I was a core teacher for a permaculture design course (PDC) with Graham Burnett, Scott Horton, and William Faith. In 2007 and 2008 I developed curriculum for and taught certification programs in Sustainable Biointensive Gardening and Edible Landscaping. Since 2008 I have offered mentorship and apprenticeship programs in arboriculture, landscape design, and other topics to many adult apprentices.
I have worked as a consultant and designer for a variety of clients from celebrities to nonprofit organizations to everyday citizens, and since 2005 volunteered thousands of hours primarily to educate, promote sustainable practices, support programs that help people grow and eat nutritious food, serve at-risk children and youth, and to serve others in discovering meaningful and joyful experience through connections with plants, trees, soil, and gardens.
In my next post I’ll announce the carrotbolt™ logo for GardenZeus, after which I’ll share more about my history and who I am apart from my professional background and qualifications.