About Us

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Mariposa Naturescapes, LLC is a licensed, bonded, and insured WA State Contractor (License# MARIPNL936JE). We are a locally owned, independent landscaping company based in West Seattle. We care about our customers and generally have continuing relationships with them and their gardens. We strive to be reliable, thorough, responsive, and to work with our customers to accomplish their landscaping goals in an ecologically sound manner within their budgets. We make every effort to buy sustainable materials from locally owned businesses. In addition, Mariposa Naturescapes is a 5–STAR EnviroStar business – certified, by King County, as a landscape company that demonstrates commitment to reducing waste and preventing pollution.

WHAT WE DO

Mariposa Naturescapes currently assists homeowners and small businesses with the following services:

design of mostly native and edible plant habitats, including rain gardens and swales;
installation of native trees, shrubs, & groundcovers, and a wide variety of edible & wildlife–friendly non–native plants;
removal of invasive and unhealthy plants;
consultation & coaching on gardening projects (examples: Backyard Wildlife Habitat certification; maintenance (weeding, pruning, etc.); harvesting edible foods);
sheet mulching with compost and wood chips for weed control/grass removal;
hand weeding & grooming of plants;
skilled pruning of small trees & shrubs, including edible plants – up to 10';
seasonal garden clean–ups (2, 3, or 4 times/year);
compost tea application (1 – 4 applications/year);
design and installation of simple permeable walkways;
design and installation of simple, sturdy edible plant structures – raised vegetable beds, trellis, arbors, worm bins, and compost bins; and
native plant and vegetable start sales in SW Seattle (plants in stock are variable & nursery hours are by appointment) and at area sustainability events.

MISSION

Our mission is to design and build ecologically sound, beautiful gardens. We believe in practicing sustainable landscaping – using gardening methods & products that work with nature, keep more rainwater on site, have the least amount of environmental impact, AND meet customers' needs. Our passion is melding wildlife gardens with native plants and edible landscapes with useful, site–appropriate plants in an urban setting. We are also dedicated to education and offer workshops on wildlife habitat, native plants, natural gardening, and water conservation. We hope to inspire a better understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of the natural world outside each of our doors and beyond!

SERVICE AREA

We generally provide services within a 20–mile radius of West Seattle (our home base). We will travel beyond this distance for design–only work – additional mileage fee applies.

OWNER

Kimberly Leeper

Kimberly Leeper puts her knowledge to work as a native & edible plant landscape designer and installer in the Seattle area. She has a breadth of experience with native plants and landscape restoration as well as a background in naturalist education (focused on plants & birds) with Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Audubon, and Wilderness Awareness School. A member of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS), Kimberly is a Growing Wild volunteer consultant to promote successful native plant projects. She completed the comprehensive WNPS Native Plant Stewardship program in 2005 and Permaculture Design Course with Toby Hemenway in October 2009. Kimberly is passionate about ongoing education -- both her own and others' -- and keeps her knowledge base current through the South Seattle Community College Landscape Horticulture program, and gardening classes through Seattle Tilth and our local permaculture community. She forms long-term relationships with many of her customers so loves visits to check on everything, assist with maintenance tasks, or move other landscape projects forward. She also enjoys collaborating with like-minded professionals and is currently working closely with Steve Richmond of Garden Cycles, green space restoration; Heather Swift of Cohabitats, teaching Naturescaping for Wildlife workshops; and installing cisterns with Nikola Davidson of EarthSystemsNW. Kimberly enjoys being a participant with other natural gardeners/landscapers in Coalition of Organic Landscape Professionals, local economy advocates in Seattle Good Business Network, and Seattle Permaculture Guild Meetup Group.

RECENT EVENTS/VOLUNTEER WORK

Educate the public about native plants, growing food, and natural gardening (among many other Q's we get!) at Ballard Farmers Market.
Participate in sustainability–focused events: Seattle Green Festival, Sustainable West Seattle's Sustainability Fair, Green Gardening IPM Workshop (SSCC), Seattle Tilth's Harvest Fair, and screening of "A Chemical Reaction" on Feb. 20th. See our Events page for more information.
Volunteered design and installation assistance to 3 Seattle homeowners through EOS Alliance's Native Plant Grant Program which targeted habitat restoration in Seattle.

Phinney Ridge – blend of sun–loving
native and edible plants

West Seattle Native Garden–to–be