Born Jennifer Ann Schwind in Hawthorne, California, Ann was the youngest of six children. Her love for nature was nurtured by a family that hiked, camped and gardened together. As a child, Ann spent much of her play time with her older brother Ed, where most of their toys were things found in nature.
Her father, Nick, spent hours in his flower and vegetable garden and paid Ann and Ed a penny a caterpillar to assist him in his pest control. Upon collection, he would flush them down the toilet. Ann enjoyed the time spent with her mom, Nina, while they sat in the front yard pulling out dandelion weeds with a screwdriver.
It didn’t take long before Ann knew her passion was nature and she pursued a career in horticulture. Ann received a certificate in Horticulture from El Camino College in Torrance, CA and a certificate from the professional course in horticuture at the University of California Cooperative Extension. While actively enrolled in her classes she completed a one year internship at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes Estates in 1984.
Ann began her current business, Garden Magic Company, in Spring of 1985.
In her first year of business, she experimented with pesticides such as Funginex and Malathion, and soon realized that many non-target organisms, including humans and pets, were being subjected to these toxins. She saw her own pet get sick from the herbicide product known as Roundup®. Ann swore from that day on she would never use toxic pesticides again.
In these early years of Ann's business, her competitors in landscaping and most agriculture, relied heavily on pesticides. Ann struggled to find solutions and despite failures, frustrations and lack of information, she stayed committed to organic gardening methods.
Ann's adventure into the world of organic gardening has been the most rewarding experience in her life. Getting to know the beneficial insects that control common garden pests, meeting the cultural needs of plants to prevent problems, composting and mulching to bring soils alive, and using pest resistant plants, such as California natives, are just a few of the methods that led Ann into a successful and fulfilling career.
Ann currently owns and operates Garden Magic Company - an earth-friendly gardening, design and consulting service, based in the South Bay area of Southern California. She lectures on Integrated Pest Management and Organic Gardening at local universities, UC Master Gardening Program and UCLA Extension. Ann has been featured on HGTV.
Ann is the current president of the Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden - a California native and drought tolerant plant demonstration garden. She is treasurer of the Entomological Association of Southern California. Ann is a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture, and graduated from the American Society of Consulting Arborists Academy.
Ann lives in Manhattan Beach, California with her husband, Steve Barklow, and a black lab named Velo, a Guide Dogs of America Puppy-in-Training.