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Founder & Owner of Le Quattro Stagioni,
Mariela Guastavino
From her very earliest years, Mariela Guastavino developed a love of the outdoors, spending joy-filled hours on the grounds of a beautiful country house owned by her family. It was there that she began and nurtured a deep and abiding respect for the nature, the earth, and an enduring curiosity for understanding and protecting the miraculous cycles of life.
A native of Argentina, who moved to the United States in 1991, Mariela has tended gardens on three continents and in numerous climate types. She is extensively schooled in advanced Agronomic Engineering and Landscape Design, and also earned a graduate degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
Ms. Guastavino is renowned for both the level of excellence she brings to her work and for her unique ability to assist clients in clarifying their personal vision for their garden ... and making that vision a reality, all while using sustainable and organic practices.
Mariela and her hand-picked teams at Le Quattro Stagioni have been beautifying, renovating, tending to, and maintaining premier gardens and organizational green spaces for more than 15 years. Even now, Mariela still insists on personally selecting and assigning her teams of skilled gardeners to each client, based on the particular needs and goals of each one.
Each team member not only draws upon many years of individual experience but also cherishes Mariela's own genuine love of the soil and a heartfelt reverence for the natural world.
Mariela selected the name of her company, Le Quattro Stagioni (which in Italian means, 'The Four Seasons') in honor of one of the most influential people in her life, her grandmother. Both treasured companion and mentor, her grandmother helped her develop a sophisticated eye for harmony, balance, and beauty in a garden. The Four Seasons composition by Vivaldi was one of her grandmother's favorite compositions.
Mariela's intention in her work-and that of her teams-is to consistently bring forward the qualities her grandmother demonstrated in her own life. Love, respect, caring, attention to detail, commitment to excellence, and integrity in word and action.
A Personal Story
As a young girl growing up in Argentina, I was fortunate to be able to spend a great deal of time at a beautiful country house that my family owned. It was here that my love of gardening was seeded.
It was in my early twenties that I began experimenting with many different types of plants—seeing how I could help them to thrive. I must confess that, in those early days, I ruined some beautiful plants with what today I might call “chopping” rather than “trimming” or “pruning.” It takes many years of practice to develop an eye and hand that can artfully shape a plant or tree that accentuates and flows with its natural development.
Anyway ... one day, I noticed an ant. As I’m sure you can appreciate, ants rarely—if ever—arrive alone! I quickly saw that there was a heavy infestation of ants. I wanted to eradicate them quickly and entirely.
I sprayed the entire area with a fine and highly toxic powder. Sure enough, the ants were gone in a matter of hours.
Unfortunately, my pet cat, Delfina, ate some nearby grass that had been contaminated with the pesticide. Without going into details, she was poisoned and died in a very unpleasant way.
Already a devoted lover of animals (I have many to this day), this experience had an immediate and lasting effect on me. From that day forward, I committed myself to working in my garden without using chemicals. It is a commitment that I then carried into my business practices and have maintained since.
Each time my teams of gardeners and I successfully manage a pest situation for a new client, I give thanks to Delfina. She was the means by which I began to learn different, sustainable, organic ways of pest control.
Bless you Delfina and thank you!
