Since 1978
Nearly five decades in West Virginia.
Valley Gardens has been landscaping West Virginia since 1978 — long enough to have planted trees that are now mature, and to still be maintaining the properties they stand on.
Our story
Started in Charleston. Still run from here.
Cary Levenson founded Valley Gardens in 1978. Nearly five decades later it is still run out of Charleston, and still answering its own phone.
What began as a landscaping company grew into a full-service operation — landscape maintenance, landscape architecture, design and installation — because clients kept asking for the next thing and it was better to do it properly than to hand it off. Adding a licensed landscape architect meant we could design what we build. Running our own installation and maintenance crews meant we could stand behind both.
Today the work is concentrated on commercial properties and high-end residences along the I-64 corridor, operating from two bases: Charleston for the Kanawha Valley, and White Sulphur Springs for the Greenbrier Valley. The company now fields more than 40 professionals, which is what makes large commercial sites workable without subcontracting them out.
Being local is not a slogan for us. It is the reason we can walk a property the week you call, get a plow out before the lot fills in, and still be the company maintaining that property in ten years.
Valley Gardens holds a West Virginia Contractor’s License, #WV011070, is a West Virginia Licensed Pesticide Application Business, #2101, and holds Certificate of Authorization #65 from the West Virginia State Board of Landscape Architects — which registers the firm itself, not just an individual, to practice landscape architecture in this state. All three are current, and we are happy to put copies in front of a procurement team alongside our certificates of insurance.
Leadership
The two people you will actually deal with.
Not a sales department. The founder and the landscape architect.
Cary Levenson
Founder & President
Cary founded Valley Gardens in 1978 and has spent more than 45 years in the landscape industry. He has served as President and as a Board Member of the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, and under his direction the company has been named “The Best of the Valley — Landscape Company” in 2014, 2015 and 2023.
If you are contracting with Valley Gardens, you are contracting with someone who has been accountable for this company’s reputation for nearly five decades.
Jason Testman, PLA
Vice President – Landscape Design & Sales
Jason joined Valley Gardens in 2022 with twenty years of landscape architecture practice behind him. He is a licensed Professional Landscape Architect, LEED AP BD+C, and a Proven Winners® Certified Landscape Professional.
He chairs the West Virginia State Board of Landscape Architects — the body that sets professional standards for landscape architecture in this state — and serves as President and Board Member of the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, and on the Charleston Municipal Beautification Commission.
He leads design on every Valley Gardens project, which is why our proposals arrive as drawn plans with a costed scope rather than a plant list and a number.
Design experience
Twenty years of landscapes across West Virginia.
Over twenty years in practice, Jason Testman has designed landscapes for resort communities, private estates, civic grounds and hospitality properties across West Virginia. That experience spans his whole career, not only his time at Valley Gardens — and it is the judgment now behind every plan we draw.
Resort & private club
- Lodge and clubhouse landscapes
- Neighborhood-scale planning and planting within resort communities
- High-end resort and second homes
Civic, institutional & hospitality
- Public and civic display plantings
- Institutional and university grounds
- Hotel and hospitality landscapes
Recognition & industry service
Held to a standard by our own industry.
Recognition going back to a national award in 1987 — and leadership that does not just work in West Virginia’s landscape industry, but helps regulate and represent it.
That matters for a practical reason: the people setting professional standards for landscape architecture in this state are the people drawing your plans.
- 2023The Best of the Valley — Landscape Company
- 2015The Best of the Valley — Landscape Company
- 2014The Best of the Valley — Landscape Company
- 2009Best in Show, Home Builders Association of Greater Charleston
- 1988Best in Show, Home Builders Association of Greater Charleston
- 1987National Environmental Improvement Award of Distinction, Associated Landscape Contractors of America — for work on a corporate property in Charleston
- BoardChairman, West Virginia State Board of Landscape Architects — Jason Testman, PLA
- Assoc.President and Board Member, West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association — Jason Testman, PLA
- Assoc.Past President and Board Member, West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association — Cary Levenson
- CivicCharleston Municipal Beautification Commission — Jason Testman, PLA
- PLALicensed Professional Landscape Architect on staff
- LEEDLEED AP BD+C — Jason Testman, PLA
- Cert.Proven Winners® Certified Landscape Professional — Jason Testman, PLA
- WVWest Virginia Contractor’s License #WV011070
- WVWest Virginia Licensed Pesticide Application Business #2101
- WVWest Virginia State Board of Landscape Architects — Certificate of Authorization #65, registering Valley Gardens as a firm entitled to practice landscape architecture in the state
How we operate
Professionalism, quality, and doing what we said.
Three commitments that have kept this company working in the same communities since 1978.
Say it in writing
Scope, frequency and cost documented before work starts. If we did not write it down, we do not expect you to have guessed it.
Own the whole property
Turf, beds, trees, irrigation, lighting, hardscape, winter access. Because we do all of it ourselves, nothing falls between vendors.
Stay local, stay reachable
Charleston and White Sulphur Springs. You call a West Virginia number and reach someone who has stood on your property.
Where we work
We build statewide. We maintain on routes.
Design, installation and construction go anywhere in West Virginia. Maintenance and snow contracts run from our two operating bases, because recurring work only holds its standard when a crew is already close by.
Charleston base
Kanawha, Putnam, Cabell, Wayne, Mason, Jackson, Lincoln and Boone counties — the I-64 corridor from the Kentucky line through Charleston, the Ohio River communities to the north, and the coalfield communities to the south.
White Sulphur Springs base
Greenbrier County and the Greenbrier Valley — Lewisburg, Ronceverte and White Sulphur Springs.
Design, installation & construction — all of West Virginia
Project work travels. We will design and build anywhere in the state, and regularly do.
Maintenance & snow contracts
Kanawha County
- Charleston
- Cross Lanes
- Dunbar
- Montgomery
- Nitro
- Sissonville
- South Charleston
- St. Albans
- and nearby areas
Putnam County
- Buffalo
- Hurricane
- Poca
- Scott Depot
- Teays Valley
- Winfield
- and nearby areas
Cabell County
- Barboursville
- Huntington
- Milton
- and nearby areas
Wayne County
- Ceredo
- Kenova
- and nearby areas
Mason County
- Apple Grove
- and nearby areas
Jackson County
- Ravenswood
- Ripley
- and nearby areas
Lincoln County
- Alum Creek
- Hamlin
- Harts
- and nearby areas
Boone County
- Danville
- Madison
- and nearby areas
Greenbrier County
- Lewisburg
- Ronceverte
- White Sulphur Springs
- and nearby areas
Property outside the maintenance routes? Nearby commercial contracts are often still workable — and installation is statewide regardless. Ask.
Our commitment has always been the same three things: professionalism, quality service, and customer satisfaction. Everything else is just how we deliver them.
Next step
Put us on your property.
Nearly five decades of West Virginia landscaping, a licensed landscape architect, and our own crews. Start with a walk-through.
Charleston & White Sulphur Springs, WV
Physical location:
1109 Piedmont Rd
Charleston, WV 25301
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 5569
Charleston, WV 25361