Certified Landscape Professionals & Engineers

Tony is a Certified Nursery & Landscape Professional (CNLP) and also a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. He also owns an engineering consulting business: Anthony W. DeFranco, PE-Consulting Engineer, which focuses on site design, stormwater management design, permitting and engineered septic systems.

Tony grew up in Hague, graduated from Ticonderoga High School. He was in the first class of Hague students that went all the way through the Ticonderoga School District after the Hague School merged with the Ticonderoga School. He has worked in the landscaping business from an early age.

Tony received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University. He has practiced Civil Engineering at various consulting engineering firms in the Capital District.

Tony spent one summer as a laboratory assistant at the Darrin Freshwater Institute, which had a lasting impact on his career aspirations. He had the opportunity to conduct water quality research on Lake George. Every time Tony returned to Lake George during the summer, he realized how much he missed the lake.

Tony returned to Lake George officially in 2010, when David had to have a surgery on his shoulder. He started a Civil Engineering-Consulting Business that focuses on stormwater management and site design specifically for lakefront homes on Lake George. He follows after his grandfather, George Huestis, a licensed land surveyor, who left behind a legacy of survey maps that Tony still sees to this day. Tony’s engineering business compliments the landscaping business by obtaining the necessary permits and approvals for our projects in a timely and efficient manner.

He purchased the landscaping business in 2017 from his parents with the hopes that they can officially retire and enjoy time away from the business. DeFranco Landscaping has been featured in numerous newspapers (Times Union, Post Star) for it’s focus on native plantings and shoreline buffers. DeFranco Landscaping has also received numerous awards for landscaping, including the 2010 Frank Leonbruno Lake Stewardship Award and the 2017 Irving Langmuir Award for implementing Low-Impact Design practices.

Tammy Best of Hague, NY is our bookkeeper and the person that keeps it all together for us at DeFranco Landscaping. She keeps our books up-to-date, does invoicing, processes our payroll and pays the bills, even somehow has time to answer the phone.

David founded DeFranco Landscaping in 1984. He graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh and relocated to Hague in 1970 because the local school had an opening for a science teaching position and a home economics teacher position, for his wife, JoAnne. David built numerous houses around the lake, a few commercial buildings, but recognized there was a need for landscaping and property management in the area. David retired from teaching after 20-years of service. He has also served on the Ticonderoga School Board. Many local students claim that David DeFranco was one of their most favorite teachers. He brought a hands-on approach to learning in the classroom. He has built his business around integrity and has a long running reputation of being one of the “hardest working men” in Hague. During his tenure, he has walked away from numerous projects that did not “fit” with our business.

JoAnne’s family has owned property on Lake George since her childhood. Her father, George Huestis, purchased a piece of property in Hague and the rest is history. Family vacations turned into summers at the Lake! Many of her summers were spent on the Lake. She graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh and coincidentally, her father sold a cabin on Lake George to pay for it! All three of her children helped with the business during the 1990-2000’s.  JoAnne has worked in the business as a gardener and bookkeeper until 2014.