Tashi is a plant lover first, which is a great quality to lead with in landscaping and gardening - especially in Berkeley. He cares for our garden in a way that others rarely have and sometimes suggests we do things because they are more beautiful - not because they are simpler. Like maybe I'll not trim that vine this time, but next time, after all the flowers are about to bloom and we shouldn't miss those. His thoughtfulness and trustworthiness make him valuable as our long term regular landscaping provider. He and his crew do regular work for us, but they've also undertaken larger projects like stone walls, steps, and clearing and leveling a back section of the yard where the previous owner had dumped a bunch of rubble. Like many service providers he's quite busy and can be hard to schedule, but once you get him and the crew, it's worth it. read more

Usually I would not take the time, or would not be comfortable writing a negative review, but after being left with such a mess to clean up, I feel it is necessary. The work Tashi provided was good, not that cheap, but it was fine. However, I was left with 9 extremely large trash bags full of roots and vines, that I was then left to dispose of; which weigh about 50 LBS each. I asked him to come back and get at least half of them, which he refused to do. It has been an arduous process, transferring an entire back yards worth of tangled wasted into recycling bags for the past month, and therefore it was not worth the cost of hiring this company. read more

Came by on short notice for a much-needed hedge trimming, and I was out of commission. His team was fast and efficient, and the hedges look lovely! We would totally use them again. read more

Our garden was a neglected jungle. It's still a jungle in a way after two years of Tashi's care, but that's the way we wanted it. He refurbished our decaying tiled deck, brick pathway and jasmine trellis and created two wood-fenced plots for wildflowers and vegetables, with a drip irrigation system. He added numerous colorful flowers and the white potato vine covering the fence on the border of our property, and has pruned our dwarf citrus trees and rosemary/ceanothus hedges to produce lots of bloom and fruit while remaining a bit shaggy. He now visits us once a month for lawnmowing and other maintenance, and has made himself and his crew available for small carpentry projects as well. We love his work and recommend his service as highly as possible. read more

Tashi Lama is an excellent, reasonably-priced gardener. He's sensible and easy to talk to. He has over ten years experience in Berkeley, Albany, Oakland and San Francisco. Formerly, he worked at the Golden Gate Botanical Garden. He's knowledgeable about plants both from his work and from classes at Merritt College. Tashi does organic gardening as well as landscaping (making paths, walls, irrigation, sealing or painting a deck, etc.), monthly maintenance (including lawn mowing), one-time clean-up, planting, pruning, weeding, and poison oak removal. I've known Tashi since 2003 when he had just moved here from Tibet. He took care of the huge garden at a house I rented. He did a terrific job and when I moved, I hung on to his phone number. I recently hired him again for a tough garden clean-up job and he's just as efficient, easygoing, and wonderful as ever. I couldn't recommend him more. read more

Beautiful transformation of our lawnscape that was beforehand a "jungle". Polite, courteous, responsive and attentive to our needs. Highly recommend. read more

Lama Gardening Service is wonderful. Tashi loves plants in a way I have rarely seen even among those who work with them every day, and his team of workers are superb and incredibly hard-working. I recommend Tashi and his team very highly. In fact, when our neighborhood was looking for somebody to come and help brushclear and clean up very challenging hilly properties in Kensington (right above Wildcat Canyon -- STEEP) we turned to Lama Gardening Service. We have done so now for three years in a row and they somehow seem to get better each year. They are also well-priced and did not leave anything behind. The same was the case when they cleaned our property several months ago after it had turned into an unmanageable jungle. The team worked for days cutting and clearing and carrying up the steep hill huge amounts of debris. I cannot recommend Lama Gardening Service highly enough. read more

I bought a house and since Toshi had done the landscaping prior to sale, I hired him to move a Japanese maple and to install a drip system in an area that he'd already landscaped. The drip system failed within two months of being installed. I reached out to him to have him come out and fix it. The first two times I reached out, I received no response. Then I reached him by phone and scheduled an appointment for him to come out. He cancelled at the last minute for personal reasons and I have not heard from him since. My kind neighbor replaced the drip controls with a spare one he had. Br in the meantime, some of the plants have died and I essentially threw away money. Nice guy and clearly knowledgable but did not stand by his work. I'm disappointed and out quite a bit of money and therefore cannot recommend. read more

Toshi's guys mowed/weed-whacked my lawn one time and they did an "OK" job. When I first contacted him, he got back to me right away and the guys were there the next day. Their work was nothing to write home about, but we were getting our house appraised, and I was happy it looked better. I have called Toshi 2-3x in the last week, but he has not gotten back to me. I'm very disappointed and would expect at least a call back saying "Sorry, we can't do it." I'll take my business elsewhere and while now we were looking for simple work, we are planning on investing more after house renovations. read more

Tashi Lama is awesome! We had his team come out and do rock retainign walls for us, and they look gorgeous! We liked them so much we have recommended them to family and friends. On top of working hard and doing great work, Tashi is a really nice person and easy to work with. read more

I'm so glad I contacted Lama Gardening Service after reading a positive recommendation for his services on our local neighborhood website. Tashi and his crew did a thorough job clearing weeds, removing ivy from underneath the deck and surroundings, and replacing old vegetation with native plants I had selected. Tashi makes sure that all work is done in compliance with the local Fire Department's recommendations. I will definitely consider Tashi for future gardening services. read more

Tashi has a green thumb and my plants love him for it. I'm not a fan of the typical suburban rake and blow gardeners that are out there. And I've been pleased with his knowledge, and abilities. I am so happy I found him. Added bonus for his very reasonable rates and excellent service! I highly recommend him and his crew. read more

This guy is a great gardener and honest. Money well spent. He did a great job on our lawn and ornamental garden. He really went out of his way to please! My wife was really impressed with the attention to detail in his work, especially pruning. read more

My family has been using Tashi Lama for several years now and I highly recommend his services. We totally redid our old Berkeley craftsman yard and he and his crew assisted with putting down a beautiful new decomposed granite ground and mulch paths and when it was time to sell, they made sure we had just the right curb appeal. Now that we are on an acre and a half in Lafayette, Tashi is able to help us identify what types of trees and plants we have growing on our property, keep the poison oak at bay, and perform necessary tree maintenance. We look forward to planning the future use of our land with him as he is a knowledgeable landscaper who creates beautiful spaces and is such a joy to work with. read more

Tashi is a miracle worker. He transformed my barren mess of a backyard into a beautiful English garden. He knows plants and has a great eye for design. And he is a great guy. Very easy to work with and have around. What he did with my garden was brilliant. I'll try to include some photos. I feel like I totally lucked out finding him and will have him maintain my garden forever. Another amazing thing is that he and his crew completely landscaped my garden built a small garden wall out of broken concrete (on his own initiative) and a flagstone patio, installed gravel paths and an irrigation system and bought and planted the whole thing in 21/2 days. And his price was more than reasonable. I could go on and on. if only I could give 10 stars. read more

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Tashi and his crew help me whenever I need a hand with my garden. They are quick, and neat. I will be getting help from Lama Gardening for many years to come. read more

Never came back. We met and he saw my backyard. He was hard to reach and busy. He never returned with a bid.

Tashi just finished weeding, pruning and trimming my yard. It looks great. And best of all, he knows native plants! He easily identified the natives in my yard and did not mistake them for weeds. I definitely plan on having him do more work for me. read more

I've looked high and low for a gardener/landscaper, who could give me some good ideas to complete my garden, plant needed additions and maintain all. I contacted Tashi, after many good reviews on yelp and told him exactly what I needed: consultation, planting AND maintenance. he said he only did consultations on the weekend, he was busy the 1st weekend and would come 2 sundays later. he arrived on time, looked around, had a few good ideas but wanted me to email him (so he would have my email) then I would choose from a list he would give me. he did not want to come from Albany to Orinda to do maintenance. he started to refer to "what a small job this was" and he couldn't really think of anyone to do maintenance of his work. I came right indoors and emailed him, I waited 1 week, never heard from him, i emailed again. I never heard back from him. It's ok if he was too busy to do the job or that it was too small a job, BUT IT IS NOT OK THAT HE NEVER RESPONDED TO ME. What a horrible way to do business. it was a wasted 1 month of my time to do something about my garden, I am so disappointed. I just want others to know this before they, too, wait 1 month and get nothing! read more

I hired Lama Gardening after reading the awesome (perfect) Yelp review and Tashi and his crew did not disappoint. They were here today and spent the entire time doing cleanup of my front- and back yards and they did a careful but thorough job; the only few weeds (no more than two handfuls) that were left behind were some that Tashi wasn't sure about. I've hired him for monthly maintenance and am looking forward to his help in beautifying my yard and getting it to its potential. read more

If anyone is looking for an excellent local gardener, I would highly recommend Lama Gardening Service. He just did a difficult project for me, which was to remove a large Hollywood Juniper, located in tight quarters on the corner of my house in my front garden. He and his crew did a remarkable job; it was done quickly, and so perfectly, that not even a leaf of any of the plants close to this Juniper were touched! They left the work site incredibly clean. Tashi is an extremely pleasant man to deal with, and does things on time and precisely as he said he would. He has many years of experience and is well versed in all types of gardening. I can only give him 5 stars, but believe me; I would give him 10 stars if I could! read more

Lama Gardening is the best. Tashi and his guys tackled our overgrown garden and whipped it into shape. We bought a house which had a neglected garden and it was too much for us to do ourselves. It was not too much for Tashi! Thank you Tashi. read more

I highly recommend Tashi if you need anything in your garden done. Him and his crew gets the job done quick with a great price. Would call him if you need a polite, skilled gardener to fix up your place. read more

If you are looking for a true gardener that pays attention to detail, has the skills to make your garden look its best and is reasonably priced, then Tashi is your man. It took me a while to find him - definitely a keeper. read more

I used Lama Gardening many years ago and kept his card for 5 yrs (I liked his work !) However, when I had him do a yard clean-up,just recently, his helper, (I imagine), cut down a plant that was at least 2' tall . I have called twice to get him back to replace the plant -to no avail. He also stuffed the green bin so thoroughly that Waste Management could not get it up the stairs so did not empty it. It wouldn't budge. So I removed the contents and bagged up the debris (6 tall brown bags). That was a really messy job! That mess, on top of his totally ignoring my request for him to fix his error, has compelled me to write this review. I had a man do a brush hall a few weeks before I called Tashi. He had cut down a plant, as well! Note to self "shame on me for letting someone in your back yard who doesn't know a thing about gardening". Then, Tashi does this. read more

Amazing company. Tashi, the owner is the best -- so nice, and his team does a great job. His prices are amazing. I cannot recommend them highly enough!! Tashi's company is very popular, so he cannot always call back same day, but he is totally worth the wait!!! read more

Tashi was introduced to me by another gardener whose schedule was very overloaded, and he soon replaced him! Tashi is a wonderful, respectful man with a delicate sensibility. He has an artiful eye, and knows plants and drip irrigation quite well. He works every day, and now more than ever since his family home in Nepal was completely wiped out in ten seconds by the recent horrific earthquake. Because he is in great demand, it may take a while to make a connection with him, but once he arrives with his crew, they get the work done quickly and efficiently. I can't recommend him enough! read more

I contacted Tashi based on the terrific Yelp reviews...and I'd like to pass the word that all the great reviews are well deserved. Tashi is delightful to work with, responsive to questions, and has a great eye for making even modest landscaping changes impactful and effective. He and his team did an outstanding job with updating my drip irrigation system, updating landscaping with drought resistant plants, and general pruning and cleaning. read more

They are not good at calling back and follow up if there is a problem. Very friendly and knowledgeable proprietor but the quality of work is not that thorough. I wish I can give a higher rating but the quality control needs to improve. I will not use them again. read more

I was excited to work with Tashi based on the reviews. We have an overgrown terraced garden in need of cleaning up, re-planting, and possibly a nice seating area created at the top to take advantage of the view. I wanted advice about the watering system and setting it properly, etc. Unfortunately, the day Tashi came to look at it, we had to rush out because our son had fallen and hurt his elbow and we needed to go to Children's Hospital. Tashi arrived as we were about to leave--I was actually calling him as we were walking out. I explained what happened and let him into the backyard. He said he would take a look and call me later. He never called even after leaving three messages over the course of a week. Finally today he answered his phone and basically rebuffed everything I said we wanted done by saying he didn't really see what needed to be done...or he didn't do that type of work...what? Everything I was asking for are things others have reviewed him for--that's why I called him. He was not forthcoming about any real reason why he wouldn't work with me such as being too busy or...? Maybe he's too good for the Richmond Hills? Wow-- really disappointed. read more