Faces of Steamboat: Green Scenes

BlogGreen Scenes 2

Meet the incredible team behind the beautiful landscaping at The Porches…

Take a brief stroll through The Porches 16-acre neighborhood and it’s apparent that a lot of hard work and dedication goes into maintaining our beautiful landscaping. We owe all of our property’s beauty to the passion and dedication of the team at Green Scenes.

We caught up with Char, co-owner of Green Scenes, about her love for Steamboat and what you should be planting right now.

Tell us about yourself…

I grew up in Calumet City, IL a suburb on the south side of Chicago, home of the Blues Brothers. I went on to graduate from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Biology, and worked as a bartender both during and after college.

In 1990, I moved to Boulder, having never been there, to live with my best friend from college.

Once there, I interviewed for a job with the City of Boulder at Flatiron’s Golf Course planting flowers and working with the grounds crew. I enjoyed the work so much; I decided to attend Colorado State University and earned a major in Landscape Horticulture/Turf Management.

In the fall of 1990, my boss from Flatiron’s Golf Course introduced me to his friend from middle school, Pat. Fast forward to 1996, Pat and I get married and have our first child Maggie, then 3 years later we had our son Payton. 

Maggie is 23 and lives in San Diego.  She works as an event coordinator for music festivals and recently obtained her yoga teaching certification from The Yoga Barn in Bali, Indonesia. 

Payton is 20 and is finishing up his sophomore year as an architectural engineering major at University of Colorado Boulder. 

How did you end up in Steamboat?

We put our house on the market in Broomfield and moved to Steamboat in June of 2001 because we love skiing, hiking, and wanted to raise our kids in the mountains. Pat is a contractor and built our first house in Silver Spur. We sold that and bought a fixer upper in town which we have been working on for 15 years. 

Favorite activities and hobbies:

I love back country skiing, mountain biking, and traveling. In the winter I work at Yampa Valley Regional Airport for United Ground Express for the flight benefits.

We also enjoy walking down to Friday happy hours, then walking home and attending the free summer concert series. I love the tight knit community that is Steamboat.

Tell us about your business:

My friend Lori introduced me to Jeremy Anstine. He had started Green Scenes (originally called Catamount Services) on his own a few years prior to me coming on board. He had the vision of providing full service commercial landscape maintenance to the Yampa Valley. Jeremy’s crew would take care of all things turf and my crew would maintain flowers, trees and shrubs.  I worked as an employee for the first few years then we both bought out his original partner and the rest is history. We have slowly built the business from 6 employees to over 25. Our employees are family; we credit our success to their hard work and loyalty.

Helpful tips:

When do you recommend planting in the Yampa Valley?

It depends, if you want to take advantage of spring rain/snow. I recommend you plant trees/shrubs and perennials in mid to late April if the weather allows.

We don’t plant annuals like petunias, zinnias, impatiens until after June 10th though even that can be risky, last year we had snow on June 20th.

Make sure you watch the weather forecast. Cover your tender annuals with a bed sheet or light plastic if there is a freeze watch in effect or just bring them inside if possible.

What types of trees, plants, and flowers thrive in this climate?

Most everyone loves Blue Spruce, Aspens and Spring Snow Crabapples. I like to introduce some variety when given the opportunity like Bristlecone Pine or Crimson Maple.

I prefer to plant low water use perennials that can be separated in the fall… 

Echinacea- purple coneflower

Salvia- Blue queen

Coreopsis

Creeping Phlox

I also love planting bulbs in the fall like daffodils, allium and tulips. Be careful about where you plant tulips, the voles love them.  It’s like an all you can eat smorgasbord to them.  Daffodil bulbs are toxic to voles, they won’t touch them, so you are guaranteed to see them blooming early spring.

For more information on Green Scenes services please contact them via phone (970) 870-1450.