StringhamDesign

It’s rare that you find someone who is equally strong in creative concepting as in practical execution, with expertise in hardscaping and softscaping as well. Russ Stringham is that and more; a thoughtful partner with patience and resilience to work through designing and developing our very challenging hillside project, and assisting with multiple town review and approval cycles. The end result was a transformation of our Los Gatos property that enhances our lives every day and undoubtedly added value to our home and neighborhood.

Russ designed my front yard and backyard with great creativity and empathetic listening. Before hiring Russ, I had spent a lot of time thinking out the design and what my family would like to have. I had a pretty good idea on what plants to have, but had no idea on how to create outdoor living spaces. Russ spent a lot of time listening to what my goals were, and was able to accommodate my goals with his creativity to create lovely outdoor spaces that my family would enjoy for many years. Russ did not visit the site in person as he was remote. But we used Facetime to walk through the site and I also sent him a lot of photos. Together with the architectural design (a new built house), Russ was able to curate a great design fit for both the spaces and my family goals. I especially appreciate how Russ would spend time seeing through the construction part of the landscaping project and providing feedback on any details like gravel sizes and colors etc., even when our contract had ended. I am very happy with Russ's design and would recommend him without any hesitation!

Russ is fantastic. Our back yard project was challenging due to its unique shape and high retaining wall. Russ had the vision and creativity to make our small space look so much larger and more beautiful. We truly enjoyed working with Russ and would highly recommend him!

Russ is a brilliant landscape designer. He created an entire plan for front and back yards including hard and soft scape with in ground spa. He is very reasonably priced, trustworthy and fair, and very creatively talented but also practical.

Russ did our landscape design, we highly recommend his services. Our project came out amazing, we have received many complements. He worked with us to shape the vision we had for our property, integrating the acrhitechtual elements of our home into our landscape desgin. He is very knowlegable about plants, using them along with rock features to maximize effect . We love the fire pit area he designed in, it gets used a lot. I also believe having the "blueprint" so to speak to provide to contractors saved us quite a bit of money. We were able to put it out to bid and avoid the change order type discussions as we could always anchor back to the plan Russ did for us. Russ stayed engaged through out the project. Thanks Russ!

We had never redone a yard before, so we heavily relied on Russ for his expertise and recommendations. He was very easy to talk to, responsive and worked with us to design a yard that is both aesthetically appealing as we'll as functional. He is knowledgeable and professional, and accommodated our busy schedules well. It was a small job (and a small yard) and we were on a tight budget-- he was able to save substantial cost by reusing the elements from the original yard, so not only did we save money but were able to be environmentally friendly as well. The end product is MUCH better than it would have been had we designed it ourselves, so we are very glad we hired Russ (the lot is sloped with subterranean access points around the yard, so Russ had to work around a few immovable elements as well as factor in retaining walls). The yard turned out great and was completed in a shorter timeframe than originally expected.

When we first met Russell Stringham, my wife and I were impressed with his listening ability, thoughtfulness, and patience. After our first meeting, he had a "list" of rough ideas from us that were our thoughts on possible changes in our landscaping. Russell took our ideas and converted them into a draft plan for our home. He added many concepts, ideas and design features that we never would have thought of or included. After discussing the initial draft and a couple of meetings to refine our plan, Russell developed detailed drawings for a contractor. The end result far exceeded our expectations. Russell is a real gentleman. He is very attentive to the details. Our yard is a daily source of enjoyment for my wife and me. We would hire Russell again.

Russ is GREAT to work with. He came to our site and took the time to listen to our ideas. He went the EXTRA MILE to meet with city inspectors to figure out what would be approved. After hearing our ideas he would give his two cents but was never pushy about his ideas. In the end the city would not approve our original hardscape and deck ideas but Russ was able to put a plan together that still met our requirements and desires and in fact exceeded our expectations. We would HIGHLY recommend Russ. He is very very easy to work with and creates designs that are outstanding.

I have had Russ design and do construction guidance for 2 largish landscaping probjects, one in my sloping front yard and one in the front and back of a 3 building apartment complex. Both jobs were done in a timely manner and Russ was always respectful and courteous. The yards are truly works of art. Russ is very very gifted with hardscapes. The plants look great, and the rocks, boulders, hardscape designs in the paved surfaces are gorgeous. I couldn't be happier with his results.