The Infinity Pool, by Bob Drost
Bob Drost started in landscaping as a laborer, with a shovel in his hand. But over the years, his passion and talent for the business propelled him up the ranks, and today he runs his own 80-employee landscape business.
What was your initial inspiration? When we were a young married couple my wife, Diane, and I would throw everything in the car and go up to the U.P., and I’d take pictures of exposed rock face, how things look in nature, how streams form.
Where can a landscape design go wrong? You can use too much rock. Look around Northern Lower Michigan. We don’t have huge rock outcroppings. Just rocks here and there.
What is your favorite rock? Big granite fieldstones the glaciers moved here from Canada.
What’s your latest vision in stone?I was just thinking about a rock sauna. Kind of like a cave but with glass doors trimmed in wood. Now I just have to find the right client.
Describe yourself when you’ve been struck by a new design:Like a deer caught in the headlights. Dazed.
Contact Drost: 231-348-2624, drostlandscape.com
This article was updated for the web April 2008.