We were so glad we turned to AnandaScapes in the summer of 2022. Joel was professional, methodical and very responsive from the start, beginning with an intro about their landscape-design approach, a face-to-face kickoff meeting, and understanding our preferences via a Pinterest board that we collaborated on. He provided a maximum cost for the entire project up front so there wouldn't be any surprises and clearly spelled out the scope and his billing process in the contract. Joel was thorough and pointed out our property lines as drawn in county records, which we didn't even know ourselves. And when it came time to show us the design plans, it began with a draft, phasing out various aspects to spread out work and costs over time, and final plans in blueprint and digital form that described each plant and feature. He also recommended a great, local contractor to build out the plans, and the result is a backyard that feels like a haven to us and a beautiful gathering place to everyone who sees it for the first time. And Joel continues to answer any questions we have had since. So we'd highly recommend him to anyone! read more

AnandaScapes LLC - Landscape Architects or Designers Near Me - San Diego, California

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I'm super bummed by my experience. You hire someone because you aren't sure what you are doing and you hope that they are knowledgeable. We dropped the ball on our end, for not getting educated enough and also taking too long to execute the project. Because we took so long, we ended up realizing a year or two later all the problems with the design. It wouldn't be ethical to complain at that point or ask him to edit the design. But since we paid over 2k for just a design, I would hope the design would work. Instead, the design has all sorts of errors from execution to also, whether or not it's good for the plants. Such as the way he places plants next to each other, if they are compatible, whether junk would land on our plants, whether concrete would leach toxins to our edibles. I feel like I just wasted a ton of money. I'm not sure what the answer is, but find someone that knows what they are doing. read more

Joel is an amazing designer. He and his team transformed our backyard into a beautiful outdoor paradise. In fact, our space looked so good that we were chosen to be featured on HGTV's Bang For Your Buck! Besides his space design skills and plant knowledge, Joel is just overall the nicest guy and really spent time with us picking the best plants and plans for our space and really listening to how we wanted to use it. He really cares about his clients and treats each space as if it were his own. read more

There is a reason you see 5 stars on every review! Joel did an amazing job with both design and execution of our dated and worn landscape. Joel used many of the elements we had in place to work for our benefit and combined everyone's ideas into a cohesive plan (not easy when you are listening to 11 different units). Joel worked within our budget and brought a great deal of curb appeal and value to our complex. Working with Joel was a pleasure and very easy! read more

AnandaScapes LLC - Landscape Architects or Designers Near Me - San Diego, California

Joel Berlin entered my back yard and instantly knew we had an empty canvas to work with. His design concepts, his love of creating a space to be peaceful, his understanding of the plants that would enhance the zen and be poison free for my pets;? Joel made me feel incredibly secure in my choice and excited to start the garden and hardscaping at my new home. What a fabulous experience it has been. From dirt rocks and dead plants to a Zen Garden and space to enjoy morning noon and evenings. The gentle lighting, the colorful blooms, and the overall flow of the space is phenomenal. The transformation is incredible and majestic. Joel's support and caring has been so important for my emotional need in creating a space to love spending time in whether alone or surrounded by friends. read more

I got the privilege to work with Joel Berlin at Ananda Scapes on a project at my home over these last few weeks. I am a DIY guy and over the last 18 months or so, I ripped out my driveway side yard, my front yard and a slope that looks up to the flat front yard from the street. I did the slope in lava after cutting in a 8 foot tall med palm in the slope with a 20 pound hand held jack hammer. What a workout that was. I cut out the side yard sod with a sod cutter............what a freaking beating. Home Depot says look a video on line before they rent it to you. It looks like a 70 year old guy cutting sod like butter. Holy cow no way. It is a tough ordeal which I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN. After cutting out all of the top yard sod with a front in loader, which was A TOTAL BLAST diesel rumbling thrill, then doing the weed mat on everything, then all the stone, then hiring out mow curb for a pair of stacked end on end figure 8's in the flat top yard for a planter..............and then bringing in by my hands and wheel barrow 3 plus yards of quality top soil to build the figure eights within the mow curb layout into a rolling hilly golf course kind of shape.....................I WAS DONE. Multi size River Rock on the side yard...........and River rock surrounds the mow curb which makes a nice texture color distinction between the flat top yard and the lava slope running down to the street.........which was/is the last step. The grey mow curb is nice eye candy and a in grey a great contrast to the ruby lava and Arizona River Rock. Waited for the rains to come to soak it all in and harden the new wavy plains of my figure eights planter bed..............then I had to figure out what to do with planting the 60x15 paring of mow curbed figure eights rolling tundra. My brain was fried on the project overall, my body beat, and now, what to do with plantings..................... I NEEDED HELP. Enter Ananda Scapes.......... Joel Berlin was awesome. He met me to take a look see at our entire yard layout as existing, both front, side and back yards. He was on time and ready to roll. He took some photos and measurements while talking to us about our plant type desires, use of negative space, ground covering options and various plants that might be possibles given our desire for a non dessert look mix off succulents goal. A few days went by and in my inbox came a visual site plan with a plant kiosk. It was great. Gave us time to research a couple of plant types we did not know on the kiosk. Joel is a flexible guy and made some alterations on plant selection ideas once we researched a few of his "first draft" ideas on plants. We did some back and forth look see on a few via emailing and photos. Like a dope, and this is on me, I picked a plant called Prairie Fire, as an alternative to Mexican Grass in the plan............very cool plant green in winter red in summer flowy grass like wind catcher, low water needs, about a 2 foot ball at maturity, placed 8 of them in ground only to have the wabbits come and eat them. Pulled 6 and saved, and returned to Home Depot, they were unscathed and we ate it on 2. Coolest of all, went back to Joel with some self searched options wondering do wily wabbits eat them. A day or 2 passed and wallah Joel's knowledge and research on wily wabbits said I was good to go. 8 Pink Muhlys now in the ground. Without Joel's expertise on layout and plants, plus his great skill at building site plans and plant kiosks, I would have been in big trouble. Cool chap, easy to work with, great guy, great company, great experience overall. Highly recommended. read more

Joel Berlin isn't cheap but he's worth every penny. He designed the landscaping for our condo complex and did such an amazing job that it feels like we've moved into a new building. Joel is easy to work with, listens carefully, adapts easily, does what he says he'll do, and works within budget (actually came in under budget!). He's creative, resourceful, conscientious, and an exceptionally nice person. read more

Joel created a beautiful country-style waterwise garden to replace our front lawn, which allowed us to be eligible for the City of San Diego Water Department rebate (see http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/#rebates). He worked with our budget, his workers showed up on time and were just the nicest guys, and his timetable worked with our schedule. Joel's design sense is impeccable. It is easy to have a Vulcan mind-meld with Joel to implement your vision of a water-friendly xeriscape. We had hired him 3 years ago to replace our ugly parkway with aloes and agaves, so the replacement of our water-hungry lawn was the culmination of our dream for our surroundings. read more

Joel is so amazing to work with. His ideas for lighting were great (hanging small lights in the trees to resemble moon light!) and he came in lower than the estimate. He spruced up our yard & fixed all of our sprinklers. He would text or call daily to give us an update...he was a joy to work with. Would recommend him to all my friends! read more

Joel and James did my back and front yard .I had very specific ideas about what I wanted . I was doing a large add on and I wanted to make sure the inside flowed with the outside of the house .I am very happy.They are creative and listen with good ideas . read more

When my husband and I decided to remodel our back yard, it literally turned into a battle of the sexes. He wanted the design simple, rustic and laid out in a non functional way. My ideas were completely different encompassing a grand fireplace, lots of color and natural materials. A friend recommended Joel Berlin to help us and he is amazing. He laid out a three dimensional design that allowed us to see how beautiful and functional our backyard could be before we even broke pavement. People are always commenting on our beautiful fireplace design and landscape lighting and have ended up also using Joel for their projects. Thanks for the beautiful work and for saving our marriage!!! read more

Joel is a really talented landscaper and professional from start to finish. He even went above and beyond to find plants that were not only drought resistant and beautiful, but tortoise-friendly, as we have a tortoise in our back yard. Joel is easy to get a hold of, and walks you through the vision of the final product. Highly recommend, there is no job too big or small for his talent. read more

Anandascapes and Joel did an awesome job. The plants, the lights and the entire design look fabulous. All our other neighbors are talking about it. read more

Joel Berlin is amazing! He listened to us and came up with a very beautiful, easy to care for design. Joel transformed our out of date, ugly, high maintenance, high water consuming yard into a work of art! The plants Joel selected are beautiful! All of the neighbors are thrilled with our new front yard. We couldn't be more pleased! We highly recommend Joel Berlin and AnandaScapes!!! read more

Joel is incredibly talented and creative with his design concepts. The amount of time, thought, and research he puts into creating a perfect outdoor living space is incredible. He listened to my ideas, concerns, as well as budget limitations to make a beautiful yet functional design. I can't wait to get started on this project! Thank you Joel! read more

Joel took the unsatisfying plans for my new front yard (plants as well as hardscape) and turned all into magic! He was utterly creative, knowledgeable about plants, and well-prepared for our meetings, making the project fun. I continued to learn about plants and flowers as the work moved forward. He and his team worked smoothly with my contractor as well. My home finally feels organically connected to the lot, and preserves the cottage feel I desired. Truly MAGIC! read more

Yelp was the way that I found Joel (AnandaScapes) for my home landscape lighting project. At that time, Joel's rating was 5 stars, and I have no hesitation at all adding another 5-star rating to that history. To break down this review, in every conceivable category, Joel earned a 5-star rating (design, quality, price, professionalism and responsiveness). I am thrilled with the finished product, and my decision to trust Joel with our home improvement needs --- in short, Joel has earned my absolute strongest possible personal recommendation! read more

Joel redid our front yard about a year ago. His design was beautiful and true to budget estimate. He is one of those rare people who truely listen to the client and carry through with whatever he promises to do. He also did follow ups and replaced the plants the did not survive the summer heat last year. I still call him when I have questions or issues and he is always ready to help. Thanks Joel read more

Frankly, I think Joel at Anandascapes is a genius. The outdoor environment he created for me is nothing short of magical. You can absolutely trust Joel and his company to do an incredible job for you. I had originally hired another designer who wasn't working out. It wasn't until I met Joel and began working with him that I realized how easy, fun and joyful my landscape project could be. From the first moment, Joel listened attentively to my ideas. He really got a feel for my vision, and within a couple of days had created an exquisite, colorful, to-scale design of my project. With his strong listening skills, intuition, and experience, Joel really fleshed-out my vision and brought it to life. He made creative and "spot-on" suggestions that really brought my ideas to another level. Joel has incredible attention to detail, an amazing eye for design, and he really cares about what he is doing. He is experienced, friendly and fun, yet so "on it" and professional. He took care of every aspect of the project with ease, calling upon his professional connections and resources whenever needed. He has professional relationships with stone layers, carpenters, painters and electricians, and he really can orchestrate your project like a master conductor! Joel's crew was amazing too - Chris, Sher and James were all skilled, hardworking, friendly and fun, and all of them really took pride in their work. Honestly, it was a joy to have them around my home for the duration of the project. And please know that at several points as the project developed, I would see the new phase and literally weep because it was so beautiful - so much more beautiful than I had even envisioned. Every person that has seen my sweet, new outdoor space had stopped in their tracks and bathed in the magic of it. Everyone loves it, and feels so peaceful and serene when they see it. Whatever your vision, I really know that Joel and Anandascapes can bring it to life in the best possible way. read more