Philosophy

Environment

Clean water, biologically healthy soils, fresh air and plenty of sunshine are all vitally important to nurturing life on our planet. Although we can't do much about the sunshine in Seattle we can have a large impact on the other three major factors. Throughout our website you'll find discussion on a number of sustainable and restorative practices that we use. However, we believe our responsibility goes well beyond our site work. Here are some of the things we are doing to improve our environment.

Education

As a strong member of the 'Green Industry' Signature Landscape Services participates nationally and locally through professional association memberships in educational programs focused on helping our customers and employees make informed choices. Our Continuing Education and Certification programs support our employee development. We speak at customer board meetings, staff meetings and seminars on topics such as Green Plant Care, Transitioning to Sustainable Landscape Management, Healthy Soils, Irrigation Water Management and Turf Management

Composting

All of the green waste generated by our maintenance activities is kept out of regional landfills and is composted either at our facilities for re-use or a third party composter.

Fleet Servicing

We employ our own mechanics whose facility and operations merit a 5-star certification from King County's Envirostars program. Our fleet of trucks and equipment are serviced and fuelled at each of our three facilities with mobile service trucks to reduce down-time and unnecessary travel.

IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Program

IPM is a coordinated decision-making and action process that sets a threshold of acceptable impact from a landscape pest or problem, properly identifies the causal factor or pest and uses the least disruptive control or solution. Pesticides, if used, are applied by licensed, trained technicians in a prescriptive manner only, never as a prophylactic or indiscriminate application.

Soil Development

Healthy soils develop naturally over a long period of time and include fairly equal portions of air, water and mineral components along with organic matter and biological diversity that completes the natural soil-food web. Unfortunately constructed landscapes typically consist of shallow, biologically inactive topsoils overlying heavily compacted sub-soils. A thorough soil analysis will identify necessary corrective actions which may include incorporation of amendments, organic fertilizer programs, biological inoculation and proper water management.