Being a first time homeowner is not easy. From landing the house and finding things to improve over…read moretime, my wife and I knew the backyard would be a very important space for our family, especially our younger kids. When we first moved in, the backyard was all cement, the grass was dead, it had mulch/tanbark everywhere, and the pavers were mismatched. While we had a temporary "fix" by removing the grass and installing turf, we knew we needed to go big. I went through countless hours of research, hesitation, and uncertainty for whatever reason, but I finally settled on a name that, after extensive research, felt like they would be the right fit for us. Enter Black Diamond! Stephanie Driscoll was our project manager and designer and Raul was the head of the crew that took on the job of totally revamping the entire backyard and the side yards. Stephanie was very easy to work with and loved the design that was initially proposed. Instead of trying to essentially price the job with higher quality materials or trying to add more where it wasn't needed, we were able to balance paver amount/variation for the pathways and borders so that it made sense both in design and budget. Needless to say, 4 months on, we are still very happy with how it turned out and how everything was done. We started the consultation/design process and contracting in December 2025 and broke ground in March 2026. Stephanie was patient in waiting for other projects to be completed since I also had to replace a roof, install new gutters, and repaint the whole house. By April 2026, the entire backyard looked as designed and blew my family away! Our friend and family complimented on how well everything was done and what a transformation it was. We actually enjoy the backyard a lot more now and so do our children. The pavers have held up very well thus far and most of all, it's safe for anyone to walk on. No sharp edges on the step-down that was installed, no tripping hazards, and no danger of water sitting and pooling in any one area. The rocks along the pathways complement the pavers and do well to keep costs low in the side yard as no one really hangs out on the sides anyway. Extremely happy with Black Diamond, Stephanie, and Raul! Thank you so much; looking forward to getting the front yard and driveway tackled soon!

I live in Monterey and discovered Black Diamond because I really liked what they did with one of my…read moreneighbor's front area.  It pays to leave your sign out! Frances was my project manager and on the first visit I described my vision and let her know I wanted to do some of the work myself because I had a limited budget.  She was very accommodating about that and drew up plans based on what I wanted help with.  She actually did a few iterations as we talked through design and my changes after I saw the plans.  She helped with design and material suggestions but also drainage suggestions that helped me feel confident I wouldn't have problems down the line.  Black Diamond did all the hardscape of pavers and prepped and installed my lawn.  I did everything else in the pictures. I purchased all the plants, but Frances was helpful in giving me ideas about what grew best in my area which doesn't get a lot of sun.  They are a bit pricey but I was willing to pay more because they gave me the confidence that they would do the work correctly.  And Frances was amazing to work with! It came out beautiful!  Their workers were not very friendly and didn't speak much English but they knew their business and Frances visited often to oversee the work.   There were lots of little decisions to be made and Frances was patient with me as I took time to decide on some things.  They also put in piping so I could run more irrigation, if needed and electrical wiring.  They also ran pipe for my propane tank hose so it would be underground.  My only frustration is that they didn't put string through or something that would help pull the wiring or hose through more easily.  A simple thing that would have really helped.  Overall, I am very satisfied and would recommend them.  They are pricey and their contract is pretty one-sided, but because everything went well, that wasn't a problem. Apologies for the pictures in random order.  Just a side note--I also used Black Diamond for my rental in Southern California and the project manager did a great job there too.

Just moved into the area and wanted to get the side yard developed. It's a small space but we…read morewanted something besides dirt. Went to Yelp and found system pavers. I set up an appointment and our design consultant was Maria Emmet. She provided a ton of information regarding the company, the type of stones she recommended, information on their artificial turf, and advice on the design. Because of the mild slope, she also mentioned I would need a retaining wall. I was hesitant against this since I thought I'd be losing space (on an already small space). Maria said that I would gain so much additional seating since they would make it a sitting retaining wall. She even provided a drawing of the design she had in mind. After that initial meet, we decided to move forward with them. Dan Burnham was our next contact. Dan came out and provided a quick draw up of the yard in person. He spray painted the dirt and let my wife and I see the design. After waking us through the process, his team came out and got to work. It was only a few days of work but the end result is exactly what we were expecting. Now I have a small side yard to let my dog roll on, a bbq area, and a place to just relax. These guys are top notch. I would definitely recommend these guys.

We would like to give our review for the exceptional service we received from Dan Burnham with…read moreSystem Pavers. They installed a fantastic putting green in our yard a few years ago. We noticed a water leak under the green and contacted the company to see if they would honor their work where apparently a sprinkler head was left uncapped. Dan reached out and sent his team to repair and the putting green looks as good as new and the leak is repaired. After the work was completed Dan reached out to make sure we were happy with the work. System Pavers, represented by Dan is a great and reliable company that stands by their work (even a couple years after installation). I would highly recommend Dan Burnham and System Pavers to anyone looking for a beautiful and challenging putting green or landscaping with an excellent experience. This added a lot of fun to have in our yard for friends and family-time fun.

Juan and his team were professional, skilled, conscientious and knowledgeable of their trade. Juan…read morewas honest, transparent and fair with the unforeseen challenges typical for this type of work. Highly recommend this company for your landscape needs. Sincerely, Brian Greene President BKG Consulting

SCAMMER ‼‼‼ quoted me $70,000 for a SHED ‼‼ no electricity no plumbing .. BEWARE .. ya can't scam…read morea scammer dude .. SHED OFF !!

I'm the Managing Director of Stonepine Estate -- a 100-year-old private estate and event venue in…read moreCarmel Valley. We recently engaged PM Landscaping for a significant paver and hardscape project, and I wanted to share our experience. We collected detailed estimates from four companies. Paolo's bid came in on the higher end, but we selected PM Landscaping for reasons that proved exactly right. From the first conversation, Paolo and his team were unusually responsive -- to our questions, our ideas, and the nuances of a historic property like ours. Finding a contractor whose design sensibility actually fits a century-old estate isn't easy. Paolo understood that immediately. We also had a tight window -- work had to be completed between event seasons -- and Paolo gave us the highest degree of confidence he could deliver on time. He also offered the best integrated approach to tying the new hardscape into parallel garden improvements, which mattered a lot to us. The result: on time, on budget, and beautifully executed. The finished work looks like it's been part of the property for decades -- exactly what you want on a historic estate. Every member of his crew -- including Roselyn and Julio -- was professional and considerate throughout. That matters on a property like ours. I would not hesitate to work with Paolo again, and I recommend PM Landscaping without reservation to anyone seeking resort-grade hardscape and landscaping work.

A huge thank you to PM Landscaping Services for recently completing the new turf installation in my…read morefront yard. The entire team was extremely professional--polite, friendly, and efficient from start to finish. The transformation was incredible; in what felt like no time at all, I had beautiful new green turf that completely refreshed the look of my yard. Five stars to Paolo and his team--they were amazing. I will definitely be reaching out again when I'm ready for Phase 2!

Daniel and his team were amazing and can't recommend them enough! Daniel had great suggestions for…read moreour design. Initially I had used Yardzen and he was so much better than what they suggested. His team put in a paver patio, brickwork, new landscaping, drainage and irrigation. Daniel himself checked in often and quickly answered any questions and addressed any concerns or imperfections. He has continued to check in after installation and will replace anything that dies within the first 6 months. He was very clear about additional cost when I added a little more to the scope of the project and there were no surprises. His team was friendly and hardworking and they cleaned up well after every day's work.

Used them for landscape maintenance for a number of years. Had problems they did not address (e.g…read more watering system shut off causing plants to die, water leaks left untreated) that cost me dearly. Often when I tried to contact them I would get no response, after multiple attempts. I'm not confident they showed up and performed maintenance regularly as contracted. I could go on.

Honest, reliable, approachable, and HIGHLY knowledgeable…read more I am so happy to have finally found a truly *integrative* landscaping firm that will create thoughtful design plans AND implement them meticulously. I love that I can rely on them to handle virtually everything my house needs. Chris, the company owner, has been nothing short of remarkable. In addition to holding a horticulture degree from Cal Poly and having run his own nursery, he has a team that can handle everything from hardscaping to irrigation to electrical to biweekly maintenance. What I love about Carmel Point Landscapes is their highly dependable "no job is too big or too small" approach. They are super organized and always return my calls and show up when they say they will. Chris is willing to help me with everything from design plans featuring California natives to stone selection for hardscapes to even weed identification. (His knowledge is truly encyclopedic!) I have found that while other design-and-build firms used to turn their noses up at certain random jobs (e.g. replacing sump pump housing), Chris' team HANDLES EVERYTHING with enthusiasm and precision. And while other companies would sometimes exaggerate their expertise in one specific area, Chris operates with complete transparency. When I wanted to have some very complex landscapes stairs installed (super long rise, flagstone, curved, with terracing and built-in-lighting and needing rebar-enforce concrete base), Chris was open about the fact that his crew hadn't done a stair project quite that specialized before, and he connected me with a top notch mason and on top of that, Chris was willing to coordinate the whole project. Also, for such a highly professional, integrative landscaping firm focused on the Carmel market, I have found the pricing quite reasonable. As they say in engineering, "you can have two of the three: good, fast, or cheap." Carmel Point Landscapes manifests the GOOD and the FAST, in addition to superb communication and just overall great friendly how-can-I-help-you-today vibes. In a nutshell, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

From the owner: Carmel Point Landscapes focuses on custom residential landscape design, installation and…read moremaintenance as well as personal and commercial scale horticultural consultation. With over twenty years of experience Chris and his team have deep knowledge of horticulture and will bring years of practical experience to bear on client projects. For a free landscape design estimate please call (831) 574-9837.

At the beginning of June, we set up a meeting with Kari at Eco Gal Habitats & Design. We had an…read moreputting green installed in May and we were looking for someone one to design the areas surrounding it, as well as purchase the plants and oversee installation. After Kari showed up and we began talking, it was clear that she really knew what she was talking about. I would classify her more as a master gardener. She even makes her own compost. She is so enthusiastic about what she does, it's contagious. I'd provided her several examples of the type of landscaping we were looking for, and deer resistant was top on the list, but we wanted color and we wanted drought tolerant, as well as lots of color. We're in Pebble Beach, which has a lot of deer. Kari had a break in her schedule and we wanted the work done in time for a family celebration the third week of June, so we started right away. She is incredibly hard working, as are her crews. My husband loves his yard and really enjoyed collaborating with her on the style and the plants. She offered amazing plants that we'd never heard of and the design was being built right before our eyes with extraordinary plants. It was rare that her crews left before 7:00 and were back at 7:00 the next morning. Many times, Kari was here until 7:00, and she was here to personally place the anchor plants and to ensure all plants were put into gopher baskets. She sourced rock so that we could install a home hardening effect next to our home (insurance companies like this), but she recommended doing it in a serpentine manner, so as to give it some interest. She also installed a rock arroyo for drainage, but also tied this rock into the rock we already had in our yard. Her crews also installed new irrigation lines and low voltage lighting in our yard. In short, it is a masterpiece, which will only get better as it becomes mature. Her prices were reasonable and very, very close to her estimate. We ended up adding fencing so we didn't need to worry about the deer ruining our beautiful yard, but she also has a fence company that installed the fence, which ties beautifully into our yard. Payment of her bills involved clicking on a link and inputting a credit card, which we loved. There is not enough we can say about the beautiful yard she has designed for us, lit beautifully at night, and which sparkles with color during the day. We so enjoyed working with her and her crew and wish we had more landscaping we could do with her. We'll leave a few photos so you can get an idea of what she did in our yard. Keep in mind that these plants will mature and fill in. We highly recommend Kari and Eco Girl Habitats & Design. Your yard, the hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies will thank you.

We hired ECO Gal and her team to do a small but complex job, and they were absolutely exceptional…read more Based on my experience, I would recommend them to anyone. Kari is extremely knowledgeable, personable and a great communicator, and the work they performed was outstanding. We will definitely be using them for additional jobs and recommending them to others in our Carmel neighborhood. Some other specific things I appreciated about Kari was that she is very capable, has strong problem-solving skills, accommodating, and she and her team have high standards. They were all very pleasant to work with, they were thorough, and her team cleaned up the work area after the job as well. Great experience overall - 5 Stars no question.

4-year-update: All the plants I have purchased from Rana are absolutely THRIVING. Also, I am very…read moregrateful to the Rana staff for their willingness to help me troubleshoot a few of the plants that got initially a slow start. (Turns out a few of the plants needed more sun. I had planted them in what I had *thought* was a sunny spot...but it was East-facing and Carmel gets a lot of fog. Later I transplanted them, at Pedro's suggestion, into the sunniest spot on my property, on a south-facing bank -- and voila. Problem = solved.) Zooming out a little, it's also worth keeping this saying in mind: "First they sleep, then they creep, then they leap." The reality is that drought-resistant CA natives can sometimes be a little more slow on the "leaping" process than common ornamentals because their energy will be going more into root production and establishing a symbiotic relationship with the soil mycorrhizae* during the first couple years. By year 3, all my plants from Rana had truly started LEAP and now they have graduated from drip irrigation and are their own self-sufficient beauties. The plants from Rana are truly top-notch. Go in with some foundational plant knowledge, and prepare to leave very, very, happy. P.S. *mycorrhizae = the fungal network through which most CA natives get much of their water. (It's one of the basics of understanding CA native plant ecology.) Even if you didn't know that, you should at the very least know the plants you want by their specific epithet (i.e. scientific/Latin) Name before attempting to shop wholesale. ________________________________ Dear other Yelp reviewers: Stop complaining about lack of labeling. The labels are indeed there, with at least one white label tag per each section of plants. It's not Rana's fault if you feel overwhelmed or if only know the Common Name of a plant and/or have no idea how to identify it visually. It sounds to me like maybe you shouldn't have been attempting to shop wholesale to begin with. Want to go buy some Toyon? The label at Rana (and just about all wholesale nurseries, for that matter) will read "Heteromeles arbutifolia." Toyon is just the Common Name. In other regions, people might call it California Holly. (One plant usually has several common names.) That is the wholesale nursery only uses the Scientific Name...to avoid ambiguity. So please, to those grumpy Yelp reviewers out there...how about you spend a little more time studying up on your plant knowledge, and a little less time complaining about a nursery who is simply doing things by the industry standard for wholesale?

Driven past the sign for this nursery that it was open with native plants for sale many times and…read moredecided to finally check it out. Actual experience was weird and unfriendly. As another reviewer mentioned, nothing is labelled and the plants are spread out so hard to find. Definitely go knowing what you want and they do have an inventory list online. That being said, the one person who came out to "help" us seemed eager that we leave rather than browse (got the vibe she either didn't want to help us or thought we were going to steal something.) Pretty odd in contrast to the welcoming sign on the road. Don't recommend, there are nicer nurseries in the area with native plants and better customer service. Don't know why they even bother selling to the public.

We had a great experience working with Purchase Green Artificial Grass! Eric was very helpful,…read moreresponsive, and professional throughout the process. He took the time to come out, discuss our options, and provide a detailed estimate. We also appreciated that he was transparent about the warranty coverage on both the labor and the grass. Eric was also very accommodating when it came to working with our budget, which we really appreciated. Communication was easy, and the entire process felt straightforward and stress-free. We're very happy with the experience and are looking forward to enjoying the new front yard. I would definitely recommend Purchase Green Artificial Grass to anyone considering artificial grass or landscaping work!

I first called, then came in to get turf supplies. I was finding it difficult to find the right…read morekind of turf infill for my project in my area. Junior was a great help and directed me to exactly what I needed, which they had in stock. Also, the Salinas Purchase Green store had excellent prices. This place definitely rates a 5-star review.