Garden Design Professionals in Oakland, CA

“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.”

“David did an exquisite job with my yard: it's an oasis and I spend as much time as I can outside taking it in. it's easy-maintenance, beautiful all seasons, and simply peaceful. The process was painless, and David listened carefully to what I wanted and "got" who I am. Moreover, he was mindful of my budget, and I never felt like I had to give up anything. Over the years I have contacted him with questions, and he has always been generous with his time and ideas. He is knowledgeable, talented, and creative. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his work!”

“Luis and his team are top notch professionals who focus on quality. I have had the good fortune to work with him on several projects to improve my home and backyard in San Francisco. The first was a fairly complicated deck rebuild followed by my request to build a series of planters from an architect's drawings. They did such a great job on those I asked them to replace all my exterior siding and even add a window which looks marvelous. I can't recommend Form and Function Landscapes enough. My experience with Luis is he has always been fair and honest. I know I can trust him and his team of landscapers, carpenters, plumbers and electricians to do a good job.”

“Working with Yaniv was an excellent experience for me. We did many projects together, mainly hardscape (backyard design) and every time my clients were amazed with the renderings!! I really appreciate his time and effort to design within the client's budget. I highly recommend Yaniv and his team.”

“Root Volume Cooperative was so great! from our first meeting i knew i could trust them and that they were very knowledgeable about water management and design. they really listened to my hopes and ideas for my new garden. that allowed me to let go and allow them to be their creative selves. what i got was way beyond what i could have imagined. they were able to incorporate my wish list (lavender, water chain, lighting, my daughter's hope for plants she could use for her herbal remedies) into their plans for a bio-swale, some natives and some water plants, a boardwalk made from a local arborists wood (he comes to trim my trees now), as well as reuse of existing materials, like the original concrete walkway. they were able to move one tree and keep the other 2 in place. Dante is such a joy to work with: he is calm, an artist, really listens (to me the most important part of any creative collaboration), was willing to work with my budget and how much i could handle at one time. we did some things in stages which really worked for me. i have and will recommend them to anyone. my project is on the website as marcy's garden. i have some before pictures of the previously totally wild meadow garden that had gotten out of control if anyone wants to see.”

“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.”

“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.”

“David was amazing to work with! He was easy going and very open to our ideas for our small yard. He never made us feel like our wants were too much and worked with us to include all of our wishlist. He was able to design the whole property, and was very knowledgeable with the plants he recommended. We got the final copies of the plans in a timely manner and he was overall a pleasure to work with. He really made us feel like our small space was important to him!”

“I am a Landscape Contractor and have installed many of John's designs. His plans are detailed and easy to follow. He is one of the few Landscape Architects that designs to a budget. The client will know the construction costs prior to receiving my written proposal. I enjoy working with John and his staff. Very professional and talented One of the best custom residential Landscape Architectural firms in the East Bay.”