M.A. Desjardins Landscape Architecture

We engaged Melissa's help after losing our bid on a school fundraiser auction for her design services. We recently built our home and the landscape is a blank slate on a tight lot near the water. We asked for her help with pathways, patio space, and planting design. We also needed help addressing a rain garden that was installed by a volunteer organization near our street as it wasn't collecting the stormwater as was intended. We are so excited about all her design ideas, including a pergola that will also help enclose an outdoor shower and a water feature that ties into our roof drainage. We could never have come up with anything like what she prepared. We can’t wait to put it into action!

We contacted Ms Desjardins last year for a backyard project. She came to our house and listened to what we wanted and after some back and forth she gave us a plan for the backyard we never dreamed of but loved. With her guidance we put it out to bid and settled on a mid-priced contractor and work began. Her design came to life within weeks and the only delay being the weather. Now it's finished and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Her professionalism and her ability to take our thoughts of what we liked and make a plan that we loved was worth it to get a great backyard.

I am a complete novice when it comes to understanding what plants are suitable for this environment and how to provide a pleasing landscape.. I sought out help and found Melissa. I called on her and explained what I was trying to accomplish. She came over looked at what plants were there, what ones were beyond saving and made some recommendations. She developed a project plan incorporating the cost for labor, plants and a timeline for implementation. Everything went according to the schedule and Melissa was there to oversee the production.. I couldn't have been happier with the end result.

We contacted Melissa to provide us design inspiration and guidance where to place our pool and what materials to use for the hardscape and planting. She drew several concepts and we discussed which elements we liked in order to create the final plan, which I was able to give to a contractor to install. From start to finish, we couldn’t of been happier with Melissa’s. Thanks for a great experience!

We hired Melissa to draw up landscaping plans for a garage re-build project. We needed plans for the hardscaping of new stairs and walkways leading from the street and garage to our house, as well as a landscaping/ planting plan. Melissa took on a difficult project, as we are on a hill with complicated grading issues. She was totally up for the task! She developed a plan, beautiful drawings, a budget outline, and contractor bid documents all within a short time frame, as we were late to realize the scope of what we needed. She met with us and explained everything. She is a true professional and a very nice person to work with. She always responded promptly to any extra requests, like dealing with the city of Boston Public Works Department about a new-curb cut application. FYI, our project took about a year to get permit approval in Boston, which is ridiculous, but unfortunately not unusual. We now expect to start the demolition this August 2017, so that's why there are no images. I will upload some once the landscaping is done. I whole-heartedly recommend M. A. Desjardins Landscape Architecture! You are definitely getting your money's worth if you hire Melissa. I am updating my review posted June 2016. The project was finally completed this spring, 2018, after many delays (not due to Melissa, as she was not contracted to do project management). An important note to add was Melissa's level-head and commitment through it all. After the concrete pourers did not follow the driveway plans and missed the stone paving details that were required through the City's Planning office, Melissa suggested we hold off on sawcutting and removing those concrete sections, which may have compromised the remainder of the concrete, until the Building Inspection came to review it. In the end, we were not required to remove the concrete, which saved us time and money by not needing to install that stone paving detail. I am also finally posting some pictures!