Drew and Shannon Lester are a husband and wife landscape design team that have over 40 years combined experience in Central Oregon. Together, they promote sustainability and gardening for success, so homeowners can enjoy all the other activities Central Oregon has to offer. Drew and Shannon currently focus their efforts on landscape, irrigation and low voltage lighting design, backflow assembly testing, project management and hourly consultations for D.I.Y. homeowners.
Drew graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington where he studied economics and public policy. After graduating, he decided to move out west to become a mountaineer guide and get more in touch with the natural environment. Shortly after, Drew started working in the landscape industry and furthered his education at Central Oregon Community College in the green industry.
Shannon is a landscape designer who holds a degree in Landscape Architecture from Washington State University in Pullman. After a sojourn in Italy where she experienced landscape and design, Shannon returned to the Pacific Northwest to focus on custom residential and commercial landscape design, land use and city planning projects.
From 2012 to 2017, Drew and Shannon focused their efforts on starting up a mid-century, modern-inspired planter company, Steel Life. Steel Life planters have been recognized by many nationally accredited industry professionals and magazines including Martha Stewart, Sunset, Better Homes and Gardens, 1859 Oregon, and Dwell magazine. Drew and Shannon have also designed product for The Standard Hotel NYC and Miami.
Shannon has shared her product design experiences on a design panel moderated by OPB at the 2015’s Bend Design Con. She currently enjoys teaching seasonal workshops both locally and on her travels. Shannon focuses her teaching on design trends, plant selection, succulents, xeriscaping, living centerpieces, wreath making and other green D.I.Y. creations.
OUR HAPPY CLIENTS
Sally and Rob Fallow
Shannon is exceptional. From start to finish, we felt we were in the best hands. She has fantastic ideas on landscaping and creating a gorgeous outdoor space. From design to install, she was meticulous and detail oriented. She helped us with our vacation home and it was so nice knowing we had someone nearby who was on top of everything. I would highly recommend Blooming Desert!!Read More
Jenn Masse
Shannon was great to work with! Recommended by a friend, we hired Shannon to translate our vision into a beautiful and functional design that will meet our needs and lifestyle. The design she came up with will absolutely do that! Shannon also helped make connections to local landscapers that she trusts, and navigate some of those conversations, which we appreciated as well! I would recommend partnering with Shannon if you're looking for someone to design your space!Read More
Houzz User
It was a pleasure to work with Shannon Lester to design the landscape plan for our property in Bend, Oregon! The project presented a few challenges around sourcing product and materials that were deer and heat resistant due to the nature of the climate in Central Oregon. Shannon navigated this on our behalf as well as offered excellent project management of the landscaping team throughout the entire project. Shannon brings knowledge, experience and a positive, cheerful attitude to each meeting making the process enjoyable.Read More
Peter Krimmel
Shannon helped us create a landscape design for our backyard and gas fire pit. She came up with a design that looked great and needed very few revisions. She was accommodating and super easy to work with. After creating our design, we contracted with her to get our design approved by the HOA, source all the vendors and oversee the installation process. Overall it was a very straightforward and seamless process and we were very satisfied. We would definitely work with her team again!Read More
Houzz User
Very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. Listens to your ideas. Timely with correspondence/meetings. Plan is very professional and easy to understand/follow. Provided a detailed legend listing all needed materials as well as a list of different suppliers. Gives you options to include/exclude certain materials based on your budget. Landscape is aesthetically pleasing and interesting. Can't say enough about our experience with Blooming Desert Design + Build. Highly recommend!Read More
