THECOMPANYGlorious Gardens was started in 1993 and incorporated in 1996. The company was structured to fill a void in the Houston landscaping industry and to capitalize on the increasing popularity of gardening.

Martha Stewart in her Living Magazine and on her newly created TV show was stirring interest in outdoor living and the idea of decorating outdoor rooms. And a new TV station, Home and Garden TV (HGTV) began broadcasting nonstop gardening and decorating programs.

Meanwhile in Houston, the city was a sea of hawthorns, azaleas, and photinias. It seemed the only people with gardens were those who did the work themselves, or those fortunate to have personal gardeners. More stores and nurseries were beginning to stock outdoor decorations and furnishings, and new plant selections were flooding the market. The goods were here but the creative labor was not so easy to find.

 Houston was loaded with landscape contractors and architects, but no one advertised themselves as designers. There is a difference, as anyone who has used an interior designer and an architect will tell you. And to decorate the outdoors with plants and furnishings, you need a designer, not a horticulturist, or a contractor, or an architect.

 

THEOWNERNorm Arnold is president and CEO of Glorious Gardens, Inc. Simply put, Norm has an innate sense of dynamics and composition. His formal education in advertising and commercial photography helped hone this talent. After graduating The University of Texas at Austin, Norm worked first as a freelance photographer, then opened a studio, then created an advertising agency that specialized in print media.

Additionally, Norm pursued fine art photography. He studied the Ansel Adam's Zone System and attended a Yosemite Workshop and other black & white workshops that focused on the Southwest. But it was his color work, photographing walls, that landed gallery exhibits and resulted in his commission to photograph the ultimate wall, the Berlin wall in 1989 as it was being torn down. To this day, photographing walls continues to be an obsession which he unfortunately rarely finds the time to indulge.

Combining his professional design skills with his passion for gardening has proved to be a winning combination. Not only does he design gardens, but he also writes articles and photographs gardens, designs the advertising and marketing materials for the company, and designed and produced this website. He also manages to create some pretty interesting walls in some of his gardens.

Norm is a native Houstonian who has gardened here since childhood. He decided to make his hobby a full-time business in 1993. He furthered his horticultural education over the years through past involvement in the Harris County Master Gardening program and the Texas Nurserymen's Association where he achieved Master Certification.