Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture

Name: Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture
Telephone: (925) 806-0643
Rating: 4.7

31 Reviews

Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers

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About Us

The collaborative design team at Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture (SFLA) creates "cut above" custom landscape design plans for luxury residential and commercial clients, houses of worship, historic projects and HOA's. Each design blends the architectural style of the structure, the surrounding area and the unique personality of each property owner. Every design is one of a kind, highly-detailed and will result in a beautiful outdoor space that brings joy and enlightens every sense. From start to finish, SFLA will guides their clients through the entire design project from design concepts, to final design plans, to overseeing the installation process. Whether there is a need for a swimming pool, outdoor patio, shade structure, irrigation, planting, lighting, bocce court, and more, SFLA will help you through the entire process creating the perfect design to match your lifestyle and budget.

Awards

Member ASLA Member APLD Member CLCA Member NARI

23 Projects

Huge tuscan home design photo in San Francisco

Pleasanton Paradise

This is an example of a huge full sun backyard concrete paver landscaping in San Francisco.

Classy, Cozy and Comfortable Backyard

This is an example of a rustic drought-tolerant backyard flower bed in San Francisco.

Botanical Garden Delight in Danville

Large elegant backyard pool landscaping photo in San Francisco

Business Details

Business Name

Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture

Phone Number

(925) 806-0643

Website

www.susanfriedmanlandscape.com

Address

San Ramon, CA 94583

Typical Job Cost

$50,000 - 500,000

Invest in a uniquely personal quality design starting at $5,000 for high level design concept.

License Number

3893

Socials

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Services Provided

Landscape Design

Garden Design

Hardscaping

Landscape Plans

Patio Design

Drought Tolerant Landscaping

Site Planning

Custom Fire Pits

Pool Landscaping

Custom Water Features

Swimming Pool Design

Gazebo Design & Construction

Design Consultation

Outdoor Lighting Design

Deck Design

3D Rendering

Drafting

Organic Gardens

Edible Gardens

Custom Bocce Ball Courts

Natural Swimming Pools

Construction Drawings

Contractor Selection/Project Oversight

Custom Residential Retreats

HOA Design

Irrigation Design

Landscape Budgeting

Landscape Lighting Design

Lawn Conversion Design

Lawn Conversion/Replacement

Masonry Design

Outdoor Kitchen/Bar Island Design

Pergola & Cabana Design

Planting Design

WELO compliance

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Areas Served

San Francisco

Oakland

Fremont

Hayward

Concord

Berkeley

Livermore

San Ramon

Pleasanton

Walnut Creek

Dublin

Castro Valley

Danville

Pleasant Hill

Lafayette

Moraga

Alamo

Piedmont

Blackhawk

Sunol

Diablo

East Bay

San Francisco Bay Area

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Credentials

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Write a Review

31 Reviews for Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture

Newest first

4.7|31 reviews

Work Quality

4.5

Communication

4.5

Value

4.5

Lauren Keane

Susan was a critical component of our full backyard remodel — start to finish. We has a vision, which she made even more amazing. We are loving (and absolutely living in) our new backyard. Her attention and professionalism is unmatched — plus, she's just an all-around great person. It was a pleasure working with Susan and I constantly recommend her to family and friends. She goes above and beyond.

October 26, 2023

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It's been such a joy to work with the Keane's - from design through final installation. They now have a backyard they always dreamed about - a place to entertain and create lasting memories!

Cyndi and Jeff Atherton

We had Susan and her colleagues completely redo our one acre lot in native landscaping. Hands-down, it has completely changed our life outside. They designed a 150 foot creek, outdoor kitchen, multiple sitting and viewing areas, a beautiful path that crosses the creek, and more. Our yard looks and feels like it is straight out of a magazine. Susan's team is professional, friendly, knowledgable, detail-oriented, and a joy to work with. In addition, they introduced us to an amazing contractor who, with his crew of six, worked intelligently and productively day after day. We cannot say enough good about them all. We would rate them 20 stars rather than five if we could. We've recommended them to multiple neighbors and friends. We found out about them on Houzz, also. So glad we were able to work with them.

September 10, 2023

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It is an honor and a thrill to work with amazing clients like these who embrace the beauty of nature and enthusiastically supported our "team" as their dream landscape came to life!

Neda

Susan's team proposed a very beautiful, practical, environment friendly design that included everything we had requested. We were so happy with the design that we signed up to have another home's landscaping done with Susan's team. Susan listened to all our objectives and concerns and had them incorporated into the design. The initial designs did not need changes and captured what we had envisioned exactly. They are efficient and are fantastic and keeping you updated with the progress of the project. Very dependable and personable team.

December 16, 2022

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

We are so happy to have been selected to design new landscapes for both homes, complete with all the bells and whistles for total outdoor enjoyment! Neda and Ali are so fun to work with!

Kristina Krok

Susan and her team were a joy to work with. Their design for our landscaping project is beautiful and incorporated all of our preferences and feedback. Communication was excellent and they went above to keep us informed and educated us on many aspects of plant selection and care. We highly recommend her.

December 16, 2022

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It has been a joy to create a new landscape design they love! The best is yet to come as the planting gets installed and comes to life!

Katia Huang

The SFLA team was an absolute pleasure to work with! From our first meeting/consultation with Ian, to delivery of our final design documents, we felt listened to, supported, and guided throughout the entire design process. Having never done any major design/renovation projects on our own, my husband and I were completely at a loss for where and how to begin the enormous task of rethinking our sizeable but oddly compartmentalized outdoor space to be more welcoming and livable. Ian was incredibly patient with us--he listened to all of our ideas and answered all of our questions (even down to the smallest of things like "where should we put a hose?"). Our overall timeline from first contact to final design documents was approximately 11-ish months, but I think everyone in the world is redoing their exteriors right now (and we weren't in a rush and we actually liked having time to really think about what we wanted, so the timeline worked for us). I love our final design, and I love that we were fortunate enough to work with a team who values working with native species, being pollinator friendly, and being mindful of water use. I would absolutely recommend working with the SFLA team, and I can't wait to make their beautiful design a reality as we move towards construction.

August 16, 2022

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

We are grateful for clients like Katia, who are passionate about their outdoor space and who put their trust in our design team and our process to deliver the detailed landscape plans they've been dreaming about! Wonderful to work together and the results are amazing!

R. Mizes

Simply put, Susan, and her team, have been FANTASTIC to work with!! The entire team is creative, responsive, responsible, patient, flexible, mindful of creating a series of spaces that blend beautifully, and just all around wonderful to work with. Susan interpreted our "wish list" to create a complete makeover of our backyard, which included: a customized bbq island with generous seating for 6, wine refrigerator, sink and storage; a built-in fire pit area adjacent to a berm with a stunning arrangement of plants, boulders and customized fountain; a large, covered dining area with heaters, lights and ceiling fan; beautiful landscape with additional berms and boulders surrounding the (reduced) lawn, and a stunning makeover of an existing back patio which is now backed by metal screens that are illuminated at night. The mixture of colors and textures of the plants that she selected creates a beautiful and constantly appealing visual. In addition, after the design work and detailed plans were completed, we asked Susan to help us work with the contractor we selected, often being our "voice" on many issues, and an experienced set of "eyes" to make sure the plan we created with her, would be executed as intended. This is the 2nd time we have worked with Susan and her team. They are exceptional. Every day ... every day ... we look at the finished result and are grateful.

September 21, 2021

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It's such an honor to work with such wonderful clients like Mizes'! They truly confirm the reason our team loves doing the work we do!

HU-79602122328

I paid Susan Friedman and the landscaper she recommended over $100,000 to re-landscape my front yard in Blackhawk. The outcome is so disappointing that it is hard to think about and harder still to write this review. I suspect Susan is a good designer but employs a very weak team. In fact, the designer she assigned to my project has left the industry. Up front, I sent Susan detailed photos of what I wanted: a modern, drought resistant yard. The result is basically over 50% tan bark. Incredibly, the landscaper selected the specific tan bark without showing the product to me. I wanted the yard to be dominated by drought resistant plants. Instead, I have lots of small plants even after nearly a year of growth. My yard is just a bunch of tan bark. The landscaper Susan recommended had no experience with such a job and the irrigation system is a total disaster, constantly sprouting massive leaks that waste water and don’t irrigate. I am planning to start over and hire a competent firm to redo the entire project. Steer clear of this company. Hiring Susan Friedman Landscape is the worst decision I have ever made.

September 1, 2021

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

In response to this client’s review, I am compelled to address these issues in detail that this client has raised. This review is an unfair criticism containing inaccurate descriptions that I will address one by one.

DESIGN: With all of our clients, including this client, we provide a collaborative and iterative design process allowing our clients to make decisions during every step of the design process. We start with a concept plan and budget showing the intended shape of the design based on their specific desires. After gaining client approval, we go to the next design step where we refine the design, and start to choose plants and lighting. Once again, after gaining client approval we finalize the plan set to include the final planting plan, lighting plan, irrigation plan and other details. This client was involved with every aspect and approval of all features of this design process.

BARK & PLANTS SELECTION: As stated in the design process, we formulate recommendations and refine selections of materials and plants based on our client’s desires and receive the client’s final approval. Specifically, we showed this client many drought tolerant plant options and we used those plants that James chose. We also informed this client (and all of our clients) to expect about a three year fill in period between plant installation and plant fullness/maturity. This client pointed out that it’s been less than one year since the plants were installed, so his plants have 2 more years to reach maturity. Because it’s early in the growth cycle, of course the growth still looks sparse. Note that we’ve had an exceptionally dry year, so that also affects plant growth rates. Regarding the non-plant materials, we spent time with this client at a masonry yard looking at options to choose specific landscape materials such as gravel, boulders, flagstone and bark mulch…and James approved these selections too.

IRRIGATION: This client is correct in the fact that there were leaks in the newly installed system that had to be resolved. But these leaks were not the result of a faulty design. To resolve the irrigation installation difficulties, and at no cost to the client, a professional irrigation auditor was engaged to inspect and provide solutions for repairing the installation. After these repairs were implemented, the auditor conducted a final inspection and the leaks stopped.

CHOICE of LANDSCAPER: As a point of clarification – the landscaper is not part of my team and does not work for my design/landscape architect company – we are separate companies. If the client asks, we will provide landscapers for the client to consider, but we do not select the landscaper for our clients. The client has the responsibility to interview and make the choice of landscaper, and then contracts directly with the landscaper they chose. This is the process that this client followed.

SUMMARY: This client was involved in the design, the selections of what was installed, and chose the landscaper who did the work. Based on what the client wrote, it is clear that the client wants to accept no responsibility for selecting and approving everything along the way.

FINAL COMMENTS: At SFLA, we work hard to get the best results for our clients and are very proud of the positive feedback we have received on Houzz with a rating of over 4.7 satisfaction from our clients. Our customer satisfaction rating is a stronger indication of how we perform, rather than this client’s review which is not a full representation of the facts. Our customer reviews speaks loudly and I believe that in 2 – 3 years when the plants mature, this client will actually love the results.

Sandy

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Susan Friedman for landscape design. We moved into our home in February 2020 and our backyard had no landscaping whatsoever, just a black tarp covering the whole yard. When we met with Susan, she asked us what we wanted for our backyard, how we planned to use it, and what our budget was. She and her team then provided us with a plan that included landscaping (trees, shrubs, and plants), hardscaping (two decks, a pergola, a fire pit area, a patio, a play area, a waterfall, and an outdoor kitchen). After receiving our feedback they fine-tuned the design and created detailed construction plans that included plantings, irrigation, and lighting. The project took a long time to complete (blame the pandemic), but now that it’s done we absolutely love our backyard. Every time we go out there, we feel like we’re on vacation.

July 6, 2021

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

This project was such a fun transformation! Mark & Sandy were great to work with and so appreciative of pollinator and wildlife friendly environment we created for them. All the features are just right for them and happy they don't have to travel very far to feel like they're on "vacation"!

Ja Nell Shepard

Susan, Michelle and their whole team are superstars. Excellent design and equally as important excellent service and follow up. After consideration of our vision and budget they presented multiple design concepts. They nailed it. After tweaking our plan they handled the biding process. We met and discussed three excellent bids and chose our contractor. Fantastic! Susan and Michelle met us at the vendor to help pick our pavers. They made site visits throughout construction which was greatly appreciated. Our relationship with these professionals greatly exceeded our expectations. They were with us from inception to completion. We have the landscaping we envisioned and more. Thank you team! Stu & Ja Nell

September 4, 2020Last modified:September 4, 2020

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It was our pleasure to work with such enthusiastic clients like Stu & Ja Nell! They were fun and engaging throughout the entire process!

Karen S

My email to Susan after completion of my project: "I am so thrilled to have a yard that is beautiful and inviting for family and friends. It is exactly what I envisioned. You brought it to life! Your attention to detail and to create a space that is functional and attractive have met all of my expectations and hopes for a gorgeous outdoor space. Every time I step outside I feel so lucky and pleased with the result!"

September 1, 2020

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

We really enjoyed working with Karen! She has very good taste in style and happy we could provide a new outdoor space that matches her vision!

Cliff and Donna Yokomizo

We are absolutely delighted with our new yard! We worked with Susan and her team by trusting them completely to redo our yard from an overgrown hodgepodge of native volunteers and some minimal plantings to beautiful front, back, and side yards that we are proud to have family, friends, and neighbors enjoy. They listened, suggested, and guided us through a project in which we totally trusted them to transform our space. We are so grateful and pleased with the results.

January 20, 2020

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

It was such a joy to work with Cliff & Donna! Always so cheerful and positive to be around. Many fun details and surprises went into their project. I'm so happy they love the results!

Mindy Murphy

Susan and her staff worked with me on a complete remodel of my backyard. After listening to what I wanted, I was very pleased with the designs they came up with. We tweaked them a bit and then I interviewed contractors that she recommended. Loved the contractor I ended up with. Susan worked so well with him and would come and site check the progress regularly. Susan helped pick out the pavers and stone for the project, but more than that she was readily available to call or text to help me pick out my bar material and furniture to make sure it looked good and fit the space. And it's all beautiful!

January 30, 2019

Comment from Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture:

We love working on highly detailed projects like Mindy's as every piece of the landscape puzzle has to fit together perfectly and get well implemented by a highly professional and skilled contractor. It was a great team effort!

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Susan Friedman Landscape Architecture