Landscape Architects & Designers in Berkeley

“Ferdi Castillo is an amazing talent with landscape design, who also happens to be kind, warm and funny too. A delight to work with and I couldn't be happier with the finished product. Our home has a very difficult site, a huge elevation gain/drop, limited space, just a weird, bizarre site. What he created surpassed anything I could ever come up with and he was very flexible with our limited budget. We now are using our space so much more efficiently than ever before. He is so easy to talk to and work with, we were sad when our project ended with him. I would absolutely recommend him. Friends of ours, neighbors, etc. come over and notice our big changes and ask who the genius is behind it: Ferdi Castillo. Hire him, your yard (and family) will thank you!”

“Working with Yaniv was an excellent experience for me. We did many projects together, mainly hardscape (backyard design) and every time my clients were amazed with the renderings!! I really appreciate his time and effort to design within the client's budget. I highly recommend Yaniv and his team.”

“Sarah Ray and her design build firm are nothing short of exceptional. Sarah and her crew restored our trust in the home service industry after experiencing a botched home interior addition & remodel seven years ago. Our experience with Sarah now sets the gold standard for any home service provider we hire in the future. We spent a month carefully interviewing 6 landscape designers, architects, and design-build firms. Sarah was always the front runner and knew the second we hired her that we initiated a great partnership and were embarking on an awesome ride! And it was, on every front. Sarah is not only a talented visionary, designer and expert in her field, but a great listener, collaborator and partner. We have a large flat backyard (about 5000 sq. ft.) that was overgrown and neglected. We had ideas of the style and design elements that we liked, but it was overwhelming to think of how to get there! Having Sarah shepherd us through the design to build process was a privilege and an experience I will always treasure. She is extremely approachable, upbeat, patient, and easy to work with. She was very open to listening to our ideas and iterating on design options together. We also hired Sarah to build/implement our master design plan. A full design-build firm appealed to us because of the seamless and efficient implementation of the design. Sarah is also very available throughout the build process and was onsite nearly every day, as was her foreman. Sarah also met us countless times at various suppliers so that we could carefully select our materials. Her build crew is talented and very hard working. They started at 7:30am and worked for 7-8 hours/day, sweltering hot conditions or not. We really appreciated the undivided attention and the integrity and all-around work ethic displayed by Sarah and her crew. You will also find Sarah to be very transparent. Her billing system is the most logical and straight forward approach I have experienced in the home service industry. The invoice is directly tied to our contracted line items whereby charges reflect only percentages completed on a weekly basis. All change orders were at my request, and were only represented in the invoice if we agreed to it prior. There were no hidden costs or surprises. So, aside from my change orders, the project cost aligned with the signed contracted budget. Sarah created a gorgeous garden space that is everything we ever dreamed of and much more. Our family is looking forward to enjoying this beautiful extension of our home, our new found sanctuary, for years to come. Sarah Ray Design comes highly recommended for any size project. Thanks a million, Sarah!”