If you are looking to start a backyard project, look no further than Better Landscape. This is a wonderful family business led by Cecilia and Steve, and we couldn't be happier with the incredible outdoor living space they created for us. My wife and I joke that they should change their name to BEST Landscape. From the very beginning, Cecilia and Steve were incredibly friendly and patient as we developed our backyard design. We never once felt pressured; they completely avoided upselling and instead provided us with plenty of fantastic options to fit different budget ranges. Even when we requested late changes to the plan, they were always accommodating and happy to pivot. The execution was just as impressive as the planning. Their crew was exceptionally reliable--always arriving on time Monday through Saturday, and sometimes even putting in hours on Sundays to keep things moving. You can genuinely tell they take pride in the quality of their work. Every single detail, from the flawless concrete countertops and tile work in our new outdoor kitchen to the modern paver walkways, fire pit, and turf, was executed perfectly. Beyond their craftsmanship, they were incredibly respectful of our home. The crew made sure to completely clean up after themselves at the end of every single workday. The entire project was truly a joy to work on with them. Thank you, Cecilia, Steve, and the entire Better Landscape team! I highly recommend them to anyone looking to transform their yard. read more

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Outstanding landscape contractor. Just completed a major backyard renovation. Steve and his crews were awesome from day one through completion weeks later. The entire project, which involved demolition of an old brick patio and overgrown planting, addition of new paver patio, retaining wall, water feature, cut stone path, lighting and of course new planting, was all ON budget and ON time. Daily check-ins and great advice was provided along the way. Highly recommend. read more

Better Landscape - New Pavers, retaining wall, water feature, sod and planting. - Landscaping Near Me - San Jose, California

Steve and his crew were friendly and efficient. They came recommended by our landscape designer and brought her plan to life. Would absolutely recommend! read more

Great one stop shop for backyard remodel. Cecilia did an amazing job designing our new backyard, Steve and his crew built it well and without surprises. It was a fairly large project and we are very happy with the result. I highly recommend them. read more

We hired Steve and Cécilia to remodel our front and backyard. They were very knowledgeable and professional. We are super happy with the results! Communication was excellent and their crews awesome! We highly recommend this company. read more

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We recently got our first home and desperately needed work done to our yard. Initially we were not ready as we had no clue how much (in reality) the renovation of a small yard would be. We got our first peak of a price earlier this year from Better Landscape when we met with Sharon, who was at the time the landscape designer. We had our own design planned and ... we found out that we needed to save a lot of money. We had met with several other landscaping businesses for quotes and our dream of being able to enjoy our yard became dimmer as the price tag just kept on getting higher. This fall, we finally were ready to get something done and we were again getting shopping around for quotes and came up with a more simplified design that we could afford. What made us ultimately choose Better Landscape over the others, was Steve's continuous follow ups and willingness to work with something that we could afford in our budget. After being given quotes, he was the only person (besides Black Diamond - who gave us a ridiculously insane quote) that kept in touch after our design changed several times and quotes were given. We liked that he kept in touch even when we were quiet and felt that he really wanted our business. Steve and his crew did a great job to our yard and finished within the time frame given. Definitely would recommend and would use again. read more

Better Landscape - Steve and crew redid our whole yard to a more modern, simple and easy to maintain back yard. He did an excellent job. Highly recommended! - Landscaping Near Me - San Jose, California

Steve and his crews are amazing to work with. His boss Cecilia (who happens to be his wife :D) is in charge of the design and plants while Steve would supervise the construction. We were finishing up with the remodel of the house and were looking around for a landscape company for our backyard. After interviewing a handful of companies, Better Landscape was our choice due to the reasonable quote and good recommendation from our cousin. For the first stage of the project, we just wanted to have the concrete poured. We were pretty happy with how the result turned out. They didn't just pour the concrete, they got everything ready if we would ever need to run irrigation or electricity in the future. We definitely got more than what was on the scope of the project. After selling my kidney, I decided to take the next step for the backyard so we called up Steve again. This time around, the project is a lot more involving compared to the previous job. It required building a retainer wall, deck, artificial turf, plants, running irrigation and electricity. Cecilia took our design and made suggestion on adding benches and added some elevation to the retainer wall. She also took the plant list that we had and work with the nursery to provide us an update plant list based on our budget. Being at home due to the covid, I had the chance to see things progressed everyday. Steve would come almost everyday, sometime couple times a day, to check on the project. The crews seem to get along pretty well with Steve. We got to talk a lot and he is one of the funniest people that I met. The job has ended last week and we LOVE how it turned out. Again, the team went beyond the scope of the backyard by cleaning up the side yard so everything would just look good. They definitely earn our trust for future project and we highly recommend Better Landscape to everyone. Please see the attached photos for the before and after. read more

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We bought our house a few years ago and have not been able to do a thing with the yard since. We closed our curtains and called it a day. The weeds were so tall and the amount of work was too overwhelming for us as new home owners. We had recently saved up enough to finally get started on our backyard and after doing a lot of research we had better landscape do the job. In just 10 days of hard work, they turned our useless "meadow" into a beautiful backyard just awaiting our personal final touches. We are beyond happy with our yard and finally feel like we can actually enjoy it! Thank you to better landscape and their amazing, kind, respectful and helpful crew! read more

Better Landscape - Before - Landscaping Near Me - San Jose, California

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I recently had the pleasure of working with Better Landscape. Steve and Cecilia came highly recommended so I was excited to work with them. They took my vague backyard ideas and turned them into exactly what I was looking for. They listened to my vision and helped me create the additional outdoor living space that I had wanted for a long time. Whenever I changed my mind or had questions, they responded quickly and nothing was ever a problem. Their staff was always on time, professional, and cleaned up when they were finished. The outdoor structure that was built is impeccable. It literally looks like an extension of my home. Their attention to detail is amazing. I also love that they stayed within my budget. I never felt pressure to spend more or add additional items. They created what I wanted within the price range that I was comfortable with. This was such a positive experience and I can't say enough good things about this company from start to finish. read more

Just a great company from start to finish. My wife and I wanted to complete a fairly minor re-landscaping project and we reached out to Better Landscape based upon a recommendation. So, Cecilia and Steve stopped over and evaluated our objectives, offered great input, and provided a timeline and budget. We approved both and we were then off to the races. Our job consisted of new irrigation, lighting, plants and ground cover. Also included a little needed design, and Cecilia was super to work with. The team showed up when they said they would. Left the look of the place clean each afternoon when they departed and at the end of the project, everything worked perfectly. We'd recommend Better Landscapes quite easily and without hesitation. They were creative, hard workers, easy to collaborate with and fair. You can't ask anymore from anyone. If you are in need of really great service, call Better Landscapes. You'll be happy you did. read more

This is my first review, which tells you something about the quality of Steve's work. When Steve first started, he was amazing. He did a great job and was fast at responding. However, the more that I paid him (nearing completion date), the more distant he became. I paid him the last payment for my yard three months ago, and he still has not correctly fixed the last portion of my yard. I am at the point that I will be reporting him to the state. read more

BL just finished our outdoor bbq. I am beside myself at how perfect it has turned out. Their two craftsmen were friendly, professional and meticulous. They took their time to do it right. They went far beyond "basic service". Hire BL, you won't be sorry!!! read more

Steve and his crew have done a great job with our weekly yard service. I switched to him after seeing the beautiful work he did on a full yard landscaping installation job including a pool at my friends home. I was frustrated with our previous yard service as they took forever to respond to me. Steve gets back to me right away and is very helpful. His crew troubleshot some non functioning irrigation and did a large installation of sand/DG/mulch quickly and efficiently. It is really hard to find a great landscaping company but he is it! read more

Better Landscape is run by a husband and wife team. Cecilia specializes in the design and plants while Steve supervises the construction and hardscape. They have a tremendous crew of builders who can create anything, even if you have just a picture to show them from a website like www.houzz.com. We contracted with Better Landscape for our approximately 3000 square foot backyard. It was a new home with a totally empty backyard. We came up with a general design that included an 800 square foot travertine patio, two grass areas, 3 built in benches, a massive, multi-level fountain, a fire pit, and a dining area, a veggie garden, and raised seat walls all around the yard. Cecilia drew out the plan with more specific measurements and the crew turned an expanse of dirt into a beautiful, resort-like backyard that is as beautiful as it is functional. It has added exceptional value to our home. The backyard is a very modern style and a lot of our inspiration came from photos that we saw on houzz.com, including a redwood landing right outside our sliding glass door, and poured concrete seat walls. Any major project will have wrinkles and a small amount of changes along the way. The true measure of a contractor is how he/she deals with those issues. Steve and Cecilia were extremely easy to work with in that respect. They did not nickel and dime us at all, and they were receptive to our suggestions. We were very involved with the process and we made several changes once the project was underway and they were really accommodating. For example: we wanted fencing to hide our garbage/recycling area and chose a more modern/labor and material intensive design than a typical fence. They built it, no additional charge. We added a complicated design with cut out portions for the middle of the patio. It required a lot of extra work (at the time we asked for the change we had no idea it was going to take so much more labor), again, no sweat. We made a number of changes like that and each time, Steve and the crew changed the design and kept building, zero problems. We have many, many neighbors who we've compared notes with and that was a big complaint for other people--that their landscapers were not flexible, and that there were a lot of hidden charges or add-ons that ended up ballooning the cost of their projects. That was absolutely not the case with Better Landscape, and we found that very refreshing and it made the process a lot less stressful. Major pros: --The crews are excellent builders. They literally can make anything based on just a photo and our explanation of which materials we want. --The pricing is reasonable and the quality of craftsmanship is excellent. --They are honest and they stick to their contract and even when we made a lot of changes they didn't jack up the pricing. They have a lot of experience with a wide variety of backyards and I'm highly confident in their ability to create the yard you want. In my opinion, the only area of improvement would be for them to be more assertive in offering advice and steering inexperienced clients. They're just so darn nice and easygoing :) I think we were pretty specific in our tastes and we were definitely high maintenance clients. Steve and Cecilia worked with us to bring our vision to life and I would definitely recommend Better Landscape. read more

I have waited almost 3 years before writing this review as I wanted to see how Steve's work holds against the elements of nature. And I am glad to report there is nothing negative that I have to say. I had hired Steve and his crew to remove existing concrete slabs from our frontyard, put in pavers, install a drip irrigation system, build a bench structure over some above-ground copper pipes and build & tile a semi-circular concrete stepped platform. Steve's quote was above the average of what I received from other contractors, but I chose Better Landscape 'cause I liked how Steve kept the conversation to the point and showed me how he could apply his expertise to get the job done better than others. Once the work started, it moved along at a good pace and was wrapped up in the time range that Steve gave me at the time of quote. The guys who put in the pavers were meticulous! I remember seeing them take out several pavers they had just installed because they got the design I gave them a bit off. The pavers along the wall edges were cut precisely, and barring one spot, there has been no subsidence. The crew cleaned up well at the end of the job. I do feel that Steve could have done a better job with communication while the work progressed. We had no idea what was going to be done the next day. For e.g., I was lucky enough to be around when the pump for the drip irrigation was being installed. The crew was going to install one underground and I wanted it above the ground. Also, his quote for the drip irrigation system was expensive. Overall, I am glad and very satisfied that I chose Better Landscape for the job. read more

Better Landscape is very professional, very friendly, and very good at what they do. They did concrete work in my front and back yard as well as pull out all the weeds from the house. I would definitely recommend Better Landscape to anyone. read more

Steve Ashley and his team did a fantastic job at completely renovating our yard. From start to finish he was completely professional and brought a lot of knowledge to our site. We also had our pool renovated and his team did a great job as well. Steve remained on schedule as well as on budget. Him and his wife are a team where Cecilia assists in doing all of the landscaping and helping pick out plants. She was also great to work with. I would highly recommend them for any job large or small!! read more

My wife and I had been thinking of doing our front yard landscaping for a few years and with 3 neighbors doing projects this summer we decided now was the time. I called these vendors, but they never called us back. I then went on yelp and fortunately found Better Landscaping. Cecilia met with us and did the complete design without any up front costs which I found unlike any other contractors. Her experience and recommendations really helped us with our final decisions. Steve and his crew did an outstanding job start to finish. His crew was extremely professional, courteous to us and our neighbors and did a great job at the end of each day cleaning up and organizing for the next day. They kept on schedule even with our last minute changes and I would not have asked for anything better from both of them. We had a budget and they did a fantastic job keeping to our budget while really giving us our dream project that all of our neighbors compliment us on. We look out our windows and watch the neighbors stop and stare and when we are outside, they always say how beautiful it looks. I have and will continue to refer and recommend Steve and Cecilia to all my friend and family. Great company that did an outstanding job for us!!! read more

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We recently had a large project done in our backyard. The design was by a man in San Francisco and executed by Better Landscape. Steve the owner is a pleasure to work with and very accomodating with attention to detail. He had fantastic follow up and the design came out beautifully. The yard had a blue stone patio with pergola and gorgeous fireplace. Another third of the yard had a central fountain with gravel pathway surround and the final third was a garden grassy area with ornamental garden gate and built in side buffet with granite counter top to hide our garden hose and provide area for parties. I would recommend Steve and Better Landscape highly and I am a picky person : ) read more

Called this company on April 12th and a left a voice mail to call back. No response until I called a second time on the 16th with one more voice mail. Cecilia called me on the same day in the afternoon giving some excuse for not responding to the first call. Just let go off that one and made an appointment for the 17th at 11.00 am. She came at the said time and spent about 30 minutes discussing the various jobs to be done. I was informed that an estimate would be provided sometime the following week. Called her on the 24th to find out, once again left a voice mail and as of posting this I have neither received a call nor the estimate. If she did not want to do business with me, she should have had the decency to call up and say that she was not interested and I would have been okay with it. This is only my review and in the future even if she wants to do the job giving me some discounts, I will NOT hire her. Period. read more

We had an amazing experience with Steve and his crew. I can't say enough positive things in this review to do them justice. Steve went above and beyond to make sure I was happy with the end result (which I definitely am). And his crew....phenomenal. They were always on time, kind, professional and just an overall pleasure. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you all for the hard work and our beautiful new backyard! read more