Kat Banks

Surrey Store Manager

Katharine (Kat) started at Hunters Garden Centre Surrey in December of 2021. Her gardening journey began in 2016 in Washington state where she spent most of her time fulfilling different roles in the nursery industry anywhere from cashiering, ordering, receiving and management. While her intention was to finish her studies at University, she decided that she was more interested in garden education. The customer questions she experienced daily pushed her to understand the green world around her. Katharine believes the best way to learn is to listen to the people around you. That’s why her favourite part of working at Hunters is being surrounded by the staff because everyone has vastly different gardening knowledge.

Katharine decided to expand on her personal gardening knowledge by joining the Master Gardeners of Whatcom county for 2019 growing season. Most of her time spent with the Master Gardeners was learning about sound gardening practices, pest identification and pruning techniques. She spent her volunteer hours helping maintain public gardens where she got to test her personal knowledge in the outdoor classroom.

She’s also expanded her personal garden almost every growing season with a focus on cut flowers and growing veggies. There’s nothing better to Kat, than being able to walk into your garden and harvest your next meal or share a bouquets of fresh flowers with a friend!

Katharine immigrated to Canada in the fall of 2021 and is happy to still be growing in Zone 7. If she’s not working you can probably find her thrifting gardening books or exploring local scenery.