Leah Klooster - Senior Landscape Designer
Landscape Industry Since: 2012
Signature Landscape Since: 2016
Leah grew up exploring the beautiful pastures on her family’s dairy farm in southeast Nebraska. From a young age, she learned how to garden and care for the landscape. In her many outdoor hours, she found herself capturing photos of her scenic surroundings, and drew inspiration for drawing, painting, and writing. Nature taught her to spot the delicate beauty in the mundane. Her family influenced her strong worth ethic and to see the great value in people. In higher education, she combined her interests in art and nature and pursued a bachelor’s degree in art, and bachelor’s degree in horticulture.
She worked at Nebraska Statewide Arboretum during college, doing landscape design. This is where she formed her basis for proper horticultural practices in planting, plant health, and also management techniques in the landscape. She further developed her plant knowledge by managing rain gardens and other stormwater facilities, as well as a newly installed landscape at a historic building in downtown Lincoln, NE. This experience reinforced her love for how design and plants can impact the landscape and surrounding communities.
Leah continued to work in the field leading landscape crews, as well as working in graphic design and marketing after college. These experiences helped build her foundation for a career in landscape design. She designed residential landscapes in St. Joseph, Missouri before coming to Signature Landscape and serving as a Landscape Designer primarily for commercial properties. Leah enjoys that she can influence the beautiful landscapes at many prestigious properties around the Kansas City metro. She values planting both for aesthetics as well as functionality. She is continually going back to previous projects she has worked on to see how designs are aging and what plants are doing well in both the overall Kansas City climate, as well as the microclimates on the specific properties. Leah also handles photography and digital media management for Signature.
Through her time at Signature, Leah has taken on the training of all Landscape Designers, leading and mentoring this talented design team. Spread across multiple branches, her team contributes countless quality design packages, including rendering and estimates toward the enhancement of the surrounding community.
In her free time, Leah enjoys running, biking, skiing, and hanging out with her husband watching sports. She also enjoys baking desserts and managing her own plants in her yard, with the help of her Blue Heeler, Winston.