Drought Tolerant Landscaping Companies in Piedmont

“Past the Gate did a beautiful job with a new patio I purchased as a gift for my daughter at her home. Greg and his staff were friendly and very professional and I would use them again in an instant (in fact, I have now used them two years in a row for improvements to my daughter's property in Berkeley!)”

“Monica Perrone was wonderful to work with. She helped our group from start to finish in achieving our landscape goals. Monica drew out samples and explained in detail what our thoughts would look like in reality. She made knowledgeable suggestions of what types of plants would work best for our project and the reasons for these ideas. The plan even detailed the projection of long term water use needed for the area and the plants. Our project looks beautiful and we are very happy with the end result, all thanks to Monica Perrone's expertise.”

“Andrea designed a complete backyard remodel for us that involved extensive grading, hardscape and landscaping. The job turned out even better than expected and we constantly get accolades on the design. She chose the plants beautifully and 5 years out the yard looks better than ever and the plants have maintained and grown in even with restricted water use. I would highly recommend her and we plan to use her services again!”

“It’s been a little over two years since Christine and Sonya came into our lives and transformed our entire property to the zen-like oasis we wanted. In short, GardenWise did an incredible job for our outdoor project from conceptual design, detail design, materials and color consultation, to planting selection and oversight of project implementation through completion. We wanted to create an outdoor space that melded two different personality types into a space we would both love....NAILED IT! Christine quickly grasped the challenges of blending a very traditional exterior home with the contemporary art and look we wanted to achieve, addressing limitations by our city’s very strict low tolerant plant guidelines, and while also incorporating privacy. We were very specific in the type of design and plants we wanted in our project. Christine took it from there and was back to us shortly with a rough conceptual we found amazingly responsive to our tastes. While we had a very different budget at the onset, the vision we had would not have been accomplished. In the end, we were well-over our planned budget but through the entire process, Christine was transparent and offered many alternative ideas to reduce cost. In the end, can you really put a price on art? We would recommend GardenWise to anyone without hesitation. In the process of detail design, we collaborated well together and Christine was always professionally polite, yet sensitive to any views we had on colors and material options. She recommended many choices of materials to choose from, and arranged for us to have samples we could hold onto for a few days to think about so that make our selections, yet politely opining if she thought our choice would not work. Her planting design and selection was even more difficult for us to fully grasp yet she led us through this with aplomb and we bought into the flow and form nicely. Throughout the construction process, Christine remained actively involved to ensure that the design in its reality would meet our expectations. As in any project, there arose issues that she made sure were addressed to our satisfaction. From a brief first meeting, tour of our yard, and regular access to our online inspiration photos folder, Christine created for us an oasis of outdoor space and architecture that transitioned so well from the traditional exterior to our more contemporary style. Not having met Christine before this project, today we hold her personally and professionally in the highest regard. She truly creates artistry in her design. What more can we say? Thank you so much for transforming our property into the beautiful space it is today. We believe our front yard is the neighborhood favorite (if they could only see the backyard!) but certainly to all our friends and immediate neighbors. I’m glad we took the time to research local and accredited landscapers and that you were willing to take us on as clients.”

“We heard about Susan’s work from our son. He had hired her to do the landscaping for his front and back yards and was very pleased with her work. We met with Susan in October of 2011 and found her to be a wonderful, easy going and a comfortable person to be around so we moved forward with asking her to design our front yard. We didn’t have a specific plan in mind but we did want a front yard without have any grass. We wanted a low maintenance yard with drought resistance plants. Beyond that, we weren’t really sure what we wanted. Susan didn’t ask many questions but through conversations with us, she came up with a concept that was fantastic. As an example my husband mentioned that as a child he remembered homes that had front porches and neighbors sat on their porches and watched the world go by. I mentioned I liked places that were serene. From those conversations, Susan came up with a beautiful design that had a front porch and a fountain. We had never considered either of those items but were tremendously pleased with the idea. We didn’t change a thing in Susan’s final design and we couldn’t be more pleased. We love our front yard and neighbors have stopped by to admire Susan’s work As the work began, Susan frequently checked in with the landscape owner and crew to ensure they were following through with her design. When the landscape owner went on vacation, Susan was here daily to check on the crew. Susan was very fast to respond to questions or concerns we had and she was available to assist us with picking out the pavers for our driveway as well as the tiles for the walkway leading to the front door. She was extremely patient as we took forever to make a decision I would highly recommend Susan to anyone looking for a landscape architect. She is extremely easy to work with; has a lot of patience and comes up with beautiful designs incorporating childhood memories and lifestyle choices. When we are ready to start on our backyard Susan will definitely be the person we hire to work on a design for that.”

“My garden had good bones but the plants were all wrong. I wanted a garden that looked natural but well-kept, a tough aesthetic to pull off. I wanted lots of birds and butterflies. Mariposa Gardening has taken care of my garden for a few years now. The principal, Andrea Hurd, started by editing the original sorry collection of misplaced plants, replacing the losers with absolute winners. I now have a beautiful variety of textures, colors, shapes and sizes. Something is in bloom in all seasons. We are overrun with birds and, in season, with butterflies. Her maintenance crews have done a great job of keeping her work looking good. The trees are elegantly pruned; each one displays that gold standard "looks like it grew that way" look. Any special request that I make is quickly taken care of. Sometimes I get treats, in the form of new flowers or vegetable starts (I love foraging in my own back yard). In short I am completely happy with Mariposa Gardening and Design.”

“Kristen designed a beautiful makeover for our yard - front, back and sides. She asked lots of questions before designing anything - what we wanted (pavers, pretty flowers), what we didn't want (water feature, yellow flowers) and in general, how we wanted to use our yard. She came up with lovely, detailed plans for a traditional looking garden (with our traditional looking house) - that were revised slightly with discussion, then found a couple of contractors to bid on the work. She supervised the work of the one we chose, making sure they followed the plans. She recommended a new gardner - good choice. About a year later she replaced the few plants that hadn't made it (for no charge), and now almost two years later the place is absolutely beautiful! I can't tell you how many complements we have received ever since the job was originally completed - and they continue to this day!”

“Sarah Ray and her design build firm are nothing short of exceptional. Sarah and her crew restored our trust in the home service industry after experiencing a botched home interior addition & remodel seven years ago. Our experience with Sarah now sets the gold standard for any home service provider we hire in the future. We spent a month carefully interviewing 6 landscape designers, architects, and design-build firms. Sarah was always the front runner and knew the second we hired her that we initiated a great partnership and were embarking on an awesome ride! And it was, on every front. Sarah is not only a talented visionary, designer and expert in her field, but a great listener, collaborator and partner. We have a large flat backyard (about 5000 sq. ft.) that was overgrown and neglected. We had ideas of the style and design elements that we liked, but it was overwhelming to think of how to get there! Having Sarah shepherd us through the design to build process was a privilege and an experience I will always treasure. She is extremely approachable, upbeat, patient, and easy to work with. She was very open to listening to our ideas and iterating on design options together. We also hired Sarah to build/implement our master design plan. A full design-build firm appealed to us because of the seamless and efficient implementation of the design. Sarah is also very available throughout the build process and was onsite nearly every day, as was her foreman. Sarah also met us countless times at various suppliers so that we could carefully select our materials. Her build crew is talented and very hard working. They started at 7:30am and worked for 7-8 hours/day, sweltering hot conditions or not. We really appreciated the undivided attention and the integrity and all-around work ethic displayed by Sarah and her crew. You will also find Sarah to be very transparent. Her billing system is the most logical and straight forward approach I have experienced in the home service industry. The invoice is directly tied to our contracted line items whereby charges reflect only percentages completed on a weekly basis. All change orders were at my request, and were only represented in the invoice if we agreed to it prior. There were no hidden costs or surprises. So, aside from my change orders, the project cost aligned with the signed contracted budget. Sarah created a gorgeous garden space that is everything we ever dreamed of and much more. Our family is looking forward to enjoying this beautiful extension of our home, our new found sanctuary, for years to come. Sarah Ray Design comes highly recommended for any size project. Thanks a million, Sarah!”

“My husband and I wanted to redo our back yard and decided to look for a landscape architect. Jeff Wortham & Associates was the first website I found. While navigating his website I found picture after picture of how I invisioned my soon to be yard. After viewing one of Jeff's many videos on his website I felt he was the arcitect for us. When we met with Jeff my husband and I were impressed with his experience, knowledge of design, as well as, tree's and plants. He is easy to talk to and takes the time to fully explain your project from start to finish. It has been our pleasure working with Jeff.”

“Sue Miller of Miller Landscape Architecture took our weedy, uneven, unusable backyard and transformed it into a beautiful terraced garden perfect for relaxing and entertaining. She patiently listened to our thoughts and concerns, and designed and developed a plan that reflects our lifestyle. We now have expansive outdoor living space that fully suits our needs, including native plant gardens, lawn, horseshoe pit play area, deck/pergola, multiple flights of custom cut flagstone stairs, and a flagstone patio. We benefitted from Sue's design talent and construction experience, as well as her ease in working with contractors. She kept us updated throughout a multi-phased construction process, while providing suggestions and soliciting our input. We highly recommend working with Miller Landscape Architecture.”