Meet the People Behind the
Great Landscapes
Vermont Stone & Horticulture was founded in 2006 as Grass Gauchos, primarily as a landscape maintenance company. We have since grown into a full-service landscape design, installation, and maintenance company with a staff of up to 16 people during peak season, and a dozen year-round employees.
Awards and Certifications
Our workmanship has received numerous awards, but the satisfaction of our clients is the driving force behind everything we do.
2015 Honor Award from Vermont Nursery & Landscape Association (VNLA) for large scale residential build
2016 Merit Award from VNLA for Commercial Landscape Installation
2017 Merit Award from VNLA for Large Scale Residential Build
2017 Excellence Award from VNLA for Commercial Landscape Installation
2018 Best of Industry Award in Landscaping from Homebuilder's Association of Northern Vermont
Unilock Authorized Contractor
Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) Certification
National Concrete Management Association (NCMA) Certification
Meet our management team:
Josh Cohen, Owner (Pennsylvania)
Josh founded the company in 2007 while in college at the University of Vermont. He spent twelve years building it and the team behind him when he and his wife decided to relocate to Pittsburgh to be closer to her family in 2019. He runs the field production for the Pittsburgh team and continues to oversee the growth and stability of both offices.
Matt Hopewell, Senior Estimator & Project Manager
Matt has worked in the landscape industry for the past twenty years, and ten of these have been spent with Vermont Stone & Horticulture. Along with a degree in horticulture from the University of Vermont, he brings a wealth of knowledge about native plants and how to care for them.
Brian Shaffer - Landscape Architect and Project Manager
Brian brings over twenty years of landscape architecture experience to the table. He is a graduate of Penn State and was born and raised in Kittaning.he manages commercial projects for the Pennsylvania office and residential design. When not working he enjoys coaching his son's baseball team and playing in his band.
Karla Clithero-Estimator & Project Manager (Vermont)
Karla has been part of the Vermont Stone team for five years with close to ten years of industry experience. She has done everything from maintenance to stonework and now works overseeing our teams in the field.
Pat Toporowski, Landscape Designer
Pat brings over ten years of experience in the landscape design field to our team. He brings an unparalleled level of detail and customer service to every project he works on. An avid outdoorsman you will often find his bike parked next to his desk or his ski boots in the office depending on the season.
Ken Antonich, Landscape Maintenance Operations Manager
Ken Antonich brings close to a decade of experience in the Vermont landscape industry to the table. He works as our landscape maintenance operations manager overseeing day to day operations of the maintenance crews making sure they are providing the best possible service to our clients.
Todd Romanchek, Lead Installer
Todd has been with Vermont Stone & Horticulture for over ten years. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 2010 with a degree in horticulture and is a Vermont certified horticulturist. He is the head of our enhancement crew which completes a variety of landscape projects from spring mulch to plants and pruning. He resides in Waterbury with his wife and two dogs.
Daniel Bassett, Lead Installer
Daniel has been with the company since 2017. He earned a degree in landscape contracting from SUNY Cobbleskill in 2015 and since then has continued to hone his craft as a valued member of our team.