received his Ph.D. in horticulture, plant ecology, and agronomy from Iowa State University in 1969. He was a professor at Oklahoma State University 1972 - 1985, then began his own horticultural research company, Lacebark Inc. Root constriction pruning grew from a chance observation in 1967. He was the first to perform air-root-pruning in 1968 using milk cartons with bottoms removed. This eventually lead to RootMaker®, RootBuilder®, RootTrapper®, and Knit Fabric In-Ground Containers. Accomplishments include: four books (Plant Production in Containers II, Production of Landscape Plants II (in the field), Know It and Grow It III, and Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants II), 26 patents (container designs, Dynamite® crapemyrtle, etc.), papers published in several hundred journal and technical publications, and numerous nursery industry awards.