Sustainable Landscape Designs

We have worked with a number of landscape designers over the years and Sherri is on top of our list for being thorough, organized, and detailed. During the design process, she was attentive and sensitive to our needs and her documentation was impeccable and artful. Our front lawn has been transformed to a drought tolerant and wildlife friendly garden and each day, we are excited to spend time in our living garden. We highly recommend this landscape architect for your next garden project.

When we decided to landscape our front and back yards, the first major decision was who to hire for the design work – it was very clear that we needed “professional help”. A combination of the Going Native Garden Tour (to view landscape project results and talk with homeowners) and BAWSCA classes (to see presentations by designers), led us to Sherri and Sustainable Landscape Design. Lucky us! With basic guidelines for what we wanted (no lawn, drought tolerant, low maintenance, and year round appeal, Sherri did a remarkable job of listening, observing, and incorporating our comments during the design process to create the design. After helping to select a contractor to do the installation, Sherri kept involved in the project. We really enjoyed working with her throughout the project. With her guidance, we included several things we hadn’t considered that add so much to the result – focal pieces (a water feature and stone sculpture), lighting, a deck, dry wells for all the downspouts, permeable pavers for the driveway replacement, and a slightly wider driveway. The result is a landscape that uses mostly California native plants in a design that flows and provides something interesting and beautiful around every corner. We highly recommend Sherri. She is professional, yet personable; knowledgeable and personally committed to sustainable practices, but flexible, practical, and creative in meeting a client’s preferences; most of all, she made us feel like a partner in the project, not “just another job”.

Sherri did a major native plant design for our commercial site and worked closely with the installer to ensure the plants were healthy and the installation was as she designed. Because both the landscape company and myself were very new to native plant installation and management, her service was invaluable. She coached the landscape company on overcoming challenges with proper installation, then later in how to maintain and keep the plants looking beautiful. We have a very mature site now, but I continue to meet with her (along with the landscape company) on a quarterly basis so she can provide feedback and suggest improvements to the site. She is fabulous to work with!

(Note: Second photo was taken shortly after completion,) Sherri Osaka was a gem to work with. In the beginning she made sure to find out about my preferences, needs, etc. During the planning process she told me she wanted to get me out into the garden, and her design did just that. I still enjoy following her path through the garden. She has always been easy to contact since the project ended, and I used her services again for a smaller project in the front yard.

Created landscape plan for our home's front and back yard. Her attention to the plan's detail was most impressive. Provided oversight of landscapers who implemented the plan. Sherri was easy to work with and responsive to any concerns or questions directed to her. Every day my wife and I enjoy looking into the lovely yard she designed and watch the many birds that visit the yard. It is a delight to sit on our patio and relax within the surrounding hardscape and plantings.

Sherri has been an excellent collaborator and source of inspiration for over 20 years in our mutual quest to bring the most sustainable landscapes to our customers. I have been a landscape contractor and Sherri's name was always at the top of a list of landscape architects & designers that we used to steer our clients to. On this project Sherri was chosen by the City of San Jose, in a tough competition, to design a sustainable demonstration garden. She featured several different types of permeable pavements, including pervious concrete, permeable pavers, flagstone & recycled concrete in sand as well as native plantings irrigated with drip and sheet mulched.

Almost 11 years ago I hired Sustainable Landscape Designs to re envision both my front and back yard. We sat together for a couple of hours just talking about what I wanted. Sherri returned later with two design concepts for the yard. I was pleasantly surprised with how she was able to suss out what I wanted that I really was not consciously aware of myself. We were then able to pick designs from both concepts and created just the yard that we wanted. Once we had a contractor in place to complete our yard design I was thrilled that the contractor had virtually all of the information they needed to complete the project as planned. I never had to hover over the contractor to see if it was following our vision as Sherri had carefully documented it for them. Loved working with her.

We began working with SLD several years ago when - before the drought - we decided to go with low water use landscaping. We vetted several design firms and very quickly decided to go with Sherri Osaka and her firm, SLD. We have full high praise for Sherri and her efforts to positively work with us to install a variety of plants that bloom in rotation through the seasons and consistently attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Her understanding of how to place plants to obtain the most effective use of space and color is first-rate. Additionally, Sherri is very much a "people person" who always positively interacts with her customers, listening fully to their wants and needs. We now have a mature front yard with well-established plants and a relatively newly worked back yard that is maturing very nicely. As the back yard is still in its early growth, we've used that as the project date but our association with SLD dates back several years. The cost has been left blank as we have an ongoing relationship with SLD but we found Sherri's rates to be very reasonable based on the enhanced value of our property installing her designs.

We hired Sherri to develop a plan for our yard that used native California plants. We told her our likes and dislikes, colors, plants that we wanted. But we let Sherri pick what plants would be suitable to our area. She listened to our wishes and provided us with a gorgeous yard that we enjoy all year. We have hummingbirds, butterflies, bees visiting. The colors are to our liking. And best of all, the plants will bloom at different times, giving us a yard that is constantly changing. Sherri's finest asset is her ability to listen and to give her clients a yard that the client wants. She did such a good job with the front yard, we had her return to do the same for the back.