About us

At Dance in the Rain Gardening, we believe in the power of nature to transform spaces and enrich lives. Founded in 2022 as a project for Humber College's Horticulture Technician Apprenticeship Program, our company grew from a passion for connecting people and plants.

Our company is owned and operated by red seal horticulturalist James Boutilier who got his start in horticulture 15 years ago while a student at the University of Toronto Mississauga where he studied plant biology and ecology. While a student James grew his passion for gardening by founding a campus community garden and planting thousands of trees and shrubs as a member of the campus's naturalization steering committee. This led him to facilitating larger community gardens and projects in the urban agriculture and community food security space for charities such as The Stop Community Food Centre, Meal Exchange, and Stonegate Community Health Centre before he developed a passion for more ornamental work. In the more recent past before founding Dance in the Rain, James worked as the Nursery Supervisor for Sheridan Nurseries Toronto where he sourced millions of dollars of nursery stock for the diverse and high-end Toronto market, and he worked as a maintence team leader for the award-winning Toronto landscape company Christine’s Touch Gardening where he maintained high end properties both on the ground and in the sky (condos)

Our Team:

  • President

    Red seal certified horticultural technician with over 15 years experience in horticulture. Certified landscape exterminator and working at heights trained.

  • Vice President Planting Operations

    Expert on moving plants and making seasonal displays. Marinela grew up farming and has over 12 years of experience in horticulture.

Why choose DITR?

Because we have:

    • We use all electric landscape equipment to do the job efficiently but also quietly without the noise and environmental pollution of two stroke gas engines. 

    • We use beneficial insects and targeted pesticides / fungicides to tackle common landscape pests.

    • We arrive in a smaller vehicle capable of using underground or restricted parking.

  • Our employees all have an education in horticulture and more than 10 years experience.

    We arrive on site knowing what to do and the best way to do it.

  • We care a little bit about plants but a lot about people. Our focus is ensuring you get the best experience out of your garden.

    We approach every problem with a positive attitude. Challenging ourselves to Dance in the Rain.