Who Are the Manscapers? 5 Things to Know About NYC's Backyard Envy Trio
The grass is always greener when Backyard Envy's Manscapers are on the job.
Bravo’s new hit makeover show, Backyard Envy, follows the creative process of the Manscapers, a successful landscaping and design firm in New York, as they stage extraordinary outdoor transformations. The team, made up of James deSantis, Melissa Brasier and Garrett Magee, takes on everything from the rooftops and terraces of Manhattan to the backyard oases of Brooklyn, taming the concrete jungle and creating stunning green spaces. The show also has them heading outside their comfort zone to the suburbs near the city, where their design horizons get even more expansive.
The trio have been working together since 2014 and count the likes of Meryl Streep, Diane Von Furstenberg and Calvin Klein as clients. But just who are they? Here are five things to know about them.
1. Their business started as a side gig
The Manscapers launched their company in 2014 after Melissa and James, who were roommates at the time, completely revamped their backyard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It started as a side hustle and grew into a wildly successful firm.
2. They’ve got each other’s back
They really are friends. "We're three best friends, but we also work together," James recently told the Oneida Daily Dispatch. "We live down the street from each other. I mean, Melissa's baby is my god-daughter. It’s that level of closeness."
3. Garrett has mad plant-whispering skills
Garrett honed his green thumb growing up in the south as part of a landscaping family. He studied graphic design and fine arts at the Art Institute of Chicago, but he found his calling as a “plant whisperer” after attending landscape design classes at the New York Botanical Gardens.
4. Melissa knows her way around a construction site
Melissa began her career as a modern dancer and studied and toured with Alvin Ailey. She met James when both were students at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she worked for elite clients in commercial construction and interior design before becoming construction lead at Manscapers. She is also a mom to two daughters.
5. James brings the hustle
James grew up in upstate New York, the son of Syrian immigrants, and studied design at the Fashion Intitute of Technology. He worked for Ralph Lauren and traveled the world before launching Manscapers with Garrett and Melissa. He wears many hats — “interior and home designer, registered yoga instructor, and top rate schmoozer.”
Want to know more? Tune in to Backyard Envy every Thursday at 10/9c!
