Landscape Architects and Garden Designers in El Cerrito, CA

“I have the most beautiful front yard in the neighborhood. I absolutely love it. Linda did the design & supervised the work. She incorporated my beloved roses into the native environment seamlessly. She knew that I have an affinity for manzanita, so she strategically placed them throughout my yard. She let me go on a nursery field trip with her to pick out the plants that I liked. My yard grows more gorgeous by the day. I sit outside on my bench & soak up the beautiful scenery and tranquility. I recommend Linda with total confidence.”

“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.”

“MDZA is a professional, full service landscape architecture firm. I have collaborated with the firm on a number of projects and find them to be very creative, solution oriented and timely. They are acutely versed in hardscape and softscape design. Of particular note is their ability to understand the client's desires and needs and work within a defined budgetary framework.”

“Rafat was a pleasure to work with and is not only very knowledgeable but has wonderful taste in design. We are delighted with our garden.”

“They do amazing and detailed work. They did exactly what I requested, and at a reasonable price. They have friendly and hard working staff, which is hard to come by these days. Highly recommend!”

“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.”

“Words cannot express how happy we are with how beautiful and functional our backyard is thanks to Tolalf. He listened to our ideas and asked questions about our lifestyle and our goals for our space (which included a pool). The result is absolutely perfect! Throughout the whole process, he was professional, creative, timely, and extremely responsive. He was always there to be a sounding board, giving us his opinion (which we greatly valued) as well as wonderful recommendations and ideas. His vision and creativity are astounding! We loved working with Tolalf and couldn’t be happier with our beautiful new space. Thank you!”

“Lisa and her team designed and installed a garden in front of our house that had previously been a dead zone. Lisa had great ideas and seemed very knowledgable. He installation team and great and very professional.”

“Joseph with Mirage Landscape is an extremely capable landscape contractor that is skillful in creating a wonderful project for even the most discerning client. Most contractor's are good at following the plans and getting the project in the ground, however with Mirage Landscape, they are able to look beyond the plans to foresee potential issues, understand material compatibility, work with client changes, and especially important, they marry their construction knowledge with sound design understanding. I can highly recommend Joseph and his team at Mirage Landscape to take your project to the next level. Drew Sivgals AMS Landscape Design Studios, Inc.”

“Audrey is great! Creative, knowledgeable and fun. She will work with you to create something unique and lasting. She has done two projects for us and continues to do the on-going maintenance to keep the garden fresh and lively. She cares about soil health, plant growth and is also knowledgable about water systems and the latest in drought irrigation technology.”