Beat the heat with cool plants!

Now's the time to turn that forgotten garden corner into a shady retreat with the perfect shade-loving or shade-creating plants. Contact Usto design and do the work for you. Or if you like to get your hands dirty, let us Coach you through your project.

Resources

About Us

In short, we're Starla King and Sandy Manne, two people making a living doing what we love. We've combined our knowledge and enjoyment of plants, art, and business management into a unique garden design, install, and maintenance business.

Peek at Our Garden

See and read about our own garden in this article, published in the Nov/Dec 2006 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.

Our Story

After many successful years in the corporate world, we decided to build on that experience to turn our favorite hobbies into a business.

For years, we had spent much of our free time learning our gardening craft in our own front- and backyard gardens. Then in our relatives' gardens. Then our friends started asking us for advice on anything garden-related, such as what to prune when, how to plant this shrub or that flower, what plant to put in those trouble garden areas, etc. As the frequency of those requests increased, we realized there was a specific need for smaller-scale garden consulting services that include the option to then carry out those recommendations ("install").

It was then that we decided to enrich our garden design knowledge base by taking coursework through the Virginia Cooperative Extension through VA Tech, George Washington University Landscape Architecture Graduate Certificate Program, and Virginia Gardener "Short Courses." We are also proud members of the Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association; the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the American Horticultural Society, the Garden Writers Association, and the National Gardening Association to ensure we keep abreast of the latest advances in design techniques, tips, tricks and plant vitality.

There are plenty of landscape architects and big landscaping companies out there, but it doesn't make good business sense for them to handle smaller jobs. We stepped into that niche with the creation of Signature Gardenscapes, LLC.

Starla J. King

Starla King

Head of Field Operations

Starla's focus is on designing, creating, and maintaining your garden area(s). She combines her plant knowledge (training via workshops, seminars, various courses and hands-on experience), and creative vision with years of project management experience to ensure your experience with this company exceeds your expectations.

Starla's love of nature and the environment is sure to give you fresh enjoyment and appreciation of your existing and enhanced garden area(s).

 

 

 

Sandy Manne

Sandy Manne

Head of Business Operations

Sandy's focus is on keeping the business running efficiently so you get the most out of the time we spend with you and your land. She brings years of executive-level leadership experience and a savvy for running business operations to our company.

Sandy also lends her creativity and plant experience to the design process so we can provide you with a distinctive, yet balanced garden design to maximize the possibilities for your gardenscape.