Melissa MacDonald, Landscape Architect

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.