We absolutely loved working with Garden Architecture to transform our yard! Robert, David, Edwin,…read moreand Freddy were our core four-some--along with periodic visits from the rest of the awesome team. Together, they provided a mix of expertise, passion and hard work that was a pleasure to witness. To a person, they take pride in what they are doing, and operate with the utmost care and attention to detail. Highpoints for us: Multi-talented. The first thing they did was build a new set of exterior stairs. I can't quite describe what makes these stairs so wonderful. They are beautiful cedar stairs, with an elegant but understated design--but there's something more. The angle of the rise, the generosity of the tread, the gracious bannister--something about walking up and down these stairs makes me feel happy every day! But that was just one of so many things Team Garden Architecture did, and each surpassed our expectations. Robert's team laid beautiful stonework, fabricated a wonderful metal fence and wire mesh trellises, built a spectacular gate, and more. Everything they built for us has the same aesthetic grace and functional brilliance as the stairs. We were continuously amazed at the result and at the breadth of expertise on the team. So talented! And that was all before the planting! Design-build approach. We really appreciated Garden Architecture's design-build approach. They don't just hand you a design on paper that will theoretically be beautiful--they work with you to actually build the design, making modifications along the way as things come up and to ensure that it will work in your situation. Because they use this approach and go on to maintain some of the gardens they build, their team possesses an extraordinary amount of experience of what actually works in which circumstances. The result is that they generate tried and true designs. Custom. We never felt like Garden Architecture was using a template. In fact, Robert talked about the need to spend time on our site over time to be able to fully come to know our yard, how it was positioned in relationship to the sun, sight lines, wind patterns, etc. Our particular situation has a certain amount of casual funkiness (which we like!) and they worked with that to create a design that featured this look and feel. Robert found salvaged objects and worked them into the plan. David helped us place some of what we already had and chose plants that fit the feel. The process of working with Garden Architecture felt like a rich, flexible collaboration. The result is something that is unique and feels like us. They love plants! What a pleasure it was to hear Robert and David talk passionately about the delicate blue flowers of the dianella plant, the incredible texture of a river birch's bark, the size of a viburnum's blooms, or the amazing cannemois grandis grass that grows over six feet tall. Their passion was contagious! Robert took us on more than one field trip on which we hunted for the perfect tree or shrub or boulder. David, in particular, has an encyclopedic knowledge of plants and the conditions under which they will be happy. He has been super helpful as we learn to tend the plants on our own and I continue to hear his voice as I do my daily walk through the yard. What a pleasure to benefit from such authentic enthusiasm and deep expertise. It's worth also saying that for us this was an enormous job--one for which we had to save up. I would guess, that in contrast, ours was likely a relatively small job for Garden Architecture. Yet, they always--always!-- treated our project as if it was super important to them, helped us find ways to save costs, were game to rebuild an existing fence (rather than start new), etc. Having now seen all that Robert, David and team did, we consider Garden Architecture work to have been extraordinarily high value. We are so grateful for what they did and enthusiastically give Garden Architecture our highest recommendation!

Great design process, outstanding, multi-talented team. Fun to work with. Our outdoor space is now…read morea place we want to be in, when we aren't admiring it from the window. Came in under budget.

We are very happy with the fence. It looks great! We really appreciate all the hard work from your…read moreteam, especially during times like this (weather, COVID). If you could please let the men know that we think they did an amazing job and that they were very professional we would appreciate it. Thank you all for being patient with us as we decided what we wanted. We can see our property coming together so much better now. We look forward to working together again in the future. Carlos & Lizdey Osorio

They did amazing stone work and added a drip system for our landscaping. Ivan is the owner and a…read morepleasure to work with. We look forward to doing more work with them in the future.

Bill (owner) is very experienced and comes up with amazing solutions. This time last year, we…read morewould have given them 5 stars. In early 2023, Bill started depending on a new assistant who is rude, unreliable, and actually doesn't do the plan Bill and the customer agreed to ---- causing more expense for customers. The new so-called "assistant" does have some experience, but doesn't even follow Bill's directions. We hope that Bill realizes the newest "assistant" is actually hurting his business. He needs a lot of oversight. The new "assistant" yells and screams at crew. Even neighbors were disturbed by his rants on our property. We would like to work with Bill again, but we don't want the new "assistant" on our property again (he started as the "assistant" about February or March 2023, to our knowledge).

Bill and Cruz are awesome. They recently spent 2 months on my property, and did an awesome job…read more Bill came highly recommended from a family member, had them do some retaining walls and landscaping. It went so well I had them fix my bocce court that I just had done two years ago and it came out how we always imagined it. My only regret is that I didn't hire Urban Botanics two years ago. I recommend them to anyone looking to do work on there yards.

We made a very bad decision in selecting GardenCrafters and Mark Olson for the extensive renovation…read moreof our large garden. I am writing this with the hope of sparing others from wasting their money as we did. Mark takes no pride or ownership of his work. Most of the plants have died including a magnolia tree that was planted in an underground spring (Mark installed the irrigation system) or eaten by deer (he assured us that all plants were deer-proof). He has not returned to check on his work or responded to our questions or concerns. My husband and I are senior citizens and should have done a more in-depth reference check.

Two years ago we were in search of someone to upgrade our back yard when we found Mark. He helped…read moreus with the design, plants, grass, irrigation, lighting and hardscape. The end result was everything we had hoped for and them some. We would recommend Mark Olson I your looking for someone that really knows what he doing.

I hired City Garden Studio to help design and install a kitchen garden in our backyard in Oakland,…read moreCA. I knew of Helmina's work from the Berkeley Edible Schoolyard and the Berkeley New School garden and wanted to create an edible garden for my own use since I love to cook. I knew I wanted to support a woman-owned local business and am happy I chose City Garden Studio for our project which included soil testing, building and installing a raised bed, wine barrel planters, irrigation, and planting. I'd like to address the comments below about pricing to share my experience since it differs dramatically from the other reviewer. From our initial consultation through the completion of the job, Helmina was extremely communicative in regard to pricing and what was included in scope for the job. Her SOW included a detailed breakdown of pricing for materials and labor, noting that the price of lumber and plants can fluctuate. The final price ended up being $287 under the highest estimated amount. It took me several months to figure out exactly which design I wanted to move forward with, and Helmina was patient with guiding me through the various options based on our project goals. As another reviewer mentioned, Helmina is extremely detail-oriented and thorough, which are qualities that I appreciate. I've attached photos of our beautiful urban garden so you can see the great work that Helmina and her team did!

Through the recommendation of our contractor, we hired Helmina to help us with design and landscape…read morework, however, she ended up putting herself in the role of doing builds even though she knew we had our contractor lined up. Further to that, the contractor wouldn't provide estimates on the items she has quoted which gave her a monopoly on the pricing on the project. We were placed in a very awkward situation as it almost appeared as if the designer and contractor had been colluding. Further to that, working with Helmina has been the epitome of hidden surcharges. She overthinks everything and pays attention to detail that doesn't matter or add value. She went out of her way to ask questions with the contractor, however, she subsequently surprised us with an additional bill without any previous communication that she was going to charge us for each and every phone call, email and text message she sends to either us or the contractor. She did the same for asking questions to the City of Berkeley. Considering she's based in Berkeley, which I thought was the benefit to hiring someone local, she should be more familiar with city policy and even if she didn't, we shouldn't be charged for her to learn on the job. It was quite incredible to see that Helmina was not willing to accept there's a cost to doing business. The time for her to complete phase one, which is to design the overall schematic, was done in a rather timely fashion. However, when it came time for phase two, it took her 5 months to complete the finishing details and drawings we needed for the build. Aside from being frustrated over how long it took to complete phase 2, I received the final deliverable and invoice on a Friday. I acknowledged receipt of the completed work and asked a question about the invoice the day after. On the following Monday, she then harassed me for payment and wrote this ridiculously long email explaining how much unpaid time she spent in providing us with proposals (not even the designs themselves!), a matter which completely came out of the blue considering it was less than a business day since I had been invoiced. Apparently Helmina spent all her unpaid time pulling together proposals and overthinking things so when it came time to actually reviewing her work, we were already working at a time deficit. At almost every stage in working with her, she kept badgering us on how we've technically run out of hours before we were even able to provide feedback for the first round of reviews. If you're willing to be patient in working with someone who likes to overthink the details and be told what your design should be without you providing much input, perhaps Helmina can do the job for you, but be careful of all the hidden charges she'll likely spring on you. Make sure to have pricing sorted out upfront!

The best! I had to use two separate companies after a house fire and they were by far the best…read more They had to deal with fire/smoke/water damage and lead dust. SRH was extremely detail oriented and highly organized. They showed up with a large team for collection and were very professional. They cataloged each item in great detail and sent a excellent itemized list to our insurance company which helps with processing our claim and reimbursement. Later when organizing their drop off of our cleaned items, they were excellent in communication and on time for delivery. Our items were meticulously restored down to removing carbon deposits on old car parts! They fixed and restored broken chairs that were in our basement and made them look brand new during the restoration process. SRH's restoration of our child's toys was so detailed I felt comfortable handing them back to my daughter to play with. I would recommend them to anyone who has experienced a disaster and needs this service. I cried tears of joy when I opened their boxes and realized the care they put into restoring our personal belongings. Thank you to their entire team!

Absolutely, hands down, THE BEST Restoration / Moving / Storage company in the ENTIRE Bay Area!…read more Henry, Susy, Maria and the ENTIRE SRH CREW are all VERY professional, kind, and so pleasant to work with. I can't say enough good things about this company, they are just simply AMAZING from start to finish. We had an extensive water damage in our home and due to the work required we had to move out. Thankfully, the water mitigation company our insurance worked with referred SRH to do our packing/move-out and storage of our furniture and household items. I was so nervous and anxious at first because we've never had to move out of our home since we moved in, and we've never worked with professional movers so we had no idea what to expect. From Day 1 of packing, SRH crew put my mind and my heart at peace. These people are REAL PROFESSIONALS in their field! They were punctual (right on schedule), and EVERY single item in my house was so meticulously and carefully wrapped and packaged. Not only were they so efficient, they're also very respectful of their clients and their client's home. 7 months later, they came back and delivered our stuff in the SAME condition it left my house. The only difference, SRH wrapped and packaged my stuff WAY BETTER than when I purchased it. I'm currently unboxing my items now, and I'm still amazed on how well my stuff is packaged. How I wish ALL of the contractors and vendors we've worked with during the remodeling were like SRH. Thank you Henry and SRH for your valuable and quality service. WE NEED MORE BUSINESSES LIKE YOU who actually cares about their clients - especially at a very stressful time. It makes a huge difference and it really means a lot. Thank you and stay blessed! - Aura S.

My backyard was a mess. I needed something that my kids could play in but I could also feel was…read morebeautiful for guests. David brought his vision and expertise. I couldn't be more pleased. He was great to work with and I highly recommend!

Our sprinkler system has stopped working well - - David was able to successfully diagnose the…read moreproblem, fixed it, and in the process saved us water - - excellent bonus!

Jorge installed our garden in our front yard in the Oakland Hills. It was a big job--we had many…read moretrees removed, and the front of the house had only dirt and shrubs left. We hired a great landscape designer, and then Jorge did the installation and irrigation. We went from a barren landscape to a lush and beautiful native garden. See photos. He has also done our garden maintenance for many years. Great family, great job.

We have been using Jorge Zavala for many years to bring our rather wild vegetation to compliance…read morewith the regulations of our local fire department. He and his amazing team work beautifully together to not only make everything safer but also more beautiful. It's a pleasure to have Jorge and his friendly team work their magic efficiently and rapidly. I highly recommend Jorge for all your landscaping needs. You can reach Jorge at (510) 459-6359 to schedule an appointment.