LAKELAND, FL, UNITED STATES, February 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Wellspring Gardens is the top-ranking company in Greenhouse Management’s 2025 Best Places to Work in Horticulture survey. The company stands out not only for its high employee satisfaction but also for its unconventional approach to achieving it.
The company doesn’t seek to hire “plant people,” but rather focuses on finding people who are teachable. It doesn’t conduct traditional sit-down interviews. Instead, applicants perform every part of the job in an abbreviated workday simulation. “Not only does this help us learn about our applicants’ potential for succeeding at the tasks, but it also helps applicants gauge whether the job is a good fit for them,” said production manager Kirsten Maghraoui.
Wellspring Gardens has also embraced visible performance tracking, installing scoreboards that allow associates to see how their individual contributions support the team’s daily goals.
“I think the No. 1 reason our associates like coming to work is because they like the people they work with. This says more about them than it does about us in management,” said Donovan C. Baltich, chief operations officer of Wellspring Gardens. “Our primary role is to hire A-players that our current associates want to work with.”
As an online-only grower-retailer, Wellspring Gardens’ uniqueness stems from its earliest roots. Today, the Lakeland business is managed by siblings Baltich and Maghraoui, both of whom spent years in other careers before rejoining the family business.
Wellspring Gardens was founded in 2004 by their parents, Donovan K. and Dana Baltich, who remain the company’s owners. Baltich and Maghraoui recall that their father originally envisioned a brick-and-mortar plant store, but upfront costs were prohibitive, so the family turned to the internet.
More than two decades later, the company remains entirely online and closed to foot traffic. In 2025, it shipped 85,000 orders — roughly 150,000 plants — with the help of 15 highly engaged associates who, according to the survey, are proud to contribute to the company’s ongoing growth and success.
One example of associate engagement that Baltich shared with Greenhouse Management came from his time as fulfillment manager. He made a YouTube playlist of unboxing videos that customers had posted. “I sent it to my team because I thought they might find it interesting. About a week later, a team member told me she’d watched every single video because she wanted to find ways to improve. That playlist contained three to four hours of footage. That associate is now our fulfillment manager,” he said.
The Best Places to Work in Horticulture program, established in 2025, is produced by the GIE Media Horticulture Group in partnership with Best Companies Group. It identifies, recognizes and honors the top employers in the horticulture industry based on workplace culture, employee engagement and impact on the regional economy.
Companies from across the United States and Canada participated in the two-part evaluation process. The first part assessed each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices and demographics and accounted for approximately 25% of the total score. The second part consisted of an employee survey measuring the employee experience, which accounted for roughly 75% of the total score. Combined scores determined the top companies and final rankings. Best Companies Group managed the registration and survey process, analyzed the data and applied its expertise to determine the final results.
Donovan C. Baltich
Wellspring Gardens
+1 863-272-9712
media@wellspringgardens.com
Visit us on social media:
YouTube
TikTok
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
