Greenwood Horticulturist Prepares for S.C. Festival of Flowers Amid Rainy Days

Cloudy Skies and Green Thumbs: A Day in Greenwood’s Greenhouse

It was a rainy and dreary day in Greenwood. Probably not the best day to be outdoors doing landscaping work. But for City of Greenwood horticulturist Malcolm Pitman, life didn’t slow down one bit. Inside the city’s greenhouse on Phoenix Street, Malcolm was busy drilling holes in a PVC pipe, setting up a prototype for a new waterfall feature for the Clemson Tiger topiary. This dazzling display will be part of the renowned S.C. Festival of Flowers this summer.

“Irrigation,” Pitman said with a chuckle. “I have become the plumber master, I guess. Right now it’s an idea. We’ll see if it works.”

This year, the Tiger topiary boasts a new rock on the front, and the plan is for water to flow from under the Tiger’s neck down to the base of the rock, near its feet. “I can look at mechanical things and be able to put them together,” Pitman explained. “It comes very easy to me. For some people, it doesn’t, and that’s OK, too. I’ve turned into the go-to guy.”

From Milwaukee to Greenwood

Pitman’s journey to becoming Greenwood’s horticulturist started far from here. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his grandfather founded a landscaping business in the early 1970s. “That’s when I got the itch,” said Pitman, who lives on a small farm in Hodges with his wife and three children. “I knew I probably wouldn’t be working in an office. That’s not for me. I enjoy the outdoors.”

Pitman went to a Milwaukee-area technical college to study landscaping and horticulture. He worked with his grandfather for several years before putting the landscaping field aside when he and his family moved to Greenwood in 2012. For a while, he even served as a stay-at-home dad before applying for the horticulturist job last year.

Getting Ready for Spring and Summer

In addition to his greenhouse work, Pitman and the horticulture staff are also busy starting seedlings to prepare for spring and summer. These seedlings will eventually become the vibrant flowers and plants that adorn Uptown Greenwood. “That’s kind of the focal points,” Pitman said. “We work where they’re going to be seen the most, but there’s also the city garden out by the country club.”

Not just about aesthetics, the city also grows vegetables at the farmer’s market community garden. “They take the produce and donate it to the food bank here,” Pitman added.

Back at the greenhouse, the off-season means TLC for the topiaries. “We’re creating all the replacement flowers and plants for all these topiaries,” Pitman said. “There’s a lot of maintenance that needs to be done. The moss inside of it can deteriorate, and it’s pretty much hollow. And they’ll dry out in the summer sun. We had a few problems with that last year.”

A Labor of Love

Despite being indoors, Pitman feels right at home in the greenhouse as it combines elements of his outdoor passion. His technical college education even included greenhouse production. “When I’m outside, I like the physical change I get to make to the world around me,” he mused. “It’s not instant gratification, you know, because these are plants — and everybody usually wants instant gratification.”

Whether planting seeds or pruning plants, Pitman and his crew often receive compliments from passersby. “It’s nice to bring a little joy to someone today just by (planting) a flower or something like that,” he said. “Right now, we’re getting ready for summer already.

“I like to think a season ahead. I always liked that about the job. You’re always thinking forward and have these goals and timelines you want to hit. It’s nice to have a goal. It gives you purpose.”

Reflecting on his work ethic, Pitman credited his grandfather. “I just learned not to be full of excuses,” he said. “Do the work because it needs to be done. Working for my grandfather, you don’t slack off because that’s your family’s name. I learned to do a good job, care about your customers and treat them really well.”