Melissa MacDonald, Landscape Architect

We highly recommend Melissa! Our backyard was a barren, blank canvas following an addition to our home. Melissa’s process drew out our wants and needs, which she then translated to a few distinct design options. Melissa’s understanding of plantings is very impressive and our finished design is a pleasing marriage of natural and hardscape elements. Melissa delivered a clear and constructable plan set, helped us navigate contractor selection, and was invaluable during the construction phase of our project. We would absolutely use her again and highly recommend her services.

My wife and I are keen gardeners and our project was to landscape our backyard that sloped downwards away from the house at about a 30 degree angle. We understood to do this properly we would need professional help. We wanted an emphasis on local native plants, terracing, stone pathways and incorporating some features we already had. Melissa responded promptly to our enquiries and carefully listened and worked with us for the entire design process, providing professional plans before starting the work and adapting as needed. She also provided the option of finding contractors for us too, which we preferred, and oversaw the project to completion. Both contractors, one for general landscaping and one for the stairs/deck, were excellent and the effort and detail of each is evident in the finished 4 season garden design. Overall the garden is a wonderful addition to our property and we are both very happy with the outcome. We highly recommend Melissa for her expertise and professionalism.

We worked with Melissa to overhaul our backyard and transform it from a sad dirt lot into a beautiful and functional space for our family. Her process is simple and straightforward yet warm and personalized. We had only a few key design requirements (a space to lounge, a space to dine, and a grassy area to run around), and all of the rest of the details we left to Melissa. Her love of plants and her eye for design made the space more welcoming than we could have ever imagined. She found creative ways to stay within budget that didn't feel like compromises, and her suggestion to lightly touch up the front yard have made a huge impact in our day-to-day enjoyment of going in and out of the house. Another huge plus to working with Melissa is her network; we relied on her to bid out the project and the contractor we selected performed excellent, on-time work. We wished all of our house projects could go as smoothly as it has been to work with Melissa!

Melissa is a true professional as well as artist. We met with three architects before choosing her to re-imagine our entire outside property. She did a meticulous and beautiful job and we couldn't be happier. Melissa is an excellent communicator (including listening) and I never had a moment where I wondered what her thought process was. She also did a terrific job of managing the installation. In the end, we got more than we even hoped for.

Melissa helped us convert a small, unused, mostly-dirt backyard space into a vibrant and fun place to hangout. She worked closely with us to understand what we were interested in, ran through several options with us, and adjusted some of the details to help us fit within our target budget. Melissa brought ideas to the project that we would never have thought of such as a charming curving stone path and a storage unit built into the underside of a staircase. She picked great plants that have really transformed the space. We also worked with Melissa to run the bidding and project management both of which were done efficiently and well. We are very happy with this project and we heartily recommend Melissa to anyone who is looking to do a project like this.

We live in a custom built home, completed at the beginning of 2020. For the last three years, our landscaping was very bare-bones, and frankly didn't look intentional or complete - it was kind of the bare minimum given our budget at the time. The trouble spots included: a steep slope front to back that created drainage issues (and was a pain to mow), a cliff-like dropoff from the space immediately behind the house to the rest of our 1-acre lot, a generator that stuck out like a sore thumb, and a walkout basement with no inviting outdoor space to walk out to. It needed a professional eye and a vision. Melissa worked with us to develop a full vision for our lot, something that looked like it was designed intentionally, took into account the peculiarities of the lot, and would be much simpler to maintain. She was a great listener, quickly understood the aspects of the lot that we found difficult, and came up with a great set of plans that could be constructed in two phases. We appreciate the degree to which she understood our aesthetic preferences and worked those into the plans, both in terms of what features we would have and where they would be placed. Once we had a finished plan, Melissa also helped us bid the project to a number of contractors she has worked with in the past. We ended up going with the low bidder, but he did such a great job that you'd never know he was the low bid! Melissa was able to stay in the loop during construction to ensure that what was being built stayed true to the vision. Overall we're very happy with the results - we now have a gorgeous outdoor space to enjoy and have solved most of the landscaping challenges of our property. We will be building the second (final) phase of the project in the next year or two, following Melissa's plans, and hope to work with the same contractor. If you need to re-imagine your outdoor space and want a pro with a great eye to draw up the vision and help you through the process, Melissa is just who you want to work with. We heartily recommend her for landscape architecture projects big or small.

Melissa MacDonald successfully rescued our large landscape project that had stalled midway due to contractor challenges. Melissa translated our existing schematics into new and modified landscape plans and construction drawings. We greatly appreciate that Melissa stayed true to our original hardscape design intentions while encouraging us to think bigger - recommending and designing a beautiful new front walkway (an idea we had previously abandoned) and proposing substantial improvements to our softscape plans. Melissa sought and received bids from three landscape contractor relationships (all full-service and high-quality professionals). We ultimately chose one of her recommended contractors, and the outcome exceeded our expectations. We are excited to see our new plantings come to life in the Spring. Thank you, Melissa!

Melissa designed a landscaping project which transformed our side/back yards from a rarely used space into a beautiful garden and recreation area that we now love spending time in. Melissa provided many wonderful ideas, and her design did an excellent job of reflecting our conversations throughout the process. She incorporated our requests into her plan, including utilizing a large proportion of native New England plants. The project included: - New wood fence - Patio suitable for dining / entertaining - Small pea gravel multi-purpose area - Driveway re-paving / redesign for elevated gardening beds - Beautiful selection of trees, shrubs, and plants that are easy to maintain - Drip irrigation system In addition to the design, Melissa helped identify potential landscape contractors and conducted the bidding process. During the project, she came by on multiple occasions at different stages to check-in on the progress and direct plantings. Melissa's design has not only made our yard much more beautiful and functional, but the space also feels larger as well. The results have been nothing short of amazing, and we are enjoying our new yard every day.

Melissa transformed our outdoor space, not once but twice. For the first project, completed in July of 2020, she created an amazing patio oasis that accommodates a dining and lounging space. The plants she chose are beautiful and easy to maintain. They also look good throughout the summer. Each month, I think that the garden must be at its peak, and then the next month new flowers emerge and the space is even more beautiful. She also transformed the feel of the space when she suggested moving our shed, changing the layout of our stairs, and added some mood lighting. We trusted her judgment completely, and have never regretted that decision. For the second project, completed in June of 2021, she transformed the public side of our house. Our neighbors compliment it often. One of my favorite things about this second project is what she did with the parking/devil strip. She turned an 18-inch scraggly piece of lawn into a visually interesting and colorful plant/rock garden. The best part is that the plantings are hardy and don't need water or any attention from me.

Melissa MacDonald was the landscape architect on the project to completely transform our grubby uninspired urban backyard into a magical tranquil oasis. This was a tall order, but Melissa's design made the dream come true. Our desires required Melissa to incorporate many design elements on a small yard footprint, and she succeeded admirably to provide for: - outdoor dining and entertaining space - grill location - tranquil seating spot - beehive space - small fountain - enhanced privacy for hot tub - increase in permeable surface - improved drainage - beautified entrance - elimination of grass in favor of plants - bike shed Even though the space was small, she created varied functional spaces without the design becoming fussy or contrived. Her overarching design concept (after testing some options with us) was transformative: she completely opened up our back deck with wrap-around steps down to the bluestone patio and hot tub area. The entertaining and dining area feels much larger and more open, while areas of privacy are enhanced. Melissa was easy to work with, and she not only did the design, but also helped with bidding and identifying landscape contractors. And she also came on site to direct the specific plant-by-plant location for plants. Thanks to Melissa's design, we spend much more time in our outdoor space because it is now delightful -- it's like having a huge addition on the house at a fraction of the cost. Brava!

Melissa came up with an incredibly beautiful design for us. We had a huge project which encompassed the entire plot of land around our home, (including new pathways, steps, ourdoor kitchen, etc), and she pulled everything together in a stunning way. And she came through for us by providing paperwork in an expedited way when we were in a pinch. We are thrilled with our result.

Melissa was delightful to work with and made a beautiful landscaping design. She incorporated some interesting varietals. Looking forward to watching the design through the seasons.

We had a nice-sized backyard that was never used because it was unappealing and hot. We had no idea what we could do with the area, so we turned to Melissa MacDonald. Melissa completely transformed our backyard. It is now a place we use every single day--we work out there, we play out there, we hang out there. She listened carefully to all our wants and needs--fenced-in for the dog, shaded area that didn't block sunlight into the house, area for a vegetable garden, privacy from neighbors, and lots of plants. She came up with a few designs and worked with us to revise them to include everything we wanted. She was terrific about reusing things we already had (the bricks of an old patio were used elsewhere, trellises we already had were incorporated). She thought about things we hadn't even considered (drip irrigation, automatic lighting). She was easy to work with and meticulous in her follow-through. Highly recommended Melissa as a landscape architect!

Melissa created a landscape design for our house that was both tasteful and distinctive. The project was a large one. She was able to reuse a number of mature shrubs and specimen trees is a creative way, complimenting them with new plantings. She was great to work with, not only a wonderful designer, but collaborative, budget-conscious, and timely. We'd engage her again!

Great experience from design phase, getting quotes to project execution. Detailed plans helped in getting competitive bids. Melissa visited the site multiple times to check on progress and to make sure that quality work was being done. She also provided help with getting approval from the wilderness commission. Overall, very happy with our new backyard. Would hire Melissa again and recommend her without reservation.

We hired and recently completed a combined hardscape and landscape project with Melissa MacDonald. She is a total professional and understood what we were trying to achieve and her proposed plans fit perfectly into those requirements. Its rare to meet professionals who can deliver on what they promise. Melissa is one of those people. She is on time, very knowledgeable and intuitive, listens well and excelled with her part of the project. We needed someone to help us take 1/4 acre lot with house and help us make it inviting (curbside appeal) while making it relatively easy for maintenance and most importantly, make it beautiful to enjoy while we spend time outside. The other criteria that Melissa brought to the project is her thorough understanding of plants and trees. We love flowers and wanted to make sure we had blooming plants through out the Spring, Summer and Fall while keeping within a certain color palette. We are completely happy with her plant choices, size of the patio and placement of plants, trees and bushes and custom shed for additional privacy sight lines from neighbors. We are excited and looking forward to next Spring and Summer to watch the different areas of the garden bloom and grow. We definitely had a set budget and could have done a lot more, but we were lucky to find an excellent landscape/ build company who did everything we needed for almost 1/2 the price of many landscapers we got estimates from. Melissa worked well in several meetings with the landscaper and advocated for our combined vision of the property.

We hired Melissa to help us overhaul our entire yard. We knew we wanted to redo the two beds in the front, create a bluestone patio on the side of the house and add some trees. Melissa helped us find ways to refresh the plantings throughout the yard and make the new features work together. She put the project out to bid and we were able to contract with a fantastic landscaping company. We couldn't be happier with the end result. We would highly recommend Melissa if you are looking for someone to help bring your landscaping ideas to the next level!

Melissa is a talented and very thoughtful landscape designer. Her discovery process helped us unearth wishes for our landscaping that we hadn’t been able to articulate ourselves and add a few elements we hadn’t thought possible. Her patient approach then helped us hone a wonderful plan for all of our tiny plot of land: backyard garden, safe play space for our daughters, front yard, front door entrance path, driveway, lighting, a shed, and even a space to store those two kayaks we hope to buy one day. The final design is both beautiful and functional, and was completed on schedule. Plus, Melissa added a range of touches we could have never thought up on our own. For example, she figured out how to add a play structure for our daughters in our backyard, even though we don’t have the space for swings or slides. She also was a huge help after construction started when we stumbled into a series of problems with the pitch of our our property and difficult drainage that was causing our basement to flood. Highly recommended!

Melissa developed and supervised the implementation of a landscape plan to accompany our 2017/2018 home renovation and, from our experience working with her, we cannot recommend her highly enough. She is extremely knowledgeable, has creativity and vision for how outdoor spaces should look and feel, listens carefully to what her homeowners need and want, and is a responsive and effective communicator. We already had quite a few perennials and shrubs in established beds our yard, but the plantings needed to be moved during construction and then repositioned to a new design when renovation was complete. Melissa worked with me to determine where each plant should go in the new design and offered suggestions about new plants to add. Her suggestions were spot-on to what we needed, as was her help in suggesting a landscaper to do the work and in supervising its completion. The result is an lovely landscape that we enjoy very much.

Melissa totally transformed our outdoor space. After a pretty extensive renovation on our property we hired Melissa to develop a design for our entire lot. She is an incredible listener and designer who interpreted our wishes into a beautiful reality. We could not be happier. I highly recommend Melissa MacDonald!

Melissa's first design for our backyard was so successful, we hired her to design our side yard two years later. Her sensitivity to the screening challenges combined with her extensive knowledge of plant varieties were again top notch. Melissa stayed within budget, managed the bidding process and oversaw the installation. We were delighted with the entire process.

Melissa designed and helped the landscaper to plant a beautiful and unique side yard. She listened to our ideas and offered great solutions for our need to create a beautiful privacy border between our neighbor in a challenging area. Melissa incorporated our concerns into her recommendations and had a great working relationship with the landscaper we hired with her advice. I highly recommend her.

We worked with Melissa on a complete overhaul of our landscaping and hardscaping following an addition and renovation project that destroyed our yard. She was an excellent partner, helping us to balance the needs of our young children with our desires for a more sophisticated space. Melissa was an excellent listener and came up with several design options for us and refined them with us to fit our style and our budget, even getting creative in reusing some elements of our existing landdscaping in creative ways to help us stay in budget when bids came in a bit high. She was also skillful in addressing some subtle but material grading issues in our lot. She was a great partner from initial design through the bidding process and completion of our project. We feel fortunate to have found Melissa and recommend her highly!

Ms. MacDonald designed and has overseen a $45,000 rebuild of my front walk, front stoop, small back patio and driveway-the latter two areas to be completed in 2017, since we didn't have time to do the planting we planned for last fall. The driveway was particularly challenging because I live on a steep hill and we had to deal with drainage and regrading. Throughout the project, she has been a joy to deal with, pleasant, patient, competent and creative, with an excellent sense of design. She guided me through the planning with clear explanations, accurate estimates on costs, great flexibility as I considered various options. Once the major decisions had been finalized, she suggested and helped me hire contractors and oversaw their work; advised me on costs and materials. I am delighted with the results.

We highly recommend Melissa. We have a small yard in the city that needed to be updated after a home renovation project. Melissa's process in evaluating our needs and wishes was well thought out. She is straight forward, transparent, and easy to work with. And most importantly, her design work is exceptional -- full detail drawings/pictures/construction documents, etc. She was also very helpful in successfully securing a zoning variance for a shed we wanted to add.

Melissa is terrific. She worked with us to design our back yard, and helped transform it into a garden we're not sure we're worthy of. Melissa is a true creative professional. She listened to us and worked with us and understood our tastes and goals. Then she marshaled her design skills, technical knowledge, her contacts among vendors and contractors, and her project management skills to make the project a reality. We couldn't be happier, and recommend her highly.

Melissa was a delight to work with in every way. We were doing a big home renovation and needed to completely re-work the property. Melissa had the vision to create an urban patio (gorgeous) surrounded by beautiful, subtle trees, shrubs, and plants that are a wonderful mix of color and texture -- never ostentatious. She was incredibly responsive to questions and requests for meetings with the architect. Highest praise -- we have spent more time in our outdoor space in the last month than we did in the prior 8 years.

Melissa was engaged to provide a complete landscape plan for a large property in Newton MA in early 2014, The project continued through the Fall of 2015 and consisted of the planting of more than 4,000 new trees, scrubs and flowers, as well as significant modifications to the existing plants,. The plans that she designed were complete and easily understandable for the landscaping companies to execute. When the various times to plant arrived she was on site to personally place each tree or shrub in the proper location for the landscapers to plant, During this extended process she was helpful, available and creative, and she was an excellent interface with the landscapers. I would recommend her services highly,

Originally I had used Melissa for some landscape planning but ultimately didn't follow thru with the plans since we weren't sure how our landscape would end up. Sure enough 4 years later we did an addition and was ready to gut the majority of the landscaping. Melissa has been great from the start. She took the time to listen to visions, wants and needs and any changes that needed to be done. The end result was absolutely amazing. She designed this great landscape that I keep getting compliments on. I can't stop staring at the landscape myself and can't wait to work with her in the future for the side yard we have. It's been a great experience and I would definitely recommend her to other people!

I contacted Melissa to help plan privacy borders along our property. She was easy to get in touch with and was flexible in terms of planning meetings. She was thorough in asking what kinds of plants/shrubs/trees I like, what kind of look I wanted, what colors I prefer and how much maintenance I was willing to do. She came up with a great plan with pictures of the plants and a diagram of where they would be planted. She took the time to explain why she had chosen each plant. She was open to suggestions if I wanted anything changed or added. Overall she was easy to work with and it was a great experience!

Melissa listened thoughtfully to our ideas and wishes, sized up our property carefully and was happy to work with us in the way that suited our needs--making our options clear all along the way. When we requested modifications to the plan to get more color in, she quickly came up with a revision that achieved this. The cost for her services was quite reasonable. She was readily available and easy to reach, and when we weren't able to promptly carry out the plan she developed, she was quickly back up to speed and completely engaged when we re-contacted her 3 years later (!). At our request she made herself available to oversee plant placement on the day the contractor placed the plants in their intended spots, so she could make final adjustments as needed. She worked very well with the contractor. She was very easy to work with, a real delight. We would hire her again in a minute and enthusiastically recommend her to others.

Melissa was recommended to us via a friend after we struggled to get a solution for our tricky space with another landscape designer. Melissa was exactly what we needed. She came to us with a strong sense of design and diverse technical abilities, which resulted in a creative, practical, and precise design. She was not afraid to be bold and make recommendations that we change a few key/major things, like removing the large tree in the center of the space that we had hesitated to touch for years. We trusted her vision and are now smitten with the result - a space that was truly transformed. Melissa was timely, reliable, and was also a great advocate and liaison between us as the clients and the landscaping contractor. This was extremely important as there were several on-the-fly decisions that had to be made due to unforeseen complications with different aspects of the construction. She came up with flexible solutions and the end result turned out even better than her original design. We would not hesitate to recommend Melissa to anyone!

Melissa is absolutely fantastic! I cannot say enough positive things about my experience working with her on our landscape project. Melissa’s skills go above and beyond her wealth of experience and knowledge. Melissa provides individual attention and works to understand your family’s particular needs. She is solution-oriented, pays attention to detail, and is not satisfied until you get what you want. Melissa faces every challenge with a positive attitude -- she didn’t even flinch when we ask for a batting cage to be incorporated into our landscape! She is hardworking and works well with others. I trust her completely.

I know Melissa through a business group; we met to share information about photographers, drafters, bookkeepers, and other support services. She is a skilled planting designer - I send any overflow work to Melissa, I know she will complete the project quickly and beautifully and that my clients will be happy working with her.

We are thrilled with our outdoor living space thanks to Melissa MacDonald! She listened to all of our needs and desires for a yard, asked the right questions, and came up with a design that is perfect for our family. Melissa is responsive, prompt, professional and extremely easy to work with. We heartily recommend Melissa for your outdoor design needs.

I purchased water front property with an existing home that was demolished and rebuilt. The existing home was close to the water and in order to build a home with a basement, the land elevation needed to increase by 2 feet while maintaining the ability to utilize the boat ramp located in the middle of the property in close proximity to the new home. Snowmelt drive and walks required drainage paths as well. At the bottom of a hill and the end of a dead end road, challenges were present. Additionally, salt spray from the ocean was an issue for plantings. Melissa was able to accommodate all of the grading and elevation issues that challenged the project while overseeing her planting and stonework design on my 3/4 acre lot. She was plugged-in throughout the entire process. Bolder steps, bluestone walks, lawn and hundreds of plantings all irrigated with some lighting. I'm thrilled with the flowing design, seasonally colorful plantings and ease of access to my beach. Notably, Melissa was very instrumental insuring the project came in on budget, A strong recommend.

I am Jeff Simko, the owner of the Picot Company Landscape Construction. I have worked with Melissa MacDonald on many landscaping projects during the past years. Her designs are beautiful and our projects have been successful and well recieved by Melissa's clients. I would not hesitate to recommend Melissa to any clients looking for a talented landscape architect and one who is a pleasure to work with.

We have engaged Melissa to help us with our yard re-model. Still in the initial stages but we are very very impressed with her ideas and organization, and how well she assimilated our needs and wants.

Melissa was very easy to work with. We hired her to design a relatively small urban backyard. We had many of our own ideas, some of them strongly held. Melissa worked with us to develop plans, incorporating our ideas and preferences, with a very positive planning outcome. She then helped identify and select a contractor. For the actual construction, we were more hands-on than she is used to, but again she was able to fit herself into our preferences and intervened when necessary or requested. We were very happy with both the process and the outcome. Melissa was easy to work with and was very professional throughout. She was able to work well with the city, contractors and demanding home owners.

We are thrilled with Melissa's landscape design for our backyard. She navigated a number of constraints---sloping terrain, a large copper beech tree with its sensitive roots, and an open park-like neighborhood setting---to create an idyllic design. It suits our Arts and Crafts house and aesthetic preferences. Melissa is highly professional: she is on time, within budget, and respectfully responsive. I am eager to work on future projects with her!

Melissa MacDonald is a very talented and professional Landscape Architect. My husband and I are both architects and we had been trying to design the landscape for our home in the heart of historic Lexington MA. for a year. When we asked Melissa to help us, she promptly delivered a design that was sensitive to the traditional setting of Lexington's historic district and satisfied our spatial requests. The hard-scape is elegant and we have been enjoying the sequence of blooming plants since May. I am thrilled with Melissa's design and with her service. She worked seamlessly with the contractor who highly respected her expertise. I am happy to write this review because I have been recommending her to my clients and to my friends who have been admiring her work as well.