Tom’s Garden and Nursery started as a way for Tom Bry, in his landscape and garden design business, to sell his own plants to clients. Tom has an extensive self-learned horticultural background that spans the past 26 years. Tom is a self-described plant junkie, and he collects many varieties of shrubs, perennials, specialty, and rare plants.

Many in the Sandpoint area know Tom from his 16 years as a ski instructor and coach at Schweitzer Mountain Resort as well as from his successful landscape and garden design business. He also moonlights at All Season’s Nursery and Floral as a salesman.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Tom almost always had his hands in the dirt. His grandfather, William “Gramps” Kazokas, was a market gardener on the side, and nine-year-old Tom and his younger brother, Bill, would spend summer days weeding 200 foot rows of vegetables for a dime a row. His mother, Irene, was quite a gardener herself, providing fresh food from the garden for the table. Irene joins Tom and partner Joseph this year, keeping it all in the family, once again.

Tom’s landscape experience started in Springfield, Vermont at the age of 21. Being a ski teacher in winter, he needed something to do in the off-season. Teaching skiing with landscape architect and nursery owner Dick Stevens, Tom was invited onto a landscape crew for Skyline Nursery in the spring of 1987. He stayed with the firm for four years and enjoyed it immensely. In 1991, he moved west to teach skiing at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon. Tom started working at Cascade Gardens, a full service nursery that next spring. He became a landscape crew supervisor and was employed there for three years. He moved to Sandpoint, Idaho in the fall of 1994.

In his first spring in Sandpoint, Tom searched for a position with a landscape firm. Much to his dismay, no one needed a crew supervisor. He then decided to go out on his own as a professional gardener. His interest in plants, other than trees and shrubs, grew immensely as did his interest in garden design. As he learned, Tom gradually gave up being a professional gardener (much to the chagrin of his clients), and went into garden design and full installations of landscapes, hardscapes, and gardens. Tom operates this small business to this day. Tom is available for a full range of services: from initial and in depth consulting services, to full landscape and garden design and installation.

Tom and his partner Joseph live on 26 acres in Sagle, Idaho. Their many interests include animal husbandry, weight lifting, travel, growing and preserving the bounty that they grow, and all aspects of country living and self-sufficiency. They have two wonderful dogs, Ruby and May, and 20 very happy laying hens. Eggs are also available for sale.