The story of Horticare LLC from one small town to another…

Mark Corso and Thomas Bastis attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo studying different agriculture degrees with overlapping attendance years but never really knew each other. Fast-forward several years when Thomas took his truck into the automotive service department Mark managed. A few conversations later and a realization of their Cal Poly roots and that they both lived in San Carlos, they hit it off. One dinner out with the two couples turned into a 12-year friendship. Thomas, an internationally recognized Certified Golf Course Superintendent, spent his weekends doing small landscape jobs around San Carlos to fulfill his passion for making landscapes look beautiful. It was the ultimate fate, when Mark decided to leave the automotive industry and return to his Cal Poly ag roots. Thomas was busy with his “real” job but getting more requests to do full scale landscape projects on the peninsula; Thomas realized Mark could run the day to day operations of his landscape business and they formalized their company, Horticare LLC.

Mark Corso

Owner, Horticare LLC

Mark grew up on the peninsula in Woodside, California. After nearly 20 years in the automotive industry, Mark returned to his college roots in agriculture to partner with Thomas Bastis to run Horticare. Utilizing his operational management experience, Mark runs the day-to-day operations of Horticare LLC by overseeing their crew, coordination of plant/supply procurement, meeting with clients, troubleshooting and maintaining job calendars.

Mark attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied Crop Science. He lives in San Carlos with his wife, Alana, and their 3 children. He is an active volunteer in the community serving on the San Carlos Little League Board and coaching various sports for his children. He enjoys golf, snow skiing and waterfowl hunting.

In early 2019, Thomas got the job offer of a lifetime to become an Agronomist for the PGA Tour and formally closed out his duties with Horticare. Mark now runs Horticare LLC on his own continuing their mission to beautify one garden at a time.