I called Valentin based on these reviews and had him come by and take a look at our back yard…read more Although we had a little bit of a challenge communicating, through simple words and amid much gesticulating, I could see that he immediately grasped my vision and even improved upon it. His quote was definitely far more reasonable than any of the 3 other companies we asked to quote. My next step was to contact fellow Yelper and reviewer of Valentin and get more in depth info regarding the work habits of the crew, ability to communicate etc. (Thanks Penny!) Everything was looking positive, so I figured, "Why not?" I chose a week when I was working from home so I could check in and out of their progress. This was a good thing as there were a couple of things which required input that was much easier to do being right there. Even amid some scope creep, and more materials being required than originally thought, Valentin kept true to his quote and endeavored to deliver exactly what I wanted. We are really happy with the outcome (defined a space in the backyard with a retaining wall, laid flagstone patio, added gravel perimeter around the deck). -1 star for communication +1 star for price, effort, and standing behind the original estimate

Word of advice when you get people to do your garden. get a…read morepicture drawn or sketched and have each area that you need done signed by the landscaper. also make sure you label all work that needs to be done clearly and make sure both of you understand what is going on. for this guy, i believe the best thing you should do is follow every step above. his guys are really hard working, it's just the communication problem that would piss you off and get things messed up. my 1 star still stands. job has not been completed --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- update May 24, 2008 his answer and response for the 500 dollar labor and material for chicken wire is that he has to use his time to drive to home depot to buy material. the other part is his labor. I HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS GUY FOR HIS COST. IF YOU WERE TO FIND ANOTHER LANDSCAPER YOUR BETTER OFF PAYING MORE WITH A GUY THAT HAD A LICENSE. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- update :May 23 dropping the rating because i feel he's lying to me. (i hate people that lies) i did a quick calculation of material and labor. i believe he's overcharging. retaining wall made by roughly 125 interlocking retaining wall stones. sprinkler system with 2 valves and a timer + new sod and grass. remove 2x 20ft small pine trees and roots and bush. trim 2 trees. cement wall that's 2 ft high. a pathway layed by stone slabs. remove excessive soil. all in all, with a package price he quoted 6k. we thought, hey 6k that sounds good since the first quote we got from someone else was 13k for relative similar work. when i did my research for the price of the interlocking retaining wall stones. i was like WOW. they run about 1.52 to 2 bucks. so assuming it's 2 bucks multiply by 125 = $250. how in the world does 2 bucks a piece going to get anywhere to the price of 6k. These labor must be crazy. the material honestly does not cost that much at all. i think he wants $50/hr for labor since his crew of 2 who works 12 hrs a day. 7 day project due for completion would cost $4200 in labor alone. this would be the only conclusion i have for the quote of 6k the reason i started to check on price was because he notified me this morning in regards to adding chicken wire for my lawn to protect for gophers. it sounded like a good idea, so i asked how much. he said it was 500 bucks. i went online, did some research, found out that 3ftx25ft chicken wire @ homedepot only cost 15.99. i only need like 5 sets which would equal to 80. even if i askd them to do 2 layers of that wire for better protection, it should be only 160. labor dos not cost anywhere near 400 bucks to do this job since all he needs to do is lay the wire while the soil is all flipped because he's doing the sprinklers. i'll talk to him tomorrow to see what's his point of view and how he would explain his quote. he told me that those chicken wire cost him 450 to purchase. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Awesome price quote. the guy was nice. it was a little difficult to communicate but we got everything clear after 2 hrs of discussion. i will update this review when the complete job is done. hopefully yelpers are correct about his job! project starts tomorrow and probably ends in 2 weeks 5stars

We got name via NextDoor. Our old auto-sprinkler system emitted a high pitch sound when turned on…read more Googled the issue, could'a been due to a couple of things, but we could not fix ourselves. Called Castro, Miguel came over the next day, diagnosed the problem, gave us a quote for the job. We accepted, and he came out the very next afternoon. Not cheap, as he replaced previous valve system, much of it plastic, w copper. Did a decent job. We are very happy. During first visit, he looked around the garden and even made suggestions on how best to water some of the plantings. We were a bit surprised/mystified by his charging both a transaction fee and sales tax on the bill; my math could not come up w his base amount for determination of the sales tax; transaction fee evidently for online payment system. He asked for payment before sending the itemized statement by email. Otherwise we would've given him 5.

I found them very expensive and the price structure too fluid. I have no doubt they know their…read more"stuff" but the business portion of doing business was lacking as well as the give and take of providing the service requested. I was given the impression that I was taking advantage of them and that the quoted rate was somehow a discount that had expired. I want an easy relationship that is mutually beneficial with people that are happy to do business with me. Bottom line: Castro Landscape is very, very expensive and in the long run difficult to work with.

A branch the size of a tree took out 14 feet of fence in my backyard in San Francisco. I was lost…read more Murph, Pat, was recommended to me. I knew him from a local establishment where I am fortunate to be a welcome customer. He swept in immediately and chopped the branch (tree) into usable kindling that I use to this day. He brought in expert craftsmen, with no referral fee or extra money requested to replace a section of fence that to this day looks as though no accident ever happened. He also referred me to a local arborist who confirmed all of the next steps with the tree still standing. There are branches remaining that could take out parts of my home, or my neighbors home, and decisions had to be made. Murph wanted a second opinion, and the arborist mirrored exactly what he thought, The bill was too fair. He would not accept more. I still feel guilty. Pat Murphy is skilled, and has integrity. If you need service on your tree, advice on how to maintain, care for, or treat your tree, there is no one better.

First of all Eduardo is simply a lovely person. I called him for an estimate…read moreand he called me back promptly and was able to come that same day....amazing, that! He asked good questions and seemed to really get what I was needing....a lot of tree trimming, untangling of vines, pruning and general (yet cumbersome) clean up. We scheduled for later that week and he arrived as promised with a helper and all his own equipment. His quote for the job was beyond reasonable. The quality of the work was outstanding. And he cleaned up and hauled off all debris. I would recommend his services with a big YES! You won't be sorry.

I don't give five-star reviews unless a company absolutely knocks my socks off. Our homeowner's…read moreinsurance doesn't cover contractors, so liability insurance is a must. So the first thing I asked when shopping around was if they have both worker's comp AND liability insurance. Not a lot of tree/landscape contractors carry liability insurance, which narrows things down fast. Luis was responsive throughout the process from when I first contacted him to finishing up the job. When I first emailed him, he said he could be out the next day to walk through the yard and give me an estimate. We settled on a date that was just a couple of weeks out. His team showed up early. Luis couldn't be there at the beginning of the day, but the foreman of the team spoke excellent English. I walked through everything with him to make sure everybody was on the same page. The workers were great and had smiles on their faces despite doing backbreaking work on a hot day. They also had a great attention to detail, using hand clippers in places where they could have gotten it done faster with a hedge trimmer but it would have been a sub-par job, IMO. I also spent some time in the afternoon with Luis talking about referrals for replacing a trellis that's on its way out and for maintenance. I'm guessing that whoever he refers us to will do an excellent job as well!

These guys are outstanding. Luis came out, gave a VERY fair estimate and his crew did a fantastic…read morejob and cleanup. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Dave. San Bruno.

Jose and his crews were amazing. Very professional, kind, and prices were very reasonable. They…read moreshowed up on time, and finished the project in a timely manner. The project was to get rid of our grass area and place pavers and artificial turf. Their work looks amazing. I have no complain at all. Highly recommend them to others.

Jose and his crews did a great job on our backyard project. We had the large yard reconstructed…read morewith pavers and had a retaining wall moved. We quoted 6 companies which went from less expensive to wildly expensive. Jose came out multiple time to make sure we had the scope of the project the way we wanted, unlike another company that got the whole idea wrong. He brought out a partner company, who would eventually do the excavation, to review to make sure his estimate was accurate. Jose worked with us on the project to find the material that would be the look we wanted, of great quality, and fit in our budget. Jose had different crews out for different parts of the project which is the right way to do it. It felt like he had the right expertise do the different parts of the job rather than the jack of all trades do a mediocre job. Excavation, deconstruction and removal, pavers, cutting stone, debris removal, tree work were all different people. And, they were all supervised and did very nice work. The best were the guys doing quality work on the wall and pavers. We even ended up doing the driveway. Jose went shopping with us and dealt with the shop so we didn't have to deal with any rude customer service to one-time customers. He answered many, many questions as we stayed hands on with our project. I highly recommend these guys, this company, and, most importantly, Jose who gave our job very personal service and a high quality of workmanship.

Mr Arcadio is such a nice guy! Very patient and listens to your needs. He is the guy to do your…read moreyard, Totally recommend him! Plan to hire him again in December for some major landscaping job! Hire him!

Don't use them. They are not insured and do not know how to trim trees according to SF rules. I was…read morefined by the city because they over pruned our trees. The fine was $1,800. In 2016, they did not have insurance otherwise they would have paid me for the fine from SF DPW. They also were not following SF Pruning guidelines, otherwise SF DPW would not have fined me.

I've been using Rivera Gardening Services, owned by Martin Rivera, for the past few months and have…read morebeen extremely pleased with the work. Martin and his team have done a great job getting my yard back under control, especially my shrubs and smaller trees. Most recently, they trimmed my large oak tree, which hadn't been serviced since 2023. What really impressed me was Martin's knowledge of proper tree care. They didn't just cut the outer limbs -- he carefully cleaned out the interior of the tree, which made a noticeable difference in both its health and appearance. Martin clearly explained what he would do, asked for my input, and we now have a plan in place for maintaining the oak going forward. They arrived on time with two trucks and a trailer to haul everything away, and everything was handled in a very professional manner. The trucks and equipment were clean and well-maintained, which I appreciated. The pricing was reasonable and fair for the quality of work provided. We initially thought the job would take two days, but they completed everything in just one. When they were finished, my yard looked amazing. As an added bonus, Martin also cleaned out the gutters under the oak tree, leaving everything neat and ready for the next season. Reliable, knowledgeable, and easy to work with -- I highly recommend Rivera Gardening Services.

Martin has been a great help in a short time. I had called multiple people to help me get an…read moreinitial cleanup and secure long term regular service. Martin actually came out on a Sunday morning to take a look because he wanted to really see what was going on and not quote it based on photos. His price was as good as the others and he was (and has continued to be) very honest, responsive, trustworthy and transparent. He has fixed the sprinkler system, is helping me get the lawn even more full and greener, continues to monitor for those weeds that had taken over, etc. I highly recommend Martin for any yard situation.

Excellent Service! Rafael and his team did a great job with…read morean initial clean up and continues to do a great job with monthly maintenance visits. They also installed multiple french drain systems to fix flooding issues on our property. Rafael took the time to walk me through the process, and he worked with our budget to landscape our front yard after the drainage system was installed. His team works fast, and they are very polite and friendly. I would recommend Rafael for any future landscaping needs.

Rafael and his team have maintained our front and back yard weekly for about a year and recently…read morewhen we needed to replace our grass due to gophers, we didn't question using anyone else for the work. He worked with us to make sure the design made sense and was within our budget while maintaining our step stones - one of my favorite parts of the yard. His quote came quickly and was extremely reasonable. His team completed the work in about 2 days and we couldn't be happier. What was previously moss, weeds, and more recently gopher holes is now beautifully a maintained lawn. He also updated up our sprinkler timing and makes sure each week that the grass is getting enough water still and has adjusted it as needed. It's also worth mentioning that Rafael is extremely responsive and helpful - we had an issue with our drip sprinkler system and didn't know how to fix it, Rafael took a quick look and brought the correct piece needed from home the next day. Overall we have been extremely happy with Rafael both for our recurring maintenance as well as for our lawn. We won't hesitate to use him for any of our future projects!