Page 24 - Pat Brown (1)

Dawn Standke

Garden Designer

Dawn is a transplant from northern Minnesota.
She was born in International Falls, a town
proudly known as "The Icebox of the Nation."
Dawn is extremely happy to live in San Diego
and no longer endure temperatures down
to forty degrees below zero every winter. In
northern Minnesota's short summers Dawn
gardened with her parents, growing vegetables
and berries with her father and flowers with her
mother.
Dawn spent the early years of her career
far from the garden as a computer
programmer, first for Hughes
Aircraft in Los Angeles, and
then for Qualcomm. Even
then, she would spend her
lunch hours wandering
plant nurseries, bring-
ing home treasures to
nurture.
Dawn's formal train-
ing with plants and
24 exterior design
began in 2005 when
she became a UC
Master Gardener.
Master Gardeners
are volunteers trained
and supervised by the
University of California
Cooperative Extension
(UCCE). The mission
of the UCCE is to conduct
research on new pests and
issues affecting the county, and to
provide research based information
to the public. Inherent in the title "Master
Gardener" lies the challenge to continue learning
and to help other gardeners grow. It's a chal-
lenge that everyone who has graduated from
the Master Gardener program is committed to
meeting.
Dawn's horticultural education continued with
classes at Cuyamaca, Mesa and Southwestern
Colleges. She started Standke Garden Design
to help homeowners create beautiful sustainable
gardens that consume fewer resources - water,
pesticides, and labor, and that would give back
more - more edibles, more desirable wildlife, and
more beauty.
Dawn has been gardening in San Diego for the
past eighteen years.
Contact her at StandkeDesign.com