by  John Cretti

John Cretti , known regionally and nationally as Doctor Green Thumb, is a Rocky Mountain and High Plains horticulturist and author. He is a former home horticulture specialist for Colorado State University and is an award-winning garden communicator with the Garden Writers of America. John is an author, lecturer, radio and television personality, and above all, down-to-earth gardener!

John takes gardening to a different level, an active relationship between man, environment, and plants --- “to grow plants successfully, you have to think like a plant.”

He is author of the COLORADO Gardener’s Guide and recent ROCKY MOUNTAIN Gardener’s Guide (Cool Spring Press, A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.). John hosts radio and television programs, Gardening with an ALTITUDE, has been long time host of the WINTER GARDENER on HGTV, and has published hundreds of articles for garden magazines including Horticulture, Flower and Garden, Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, Green Thumb Extra, and Garden Talk.

Gardeners who live in the unique and challenging climate of the Rocky Mountain region, where fluctuations of temperature, wind, lousy soil conditions, critters and more are the norm, will benefit from the practical wit and wisdom that John serves up. You can keep up-to-date on topics ranging from earth-friendly gardening techniques, plant selection, planting tips, landscape maintenance, ecologically sound insect and disease management, and much more on the weekly Gardening with an ALTITUDE radio show on KOA and KHOW radio in Denver, Colorado. The 2-hour radio show on Saturday mornings is an interactive program in which the radio audience can call in with questions and get timely answers, plus garden tips and a dose of humor. Many tricks and remedies that John recommends come from his degree in the horticultural sciences from Colorado State University and from his Italian grandmother who taught him old fashioned remedies for pests and diseases that still have proven effective today.

Cretti’s passion for home horticulture has not gone unnoticed. He has received numerous awards including the prestigious Award of Excellence from the Garden Writers Association in 1990, Quill and Trowel Awards in 1997, 1995, 1993, 1990, 1989, and 1988. He was also presented the Scotts Horticultural Professional Improvement Award for lawn and garden communications, the National Association of County Agricultural Agents award of excellence in horticulture communications, and was recognized for outstanding community service for garden and education programs by Xeriscape Colorado.