Ornamental Gardens by Lisa

The contractor she used for our landscaping project took shortcuts and delivered generally poor-quality work. Less than three years after the project was completed, we've experienced extensive plant loss, multiple irrigation leaks, areas with insufficient mulch, and discovered that the entire yard was covered with weed fabric—even though it was not supposed to be used. She did promise to come out and add extra drip tubing to areas that needed it because the wrong tubing was used but never heard back from her So far, I have spent more than $7,700 to correct these issues, and there is still more work to be done. I'm extremely disappointed with the quality of the work performed and would not recommend her solely based on the people she works with.

We found Ornamental Gardens by Lisa on Houzz, and are very glad we did. Lisa was very knowledgeable and great to work with. She redesigned our front yard, keeping a couple of existing trees, a sculpture, some walkways, and a few select plants that worked well with her new design (some in place, others relocated). We really liked her knowledge about low water, low maintenance plants, her obvious considerations regarding the micro environment, soils, plant combinations, layering, and how gearing for appeal at maturity being more important than appeal on the first day. Lisa came out during the project progression to double check and adjust plant placement, and again to educate us on the short and long term watering and care plan. She was really professional, and made us feel great confidence in the outcome of the project. We have been enjoying the new front yard, and are excited to see it grow in and mature. We highly recommend Lisa for her design work, communication, thoughtfulness, and follow thru. She’s great!

Lisa did a great job designing the remodel of 1/2 acre of gardens. This included natives on a steep slope, mediterranean in the front and tropical style in the backyard (since we had existing palms there). She ensured the plants were drought tolerant and pet-friendly as well as beautiful. Her professional plans included 16 irrigation zones. I would absolutely hire Lisa again.

Lisa is great! She came to us via referral from one of the premier landscape designers in SoCal who specialized in California Native gardens. We really like the naturalistic style but wanted maybe some Mediterranean or other varieties of plants outside the strict CA native realm. This premier CA native designer instantly recommended Lisa which impressed us and gave us confidence in her. Sure enough, we loved the collaborative process with Lisa as she listened to what we were aiming for which was basically a very special but undefined naturalistic water-wise garden at our home in San Diego. All we knew is that we didn't click with the CA native style. Through an organized process we went back and forth on images of different plants and gardens and visited the nursery together to see a whole variety of options. It was a beautifully creative process that organically and slowly evolved towards a coastal Australian native direction (a direction we: 1. Didn't even know existed; and 2. Fell in love with). As this love was discovered with Lisa's help we decided to go all in on that style including with our fencing choice. The coastal Australian fencing and planting has a very unique and distinctive look and style. We were intrigued by how cool and mellow it looked. And loved how it was greatly unique to San Diego. Lisa designed a beautiful ensemble of fence, hardscape and planting while harmoniously keeping our three beloved and prominently placed citrus trees within the new design. We ended up with a low key, but "WOW!" garden that matched the vision Lisa helped tease out of us through her process. One of the descriptive words we had used to convey what we wanted to Lisa was "Zen." Not in the traditional Japanese style sense, but in the mood sense. We get regular comments from friends, neighbors and passers-by and that word "Zen" often comes with their kudos for our new garden. Lisa's process is methodical but also fun and casual. Her drafting of both the new hardscape and planting plans was amazing. She was organized, did excellent work at a competitive price, always delivered on time, and was a pleasure to work with. This carried into plant procurement and installation which she made easy and all around A+. We decided to continue the engagement to a quarterly visit. It is such a maintenance-free and naturalistic design it only needs quarterly check-ups which Lisa will teach us and help us to do as the garden grows up. We love everything about our garden now. We would NEVER have landed in this cool coastal Australian genre that we love so much without Lisa. And we would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking to work in the native and Waterwise realms.

Lisa's design skills were exceptional. Her deep knowledge of native California plants and drought-tolerant landscaping resulted in a stunning outdoor space that requires minimal maintenance. The rain garden in our front yard not only captures rainwater but also attracts a variety of butterflies and birds. The patio in our backyard is the perfect spot for relaxation and entertaining, thanks to its thoughtful design and low-maintenance landscaping. We highly recommend Lisa for her expertise and ability to create beautiful, sustainable outdoor spaces.

A landscape project at my home in Rancho Bernardo was just completed and WOW am I ever pleased! The entire front and back yards are goregous, designed with minimal future maintenance in mind, complies with increasing oversight by homeowner’s insurance regarding wildfire mitigation, and the final project cost came in at a more than reasonable. My 110% complete and total satisfaction with the end result is entirely attributable to the landscape designer I chose to quarterback the entire process. From her initial visit to my home to gather my preliminary thoughts and all the way through to final completion, Lisa Bellora was a constant presence every step of the way, offering advice, suggestions and oversight. Lisa’s guidance, supervision and constant communication were absolutely critical to the efficient, on-budget, and timely completion of this beautiful project. Looking back, there is no way that I could have successfully provided oversight and survived every aspect of the project on my own. Lisa saved ”my bacon”! Important to note is that Lisa quarterbacked the design and oversight of a landscape project just this past February located at a rental property I own in Poway. She did such an amazing job that of course, there was never a question as to who I would select for my home project. Lisa is batting 1000% for me and I am certain that she will do the same for you.

Lisa was wonderful to work with. My yard was a total do-over and I was overwhelmed by the options and process. She took the few ideas I had for features and plants and incorporated them into two great design options that included drought resistant plants, new cement design, DG path, rain garden, stones and a sprinkler plan. She was collaborative and incredibly detail oriented. I also appreciated that she could recommend a general contractor who I worked with and did a great job executing on her plans. Lisa has been back to visit and answer a few questions I had regarding the watering schedule and plant care. I really appreciated that extra time. I highly recommend Lisa. She is very easy to work with and talented.

Lisa completely designed our front and backyard landscapes with plants that are not only appropriate for the Escondido area but that also attract butterflies and bees. She is very knowledgeable and great to work with. Her plans are drawn out to the very smallest detail so that irrigation will be efficient for the plants. We love our new yard and very happy each time we look at it. We highly recommend Lisa!

Lisa came highly recommended to us by a friend, and we could not have been more thrilled with her services. Let me start by saying that Lisa's knowledge of horticulture, landscape design, and plant maintenance/health is vast. It's clear she has decades of experience in cultivating beautiful and functional outdoor spaces. Lisa took the time to understand our needs and goals for our yard. Our lot was basically nothing more than a dirt patch with rye grass when we bought the property. She helped us transform it into a lush paradise with low-maintenance, drought-resistant, native flora that is not only gorgeous but sustainable (a priority for me and my husband). Her eye and intuition for landscape design is just remarkable. The entire working process with Lisa, from start to finish, was smooth and exactly as described. No hassles, hand-holding, or headaches. She even gave us some excellent recommendations for a contractor to implement her design. We ended up hiring one of her referrals, and they were great as well. Ever since our installation, if we have a question or issue, we contact Lisa and she always gives us a prompt, helpful answer. Look no further than Lisa for your landscape design services—she is an easy A+ recommendation.

Lisa was great, very knowledgeable yet down to earth and reasonable. Our front yard gives us joy and we get so many compliments. Two thumbs up!

I am so happy with my new front and back yards by Lisa! Lisa had designed the yards for the original owner, which was one of the main reasons I was drawn to the house to begin with when I bought it. While I really liked the design of the landscapes, I had a different idea about the types of plants I wanted to see. I discussed a very high level feeling/idea of what I wanted the landscapes to look like, and Lisa put together a plan. She nailed it! Lisa is absolutely great to work with. She is super knowledgeable about plants and their care, what will work in the region and what may not. I highly recommend Ornamental Gardens by Lisa!

It was time to replace the water intensive grass with something that looked great but needed less water. I wanted to utilize the WaterSmart rebate which required using CA native plants and Lisa is a recommended landscape designer from the WaterSmart website. During the initial consult, she asked questions which helped her arrive at what kind of plants she knew I'd like and she put together a design with plants with amazing colors. I had no idea what I needed to do nor what would look good together, but she knows her plants and how they fit together to make a wonderful, low water rain garden. To this day, neighbors compliment my yard and the different colors present through out the year. Highly recommend Lisa!