Bruce McElroy
Head Groundskeeper

Bruce joined Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in 2004, shortly after he and his wife relocated to Maine from Baltimore, Md. Desiring to work out of doors and with plants and/or landscaping, the Gardens seemed like an interesting opportunity. On the day of his job interview, Bruce and Director of Horticulture Dick Zieg talked about the job while Dick was cutting down trees in a snowstorm. Bruce thought to himself, “This could be a match!” He also felt that the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of such a project would be both educational and exciting.

Before coming to the Gardens, Bruce worked several years for Kingsdene Nurseries in Cockeysville, Md., in retail sales and in plant installation and maintenance. However, most of his working career after six years in the U.S. Navy was spent with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. During his 30 years with that utility, he was involved in electric metering, both as a technician and in management.

Bruce was born and raised in the Baltimore area. He attended night school at Towson State University, earning B.S. and master’s degrees in Biology.