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atrick has possessed a mad zeal for growing things ever since he was a wee lad growing up in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

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The pastoral suburb of Trumbull, where he was raised, provided the ideal setting for cultivating such interests, as well as a constellation of others.

Patrick's first experiments in horticulture took place on the ample grounds surrounding his family's home, and the lean-to style greenhouse adjoined to it played host to year-round cultivation activities. It also lent itself to the expansion of his menagerie of plants both indoors and out, and the beginnings of his plantgeek wisdom.                                                                                  While his peers plotzed over porn publications pilfered from parents, Patrick was pining over a page in a Park's Seed Catalogue which presented a preview of perennial plants proffered in their spring pipeline.

After graduating with a BA in Theater from Bard College in upstate New York, Patrick relocated to San Francisco, California. Not long after arriving there, however, he found himself even farther afield—teaching English in Brazil! With its dazzling tropical flora, biomorphic architecture, and stunning landscaping displays, it was perhaps here that the seeds of inspiration were planted. It would be some time, however, before they germinated.

 

A year later, Patrick returned to San Francisco from this great adventure, and spent his 20s exploring many occupational and avocational interests. Ongoing pursuits included directing and performing roles in various theater collectives and national touring ensembles, as well as work utilizing his visual and editorial talents. These included positions such as copy chief for The Sun Reporter newspaper and advertising sales manager for Odyssey Magazine.

 

In 1998 during the dot-com boom, which forced many of San Francisco's much-celebrated Bohemian set out due to a sharp rise in the cost of living, Patrick relocated to Los Angeles, where he would spend the next 25 years carving out a long-sought career in landscape design.

 

He received his boot camp training selling nursery stock for a perennial grower at various farmers markets, and later, a wholesale route to LA's nurseries and garden centers.  These led to small design and installation projects, and in time, he had developed a clientele and word-of-mouth reputation which were auspicious of solo flight. 

 

And so, in 2000, he began a design-build sole proprietorship called Zone Ten, which included high-end interior plant maintenance, orchid and living wall design, and fine gardening  services. Later he would accept a corporate position with a major building materials manufacturer in the green roof industry during which he also pursued accreditation in landscape architecture at UCLA Extension.

Returning to landscape design in 2011, he has since applied his craft to a wide variety of projects. Early on, he received top-notch tutelage in his work under celebrated Los Angeles designers Eva Knoppel and Ketti Kupper. In addition to project work with individual businesses, municipalities and homeowners, he has collaborated in various capacities with lndscape contractors, real estate developers and builders, including HALCO, DHA and Peterberg Construction. 

 

Patrick has practiced design in both Southern California and Southeastern Florida. He currently resides in Houston, Texas.

© 2025 by PATRICK JOHN O'CONNOR. All rights reserved. All content is original, or duly licensed for use herein. Visual and editorial content, including animations, project imagery, and project graphic exhibits (i.e., architectural drawings, three-dimensional models, hand-renderings, plans & other works of design) are presented as original samples/specimens created by the author and presented herein as a means of demonstrating general technical skill, occupational experience, and the various forms, styles, and contexts in which these are applied in actual commissioned work.

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