Yardzen

A Planting Plan should be a detailed document that outlines the specifications for planting vegetation in a particular area. The design we received from Yardzen was neither feasible nor usable and they are refusing to refund our money. Dealing with them has become a nightmare. Buyer beware, don’t make the same mistake we made! Here are some examples of the challenges we face working with them: Our first round Planting Plan included 153 plants in a 500-600 square foot front yard! We live in Northern California fire country, and included were plants such as Skyrocket Juniper which act as torches in wildland fire. (The Yardzen owners live in our area and should know what not to plant, IMO.) They included a flagstone patio seating area that was on a slope making it totally unusable for seating. They included as many as 60 plants that have no chance for survival due to sun orientation & included a tiny 10” high fountain that was not available to purchase. In the first and only included design revision, over 2/3 of the plants were plotted in locations that didn’t leave enough room for growth and/or their survival. Some didn’t even have enough room to be planted in the first place (e.g., two 5-gallon, 3-4’ wide plants in a 1’x2.5 space & 2 plants that reach 6-8’ wide plotted in a 1.5 wide space). Other examples: 4 large plants in a space that is 2.5’x4, 6 large plants in a space that is 2.5’x5, a Viburnum that grows to 6-10’ wide in a 4’ wide planting area, 7 Dietes and 1 Boxwood in 4’x5 area. In addition: •They included 200 plants that are listed as a “wildland weed red alert” species by the California Invasive Plant Council in Berkeley CA. Their website states that these plants “overwhelms all neighboring vegetation, climbing over anything in its path.” •The Planting Legend should be a complete document intended to be taken directly to the supplier for purchasing plants, etc. Our Planting Legend listed 42 plants when in reality, the Planting Plan shows 106. Somehow, they missed 64 plants? •A patio seating wall was plotted on top of an existing tree’s root ball. The adjacent planter box includes this tree which is at least a foot outside the parameters of said box. •Four plants that reach 5-6’ wide each are included in an area 11’ wide, eventually blocking access to our backyard. •Duplicate icons/symbols were used on the Planting Legend •The Hell Strip at the street is part of our front yard but not included in the design plan. When we brought all of this to their attention via email and requested a refund, their response was that they would like to correct these issues and give us the design we want, but we need to wait another 12 days for the first available appointment to speak with them. They asked me to call their scheduling number where no one answered the phone. They would not consider a refund but seemed happy to include their cancellation policy. Is it too much to ask for a viable and professional landscape design for our $1195?

After a 100 year old oak tree toppled down during a hurricane, destroying my swimming pool and backyard landscaping, I turned to Yardzen to create a completely new vision. Not only was the process easy and comprehensive but the design ideas and attention to detail were amazing. I had always wanted a water feature and provided some tiles and a jar fountain as inspiration. They created an integrated water feature that was breathtaking and has become the center showpiece of the yard. I would have been lost trying to do this project on my own.

Yardzen completed two projects for us. They designed a front yard landscape two years ago that included house color and foundation plantings. We loved the designs so much that we had them complete our backyard this year. I am so happy with the final design they provided us. They listened to our requests and used our inspirational photos and feedback to design a backyard we could afford to build and had every element our family would enjoy. I cannot wait to start this project and look forward to enjoying our new backyard next summer.

After I spent a few hours documenting my yard and explaining what I wanted, they spent several weeks "designing" my yard. I was so excited to see what they'd come up with -- I was especially excited to see how they'd develop the unused back of the yard and where they'd put the hot tub. Instead, I saw ... my exact same yard. With a table, a firepit, and a few less plants. No hot tub. No developed back area. What a waste of $1,500. Save your money and use a local designer who knows what they're doing.

I recently used Yardzen for my landscaping and I'm super happy with the results. From the first interaction with their team, I knew I was in good hands. They listened to my vision for my yard and brought it to life in a way I never could have imagined. I absolutely love my yard now!!! I would highly recommend Yardzen to anyone looking for a really easy and beautiful design.

I do not recommend Yardzen. My #1 disappointment is when I contacted them and explained that I didn't like the design that they provided, I never got a response back! I contacted them 4 times with no response. They ghosted me. I purchased their most expensive package (yard + exterior of the house. As far as the yard: They picked out plants that do not grow in my climate, they spaced them VERY close so the yard would be overgrown within 1 year. For example shrubs that grow to be 5 feet tall and wide were placed 2 foot away from each other. I have a hill in my backyard that they were unable to capture the slope at all. They just showed plants growing on the hill that could never grown on that steep of a slant. Regarding the exterior of the house design: My main complaint is that they put my deck's spiral stair case directly over a door opening (picture uploaded). Also, I asked them to keep the look of my 1915 Spanish Colonial house and they styled it very modern in black and white. I asked them to find a good location for my gutter downspouts and they just put them in the same position and colored them a different color (black). I'm not happy with the colors but I have no way to see different options because they stopped responding to me after they provided my design. I guess you get what you get. Don't use this service unless you plan to redo all selections by yourself or with a contractor. Very disappointed.

UPDATE - We were offered a partial refund for the headache. We began working with yardzen at the end of March. The designers struggled to get the layout of our yard plat right even after sharing with someone on their build team directly and leaving comments on their model of our house- when the initial designs were delivered the lot was still wrong. We gave feedback on our initial designs on April 19 and did not receive our final designs until today, June 7 (5.5 weeks later). The entire process is sold to you as a 6 week timeline so ours was nearly double in length. Not once during that period did anyone proactively reach out to me, and when I reached out to customer service I was told 4 separate times that “your designs should be delivered next week” - clearly their scripted answer. So today I’d finally had enough and asked for a refund, then all of a sudden my designs showed up. The aesthetics may look appealing, but the process is a nightmare! By the time the design came we had already made all design choices for our project, so I basically wasted my money.

Extremely detailed execution of designs from the satellite mapping of our property to our submitting photos we've been very happy with the Yardzen experience. Excited to get our full yard designs built!

We absolutely loved this experience and working with the YardZen team. And, the best is we LOVE our designs and can't wait to complete them. We have a new build and about 1/3 acre yard that we had no idea what to do with, but HOA requirements that said we had to.

My Yardzen experience was FANTASTIC. The entire process was very smooth and I'm over the moon excited to see the design come to life. Since finishing the design process with the Yardzen team, I've recommended them to everyone and anyone I in need of some yard beautification. If/When I move on from my current home or if I acquire additional properties, I plan on being a repeat customer!

So easy to use and work with. Love our designs and how they incorporated all of our wants and needs. I highly recommend using Yardzen.

What a terrific and fun experience. The process was clever and creative and the plans were better than I had hoped!