By Clementina Verge
Born and raised in Kent, Ed Pequignot Jr. began transforming local gardens years ago, but the owner of Garden Cowboy Landscaping Services is now garnering widespread recognition after appearing last year on HGTV’s “Clipped.”
Filmed at Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, NY, the six-episode show challenged seven landscape artists from across the United States to meticulously groom shrubbery and flowers into ornamental shapes, including animals and functional sod “furniture.”
At 30, Pequignot was the youngest to compete in the design showdown for a panel of judges headed by Martha Stewart. He finished fifth and still remembers the surprise of having been found via Instagram and given an opportunity he’d never imagined.
“It allowed me to see that the sky’s the limit,” he reminisces. “It was such a great experience, and truly a blast and a blessing.”
The exposure showcased the formal hedges and topiary art that have become a personal brand. From Florida to Maine, his work adorns properties along the Eastern seaboard and beyond—including Naumkeag in the Berkshires—but the journey to success was not easy.
A little more than a decade ago, horticulture was not in Pequignot’s plans. A standout athlete at The Frederick Gunn School, he was recruited on a scholarship by UMass Amherst. His baseball dreams, however, were halted by an injury that ended his sports and academic career during freshman year. He returned home, where at 19, he traded the baseball cap for a cowboy hat, a nod to his grandfather who helped raise him on a Kent homestead.
Affectionately nicknamed “Cowboy,” he apprenticed on the former Oscar de la Renta estate in Kent, where learning under an English topiary master intensified his passion for the art and motivated him to self-teach about more than 100,000 plants. Four years ago, with the unwavering support of parents, grandparents, and his wife Angelica, he launched his own business. The increased success, he says, is thanks in great part to his dedicated team.
“The guys who work for me are my family,” he acknowledges. “Without them, none of this is possible.”
Interested in formal English gardens and inspired by legendary places such as the Palace of Versailles, he was drawn to boxwoods—their beauty, challenges, and legacy. They, in particular, are difficult to work with because they are prone to disease, slow growing, and expensive, he explains. But their versatility—imagine towering hornbeam pillars or boxwood clouds carpeting a courtyard—and longevity make the reward great.
“Everything I work with is alive and I appreciate the challenge,” notes Pequignot. “It requires precision and knowledge because one wrong cut, and the plant dies, but the happiness on my clients’ faces and seeing the transformation of what I planted 10-12 years ago is amazing. It’s changing art.”
“We have such a short time in this world to make a difference,” he reflects. “My designs will outlive me. To have my name associated with 1800s estates or the Kent Town Green means a lot. It’s not about personal pride. It’s about passing on knowledge, inspiring the next legacy, and helping the earth.”
