GreenHeart, LLC

Our front & back steps and the retaining wall at the end of the driveway were long overdue for repair and Cathy came up with an elegant plan that involved new hardscaping and landscaping that has transformed the overall look of our house. She was a joy to work with, and was meticulous in creating and presenting sketches, technical plans, and budget projections. This is not a quick fix, but a thoughtful solution with long-term use in mind. She arranged for 4 contractors, each with specialties in hardscaping/landscaping, railings, fencing, & lighting and each was prompt, skilled, and met schedules and contract amounts. Our neighbors have complimented the new look as well, and we're happy to recommend GreenHeart!

I had an excellent experience with Cathy. She made an attractive plan for the problem areas in my front and back yard with a focus on sustainable ,zone-hardy plants that will be easy to care for. She is a good communicator and very easy to work with.

We contracted with Cathy Carr to design and execute a landscape plan for the front and rear areas of our townhome, including an irrigation system and driveway replacement. She first interviewed us and walked through our home with us to get a sense of our style and preferences. She later presented a detailed professional rendering of her design plan, complete with an attachment of photographs of each of the plants chosen and a description of their appearance in each season. We were impressed and grateful for how receptive and collegial Cathy was as to our input and ideas. She brought me along to choose certain elements and was flexible in making changes to the original design. We really felt that she “heard” us. We were pleased with the subcontractors Cathy chose to do the work. They were professional, efficient and left all areas clean. Cathy was present or quickly reachable during all the work. The front area was done in the fall. It’s lovely already, and we’re excited to watch as it unfolds in the spring and beyond. We look forward to completing our back patio area with Cathy in the spring.

Cathy Carr at Greenheart Design was absolutely wonderful to work with. She helped my husband and I transform our vision for a more inviting front entrance with better connectivity to the whole yard into a reality. She consulted with our architect to tweak the conceptual drawing into the final project, assisted us in finding a great contractor for implementation, provided a landscape plan that enhanced the architectural elements, and gave us project management assistance throughout the implementation of her plan. We love the result and will enjoy our yard and all that it offers as a result of her vision and expertise. We highly recommend Cathy and Greenheart Designs.

Cathy is an absolute joy to work with. She is extremely knowledgeable but subtle in her approach. She listens carefully so her design is tailored. I love my new garden!

Greenheart was the best decision I made in designing my yard. The meticulous attention to detail and design was incredible. Cathy helped facilitate everything from getting ideas and concepts from me; walking through a large nursery with me to grasp fully my likes and dislikes; the drawing of the plan and redrawing updates; the ordering of plants and specific bulbs and specific placement. Cathy was always available for any questions whether small or large and has a gift as a great listener. Cathy was hands on, extremely professional, and was on site to manage all the facets of the project, from all the placement, to the planting, making sure every detail was perfect. Cathy was also incredible in facilitating the crew through the 6 day planting process, keeping smiles and laughter coming from the Team the entire time. A great experience all around. I wish I had another yard to complete just to work with Gardengate again.

We had the pleasure of working with Cathy this spring; we have a large lot and a realtively small budget, not a combo that many designers are happy to work with, but Cathy was willing to work with us to come up with a plan that we could install in phases over several years. She identified and came up with a plan to address a major drainage issue that had been causing aesthetic issues in our yard for years, as well as designing gardens to surround our existing deck. She also came up with a wonderful plan for a large area of weedy, thorny woods that had been unusable for over 30 years. Now, instead of pricker bushes and poison ivy, we have meandering pathways and a beautiful stone patio that is perfect for entertaining or just relaxing before and after work. Cathy put us in touch with a fantastic crew of men to execute the work, and we plan to use them to continue the plan in future years. Cathy was responsive, professional, friendly, thorough, and fair in all of her dealings with us. I highly recommend her for any of your garden and landscape design needs.

We spent several years interviewing certified garden designers, landscape architects and landscape design-build firms who bundled everything before finally finding Cathy. She offered exactly what we wanted and had hired for our home in Silicon Valley: the experience to handle our complex project, reasonable pricing for design services, optional pricing for project management services, and access to reasonably priced, experienced contractors. She was delightful to work with having knowledge of horticulture, hardscape and - very important for us - drainage and storm water management. We have a sloped lot with a huge driveway that wraps around the house. Being new to VA, we had no idea what 45 inches of rain did to a backyard coming down a driveway like ours. Our underground drains had all failed as well. 1960’s terra-cotta. Thanks seller! We had companies refuse to work on the project they were so afraid of the drainage. Or quote $10,000 just for drainage drawings. Cathy was fearless! And reasonable in all things. She also has really good taste in our opinion. The project was a big investment for us and so far so good. Her follow up has been excellent. She has made sure the inevitable little things have been taken care of. The contractors she recommended were excellent. They showed up. Cleaned up. Followed up. Their work seems excellent. My tree guys know them and say they’re great. We think Cathy is a great person. My husband is a finance guy who worries about the cost of everything. I’m obsessed with design, materials, plants and...is everything right?!?! Cathy kept both of us happy. That’s saying something!

What a wonderful experience I had working with Cathy! Our backyard was badly in need of a make-over and I was in need of a basic education about plants and landscape design. Not knowing much other than wanting to incorporate the much neglected yard, garden and patio into our outdoor living space (our two-level deck was where we spent all our time), I relied totally on Cathy. She spent a lot of time getting to know me and my family's lifestyle before she put pencil to paper. She collaborated with me on a beautiful and easy to maintain design and was open to any changes I wished to make along the way. Because I wanted this to be a turn-key project, Cathy identified top-notch stone masons, landscapers and lighting designers and was on-site to manage all the moving parts throughout the job. I just sat back and watched the magic unfold! The result is a very beautiful out door living space (on time and below budget!) that I look forward to enjoying all season long. Although the job was finished in November, this Fall's mild weather allowed us to enjoy all the colors of the garden before the first frost. The new plantings will be a feast for the eyes in every season. I can't wait for Spring when I can invite Cathy back to enjoy a glass of wine with me in my new little slice of heaven.

We had a great experience working with Cathy and are very happy with the end result. We hired her to create a plan to overhaul the landscaping and hardscaping on our property. She took into account our preferences, lifestyles and budget to create a beautiful plan. I really appreciated that she was generous with her time walking through the different types of plants, considerations for how to phase the work, etc. After working off her plan to do all the plantings and hardscaping, we finally love the look and feel of the outside of our house. Highly recommend working with her!

Cathy just helped us with the design, contracting and overseeing a complete remake of our back yard in Takoma Park, MD. The yard had belonged to our Great Dane who, in her sweet way, would just lie on or dig up and kill most plants. When we lost her, we set out on a total make-over. Cathy helped us choose a design that would minimize lawn and create more shape and visual interest; selecting shrubs and plants that will thrive in the shade and part-shade conditions of most of the area, while including some raised beds for herbs, veg, and annuals in the most sunny patches. She provides a detailed plan, and a full plant list with photos. We made some changes and she was great at figuring out how to incorporate our vision while steering us away from unrealistic ideas. Cathy also contracted the landscape and fencing companies and oversaw the installation. She has companies she works with regularly and it really shows. They were great and did excellent work -- and incredibly fast! The main landscape crew had three men on site for a week, and they took it down to bare earth, cleared bamboo and built a bamboo barrier between and the property behind us, brought in soil amendment and all the shrubs, and the whole thing nearly done by week's end. It was remarkable. Cathy was there every day to check and consult and make sure we made any design changes together. It was more than worth the cost of her fee to have that eye and questions put to us to make changes before installation as the reality always varies a little from the design when you see things going into place. We also redid our driveway and all fencing. The fencing company built the beds and compost boxes. They were terrific as well. I genuinely have nothing but good things to say about the whole experience. (Except getting the permits which I mostly did myself, and entailed painful negotiations between Takoma Park's arborist and Montgomery County's historic district.) It was not cheap, but our property is truly transformed as the photos show. Totally worth it! And we can't wait to see it with the shrubs grown in. Thank you Cathy!

Eighteen months after completing a home renovation, we were looking for help with landscaping. After seeing photos of GreenHeart projects on Houzz, and reading such positive reviews, I contacted Cathy Carr for a consultation. My husband & I found her to be open, knowledgeable & thoughtful. We enjoyed the sense of collaboration as we talked through ideas, color & textural preferences & our priorities. I liked that Cathy was attentive to how the positioning of plants would provide us with splendid views and privacy from the interior of our home & screened porch. Cathy’s extensive horticultural knowledge was always evident and inspired me to do more research as we explored plant options. We were extremely pleased with the plan Cathy produced. When we started the design process with Cathy, my husband & I thought we might use the landscape plan to guide us in installing the plants ourselves over the next year or two, thinking the cost of professional installation would be prohibitive. It is a measure of the confidence we had in Cathy that instead, we asked her to see what she could do, within the constraints of our budget, to oversee the installation. Cathy obtained a proposal from a trusted firm (Great American Landscapes) for installation of the plants, as well as a gravel driveway and gravel path. She was on-site daily to oversee the installation, including some modifications as the plan took shape. When I saw the enormous amount of heavy work this entailed, working through hard clay soil & moving tons of material to improve the soil & lay the gravel path & driveway, I realized we could never have done this ourselves. We are thrilled with the results. Moreover, neighbors and strangers are constantly stopping to admire our new surroundings; we highly recommend Cathy Carr.