About Our Owner
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The owner of Custom Landscapes Inc., David McLaughlin is the Horticulture Professor and Agriculture/Horticulture Program Director at Richland Community College, President of Custom Landscapes Inc. and owner of Prairescape Farms.He traces the true beginning of his career back to age thirteen, when he contracted to mow a neighbor’s field. That assignment was just the start of a life-long devotion to agriculture and the outdoors. He worked in all phases of agriculture while studying for an Associate’s degree in Landscaping, a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Education and Plant & Soil Science and a Master’s degree in Agriculture Education.
As a Park Ranger for twelve years, he lived in and managed a Boy Scout Camp. He has owned and operated custom Landscapes Inc. in Decatur for 13 years, Danville for 16 years and taught high school agriculture/horticulture in the Danville area for 16 years. He taught welding, electricity, plumbing, agriculture, mechanics, animals, crops, soils, gardening, landscaping, turf, greenhouse, construction and conservation.
During his nearly thirteen year tenure at Richland he has designed and installed an outdoor classroom for research, demonstration and crop production called the Richland Student Farms. He also designed the Sustainable Agriculture curriculum that was added in 2011 and the Saturday Produce Market that was implemented in 2012.
