Tom Castronovo

First and foremost, Tom loves the outdoors.

His lifelong interest in gardening and passion for environmental stewardship led to the founding of the Gardener News.

Tom is a featured columnist, executive editor and publisher of the Gardener News.

As a landscape professional by trade for over 20 years, Tom found local information on gardening and landscaping difficult to locate. After successfully completing a Master Gardener course, Tom recognized the need to assemble, publish and disseminate information of interest to the gardening public in a print-friendly format. The Gardener News germinated in April 2003 and continues to bloom today. Gardener News is the leading gardening newspaper in the New Jersey metropolitan area delivering in-depth, comprehensive coverage of local gardening news and events.

Tom has been an active member of his community for many years and is involved in a number of organizations. He currently is an allied member of the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association, an honorary member of the Professional Landscape Alliance of New Jersey, an active member of the Liberty Corner Fire Company, a member of the Garden Writers Association, a founding member of the Garden State Gardens Consortium, a member of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Pesticide Task Force, a member of the Garden Conservancy, a member of the NJ Farm Bureau, and a founding trustee for the Wagner Farm Arboretum Foundation. Tom serves on the advisory committee for the Somerset County Vocational - Technical High School's Horticulture and Landscape Technology program.

Tom’s seasoned experience and unique ability to take complicated subjects and present them in a fresh, entertaining and easily understood style was noticed, and his first television opportunity bloomed. From June, 2001 to October, 2008, Tom was featured as the “Backyard Gardener” on News 12 New Jersey, every Sunday night and Monday. His 2-minute segments featured eco-friendly gardening, landscape do’s-and-don’ts, lawn mower and equipment safety, tree, shrub and turf tips, picking and choosing fruits, vegetables and flowers, organic gardening, public gardens, pavers and hardscaping, and other gardening related topics. News 12 New Jersey is the exclusive 24-hour local news cable channel dedicated to serving 14 counties in Northern and Central New Jersey.

In January 2008, Tom was a featured guest on Daily Connections, an informative and entertaining one-hour talk show that airs on Ebru Television. Daily Connections covers topics on health, family and relationships, as well as home, gardening, beauty and fashion. Ebru Television airs on satellite.

Tom has received many accolades for his contributions to the field. In June 2007, he was recognized for his “sincere appreciation and outstanding contributions and dedication” to the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. At the Rutgers Gardens annual dinner in December 2006, Tom was recognized with a “Media Specialist Award” in sincere appreciation for the time and talents so freely contributed for the benefits of the Rutgers Gardens. In September 2006, at the 30th Anniversary of the Rutgers Home Gardener’s School, Tom received the Rutgers-Cook College Continuing Professional Education’s “Community Outreach Award”.

In 2006, Tom drafted a bill, sponsored in the New Jersey Legislature by Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, that requires every commercial pesticide applicator in the state to use a silver flag to mark areas where pesticides have been applied. In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of silver flags to mark anything likely to be confused with a pesticide application. The exclusive color requirement is intended to distinguish pesticide flags from, among other things, those used for invisible dog fences, underground utility lines and mark outs, septic tanks, and underground piping. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate's environment committee on May 19, 2008 and is awaiting a full Senate vote. In the Assembly, it has been sponsored by Assemblyman Eric Munoz, and co-sponsored by Linda R.Greenstein, and John F. Amodeo, the bill has been referred to the Assembly's environment and solid waste committee.

In 2008, Tom drafted another bill that will provide licensure of landscape professionals and the registration of professional landscape businesses. On October 20, 2008, Senator Nicholas P. Scutari introduced it. The bill is Senate No. S-2302.

Tom made a guest appearance on “GardenSMART” in October 2008. He provided the introduction for show 1305, filmed at Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, New Jersey. In October 2006, he provided the gardening tips on shows 412, 413 and 501, also filmed in New Jersey. “GardenSMART” is a unique, exciting, informative television gardening program broadcast on local Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) throughout the United States. Tom was a featured guest speaker at the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Springfest Flower and Garden Show, fondly known as "The Garden Lover's Flower Show" in Augusta, NJ. He was also a featured guest speaker at the 2006, 2007 and 2008 MAC Events "New Jersey Flower and Garden Show" in Edison, NJ. Tom has presented to many garden clubs and community organizations as well.

Tom has also been honored as the “Volunteer of the Year” by the Professional Landscape Alliance of New Jersey in 2005 and as the “Volunteer of the Year” at the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture in 2004.

Tom has also been featured and/or mentioned in the following publications: The New York Times, The Star Ledger, Courier News, Italian Tribune, Elegant Lifestyles Magazine, New Jersey Countryside Magazine, Out & About Magazine, Seasons by Rebecca, The Record of Bergen County, The Journal, Echoes-Sentinel, Bernardsville News, Hillsborough Beacon, Ocean County Observer, Landscape Contractor National, and the New Jersey Herald.

Tom has also been featured on UPN 9 News, Fox 5 News and CNN. And, in 1994, Tom was an extra on the hit NBC television comedy series “Fraiser.”

Tom lives and gardens in New Jersey, the Garden State.