Scott Douglas: Director of the Hahn Horticulture Garden

For almost 40 years, The Hahn Horticulture Garden has been a special spot on Virginia Tech’s campus, where students and staff alike can find reprieve from their busy lives to bask in the beauty of plants. 

The Hahn Garden would be lost without a director to help curate it, and Scott Douglas had been preparing for this for almost his whole life. He’s been a licensed landscape architect since 1999, but his interest started even earlier than that.

“My dad wanted to build a deck, so he and I did the design drawing for the deck…that got me really interested in building things. We also had a family friend who was a landscape architect and that seemed like the perfect blend of what I wanted to do.”

 Working at the Hahn Garden, Scott doesn’t often get much of a break. Even when the winter months are less busy, they’re often busy planning for the upcoming seasons. Those transitional times are some of his favorites.

“What do I love about plants? So, I think what's interesting is how they evolve over the years. So I like that transition from, you know, spring growth to the summer and then the fall.”

Scott takes a lot of pride in his work, and he loves getting to see people fully enjoy the Hahn Horticulture Garden. Even if students bring their homework and laptops to the Garden, Scott’s just happy they get to enjoy the outdoors. 

“At least they're outside and not cooped up inside. I think everybody needs to get outside and get some fresh air and just take in the green.”

A film by Joshua Wingard.

Produced by Kendahl Huber.