Environova Planning Group Inc. and Maritime Landscape Services Ltd .
Specializes in landscape and environmental design, parks and recreational planning, consulting and landscape project management. We also specialize in consulting assessments involving vegetation and tree losses, tree preservation plans, tree inventories, plant health and managing large tree transplanting.
The owner and founder of both companies, Stan Kochanoff is a Registered Consulting and ISA Certified Arborist, a Professional Environmental Planner and a Certified Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist with over 49 years of experience in the Maritime Landscape Industry. Stan is a graduate of the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture’s 3 year diploma program in Ornamental Horticulture in Niagara Falls, Ontario receiving his NDP diploma in 1962. In 1966, he completed a 4 year BS degree program in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. At Cornell he was awarded the Dreer Scholarship for travel and directed practice in the UK, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
He and his wife Peggy spent a full year working and travelling around some 22 countries throughout Europe and the UK visiting parks, zoological and botanical gardens, nurseries, greenhouse operations and other major sites of horticultural interest. In 1994, he obtained at Master’s degree in Urban and Rural Planning from the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dalhousie.Stan was the first to qualify in Atlantic Canada as a Registered Consulting Arborist through the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA) and is presently the only one in the region and one of 10 in Canada.
Mr. Kochanoff has presided over a number of regional and national Horticultural Associations. He has served as president of Landscape Atlantic (LA) the original regional association, Landscape Nova Scotia (LNS), Landscape Canada(CNLA), ISA-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, The Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation (COPF) and the Nova Scotia Greenhouse Growers Association. On the local scene,he is involved as a volunteer with the new Municipality of Windsor-West Hants Communities-In-Bloom Committee and coordinator of the Windsor Tree Canopy Project. He has also served as a national judge for Communities-in-Bloom.
For over four decades both companies have been providing professional and quality landscape services for residential, commercial and institutional projects. Many of our employees past and present have had professional training in Ornamental Horticulture, Arboriculture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. In-house training of our employees through short courses, certification programs, workshops, educational conferences is an important part of our employee development program.
Our Most valuable Employee, Peggy and Molly
Our Most Valuable Employee, Peggy and our dog, Molly Peggy Kochanoff, BS is a graphic artist, naturalist and author. Peggy is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Invertebrate Zoology and also graduated from the Washington School of Art. She has been active with both of her husband’s firms since their inception and has been involved as a designer, carrying out finished landscape drawings, sketches and artist’s concepts. With the nursery and landscape business, she was heavily involved with plant care and the organization of the Tree Farm. Peggy is a skilled gardener and has made the transition from a zoologist to a practicing horticulturist.
She has 10 nature series books that she has illustrated and written and her last book“You can be a Weather Detective” was published in 2019. Her 10th book” Camouflage Detective” has been released by Nimbus Publishing and is available online or at Chapters. Several of her books have been published in Danish and Chinese. Peggy continues to lend her artistic talents to many of our design projects.
Awards
In 2012, he was presented with the President's award for his outstanding accomplishments to the landscape industry by Landscape Nova Scotia.
In 1983 Environova's forerunner company earned an Honourable Mention Award from the NS Association of Architects.
In 1993 Our fore-runner landscape company Maritime Nurseries was awarded the landscape Award of Excellence for its work on the Nova scotian Hotel project.
In recognition of his outstanding commitment and service in the development, maintenance and growth of The Avon Valley Golf and Country Club since its inception in 1972.
In June of 2016, he was honered with a lifetime Honorary Membership Award from ISA-Atlantic.
Award of Merit School of Horticulture Alumni Association presented by Karen Michaud, Executive Director
QEII Platinum Jubilee Medal
Life Achievement Award from Landscape Nova Scotia presented by Executive Director, Jan Loner
Honorary Life membership from Landscape Nova Scotia presented by LNS president Steve Smith,
Family picture with our MLA Thomas Kochanoff, Peggy Kochanoff, Stan, Ava Kochanoff and James Kochanoff at QE II Platinum Jubilee medal presentation ceremoney