About Us
Signature Landscapes & Exteriors creates designs that treat land and structure as one. Our designs can complement existing structures, or SL & E can address structure as well as the landscape, for optimal presentation. Plants are the groundwork for our designs--guided by client requirements for maintenance, color, theme. Although we are plant-based, strong artistic talent allows us to blend plants with structural elements in a unique manner.
SL & E handles trellising (wood/metal) , hard surface treatments (stone, pavers, concrete) sculpture, wrought iron/railing treatments, structure color (trim, siding, shutters, doors), containers, and of course, plant material. We create "pictures" looking out your windows, as well as a functional, inviting landscape upon entering your property. Our plant knowledge and artistic talents enable us to create speciality designs such as butterfly gardens, color-themed gardens, memory gardens; modern, private, scented, or edible landscapes.
SL & E handles trellising (wood/metal) , hard surface treatments (stone, pavers, concrete) sculpture, wrought iron/railing treatments, structure color (trim, siding, shutters, doors), containers, and of course, plant material. We create "pictures" looking out your windows, as well as a functional, inviting landscape upon entering your property. Our plant knowledge and artistic talents enable us to create speciality designs such as butterfly gardens, color-themed gardens, memory gardens; modern, private, scented, or edible landscapes.
Margaret C. Nagel has been doing landscape design in Cleveland for 20 years. She co-authored the Ohio Master Gardener Training Manual for Ohio State University Extension. To fund this project, Nagel wrote a successful grant. She was top student in Master Gardener Training, and went on to take landscape design, horticulture and botany courses through OSU,Tri-C and CSU. She has given public talks on gardening to large groups, and also produced a gardening newsletter for a repeat client base over many years.
Realizing that fine drawing would enhance proposal renderings for client review, Nagel took many fine arts courses at CSU. Here she was recognized in Student Shows for Best Painting and Best Sculpture. Her landscapes have been published in American Nurseryman Magazine, and local community magazines. She has been invited to design community public spaces in Rocky River, and also Kent State University Alumni House, Westerly Senior Apartments Complex in Lakewood, and a manufacturing facility in Avon. Residential design has remained the backbone of her work.
Today, while still creating landscapes, Nagel is also a practicing artist. She creates for and arranges gallery openings and instructional workshops from her M.C. Nagel Studio at the Lakewood Screw Factory artist lofts. She presents shows of her work in ceramics, oil, acrylic, watercolor, colored-pencil, and more. This artistic background makes her a skilled hand renderer and clients have been known to frame her landscape renderings of their properties for display. Her artistic eye for color was also put to excellent use when she was Color Consultant for Sutton Hardware in downtown Cleveland, helping customers plan their paint purchases. Nagel also has a background in social work, and worked for several years at Goodwill Industries in downtown Cleveland, as well as for state government agencies early in her working career. Nagel has a B.S. in Social Work from Ohio State University.
Realizing that fine drawing would enhance proposal renderings for client review, Nagel took many fine arts courses at CSU. Here she was recognized in Student Shows for Best Painting and Best Sculpture. Her landscapes have been published in American Nurseryman Magazine, and local community magazines. She has been invited to design community public spaces in Rocky River, and also Kent State University Alumni House, Westerly Senior Apartments Complex in Lakewood, and a manufacturing facility in Avon. Residential design has remained the backbone of her work.
Today, while still creating landscapes, Nagel is also a practicing artist. She creates for and arranges gallery openings and instructional workshops from her M.C. Nagel Studio at the Lakewood Screw Factory artist lofts. She presents shows of her work in ceramics, oil, acrylic, watercolor, colored-pencil, and more. This artistic background makes her a skilled hand renderer and clients have been known to frame her landscape renderings of their properties for display. Her artistic eye for color was also put to excellent use when she was Color Consultant for Sutton Hardware in downtown Cleveland, helping customers plan their paint purchases. Nagel also has a background in social work, and worked for several years at Goodwill Industries in downtown Cleveland, as well as for state government agencies early in her working career. Nagel has a B.S. in Social Work from Ohio State University.