Dawn Engel Landscape Design

Dawn Engel was recommended by our house remodeling contractor. We wanted a landscape re-do with automated irrigation and water-wise, easy to maintain plants that won’t get overgrown in a few years. We knew sort of what we wanted and she incorporated that plus plenty of new ideas. I really liked her approach starting with computerized renderings that we could adjust together, followed by the detailed drawings. Yes, I recommend Dawn. Her many years of experience really came through; she made it easy for us to get “un-stuck” and make the decisions needed to accomplish our goals.

It was my first time remodeling a backyard and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Dawn was inspirational to the success of the project. She patiently discussed options, endured all my questions as somebody inexperienced, and explained her point of view without imposing anything. I appreciated her knowledge and concern about the tradeoffs that need to be made (availability of materials, easy/hard to setup/build, cost, etc). When we aligned on a few ideas that seem promising, she input everything into 3d rendering software to generate views of the project that would allow us to make decisions. This allowed us to see the project coming to life, from different angles, at different times of the day, for different options. Finally, we took each element and refined details to get to a final design. Dawn converted all that to plans and details to give to the contractor that did the project. She also helped me with alternatives as I was negotiating additional details with the contractor. Overall it was a great experience and it was fantastic to work with her.

We hired Dawn to redesign our backyard and pool. She is so easy and delightful to work with. She’s very responsive and patient. Her work is impeccable. Our project just started and we already see that she works with talented people like South Bay Landscaping. Her services are very valuable and helped us form a complete overview and plan with which to work from. It was very important to us that we see what our project would look like completed and her 3D rendering was very helpful in that. Her services are well worth the investment and value. I highly recommend her services.

Dawn just helped us completely transform our yard from a pit of mud to a lovely, usable space. We have approximately half an acre, and put in a pool as well as hardscape patio areas, plantings, and a fenced in garden. She helped us with everything from design, contractor selection, bid review, material and plant selection. She is amazingly knowledgeable, kind, communicative, patient and just all around delightful to work with. Next, I will be engaging her to select furniture for our new yard! Highly recommend.

Dawn prepared a complete redesign of my yard, and I love it! I live in an Eichler and told her I wanted an oasis, and that's what she created. Everyone, including the mailman, stops by to compliment it when I'm outside. It has a natural flow with color pops in all the right places, a variety of green colors throughout, specific redesigns of hardscape where needed, and lighting that really highlights the spaces, including uplit spotlights on the trees and plants that are more special. She is also friendly and easy to work with and took my ideas into account. Overall I'm very happy with my experience and highly recommend Dawn Engel Landscape Design.

Dawn created an oasis for us in our backyard several years ago which sustained us during the pandemic! Both our backyard and our front yard have grown in beautifully and are so well designed. Since that time, I've reached out to Dawn for help with various things and she has always come through. I am so happy to have her as a reliable contact for plant recommendations as well as obtaining plants. Our yard in Sunnyvale is included in her portfolio on her website.

We hired Dawn to redesign 1/2 of our backyard - a rather tricky proposition. We had our yard landscaped 20 years ago when our kids were very young. Now 20 years later we wanted to leave some areas exactly the same (nice hardscape, perimeter tress etc) and completely re-do the rest. I had some very specific ideas of what we wanted to change and add: a new deck with a hot tub, a built-in fire pit, remove the lawn, new planting areas, add more lighting. Dawn did a fantastic job incorporating my ideas and integrating everything new into the existing backyard. The end result is awesome and feels like it was all put together as one cohesive project. She did a great job listening to my ideas, and challenging them when she thought there was a better approach. She also did a great job coordinating with our landscape contractor to keep the project moving along. When it comes time to re-do our front yard we will be having her back. Thanks Dawn!

I have know Dawn for over 30 years and would Highly Recommend her for any design work inside or out! She is fantastic to work with and you will be very happy to be working with Dawn. Thanks Dawn - Chet

We asked Dawn to help us plan for a drought-friendly lawn that would be inviting for us to live in more and inviting to bees, butterflies and birds. Dawn has a great catalog of plant knowledge and pointed us toward some beautiful plant choices with color balanced around the yards and around the year. She also helped us plan stonework for a rustic dining circle, a space for our grill to free up our patio for lounge furniture and three planters for some modest gardening. Dawn was thoughtful and responsive throughout the design steps. She was insight for the final placements and she has given us guidance on maintenance since the project completion. I would definitely work with her again and recommend her for other projects.

Dawn Engel is our amazing angel. She transformed our backyards into oases. First, she started by understanding our general tastes: straight, curvy, modern, romantic, etc. Also, she took into account all the different ideas I had saved up from Houzz. Then, we talked plants. And believe me, for some things, like trees, there was a lot of talking, looking when there was a rare tree we wished to get. Finally, she blends this all together and adds other thoughtful, luxe touches. Our yard is now a soothing, gorgeous extension of our home. Everybody who walks past our front yard comments on how beautiful it is! It has our own unique stamp on it that fits us perfectly. We could not ask for more. You will not be disappointed.

We've worked with Dawn for multiple projects now, both of which were significant remodels of our landscape -- one involving putting in a pool and the other where all the plants needed to be redone and new walkways, patios and steps put in throughout the 1+ acre property. She is enthusiastic, collaborative and professional. She's also an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to different types of plants! I've always enjoyed working with Dawn and have recommended her to friends and neighbors who have asked for her contact information after seeing how our landscaping turned out.

We are so happy we chose Dawn to do our landscape deign. We met with her to show her what our vision was for our yard and she put it in a design that exceeded our expectations. She was able to take our plain back yard and turn it into something we had always dreamed about. The project is still in the works and once complete we will provide photos and updates.