Sonia was a great, prompt communicator, and she was incredibly thorough in figuring out our yard…read moreand the kinds of plants and trees we liked before coming up with her beautiful plan. Along the way, she introduced us to a bunch of plants I love that I would have never known about, and was great at incorporating our tweaks and ideas as we finalized everything. When the plan was set, she connected us with a talented landscaper who got everything planted to Sonia's specifications and installed all the irrigation and hardscaping. Redesigning a yard can feel overwhelming (so many decisions!), but Sonia made it easy, and I'm over the moon about the way our yard turned out.

I love my new garden designed by Sonia. The colors blend well and it is beautiful!!! I can't wait…read morefor it to grow. Sonia was precise in planning and managing its' planting. She designed a balance of the plants so it all coordinates.-Very thoughtful!!! It reminds me of a painting -soft, colorful , yet making a statement.

Emailed and they suggested to schedule a time for phone conversation. They suggested two dates. I…read moreresponded with a preferred date. Never received a confirmation so I figured that was a no-go. The time came and they called but I didn't answer because I didn't think there was an appointment. I schedule and attend meetings as part of my career. That was not the best communication in setting an appointment. Seeing the other reviews, I see I'm not alone. I hope this company can work for others as their work looks nice.

We've had our garden in for three years. I cannot recommend them for design or upkeep. I was…read moreinitially happy, and we have elements that we are very happy with, but there were decisions made that, in hindsight, seem questionable. We have an edible garden with several spreaders (mint, red shiso) and vines (blackberry and grape). Why did Andrea insist on mint and red shiso as a wild plant in our edible garden? (Andrea laughed and said they'd keep it under control -- meaning their gardening services.) We also have a grape vine and a blackberry bramble in our edible garden. None of these are sunk plants. Want some mint? Also, I wanted one of our citrus trees in the front; I was told no. And, when we were choosing fruit trees, Andrea insisted on a plum even though we repeatedly asked for a pluot (which we finally got). The butterfly and pollinator side was mainly grasses. We asked for plans for our backyard, too, but when we said we didn't want two trees taken out, and two of the four plans removed those trees, I was done. Many of the team members are fantastic to work with. However, if the team makes choices about what's in your garden and either fails to plant with the expected results (pollinators, bird habitat) or plants what they want, it's not worth it.

We hired Garden Mamas to maintain our mature hillside garden. While we thought it a bit strange…read morethat we had a different crew out most every time, we were assured by Tamara that she had communicated what needed to be done - she was managing the crew. This method seemed to work mostly, although we had to tell the crew each visit what to do, as mostly instructions had been partially communicated. One day, she sent two new people. We told them to trim two bushes on the stairwell and to pick up the leaves, nothing else. This was also communicated to Tamara a few days prior, but like most times, the crew seemed clueless as to what to do. When they were done and had left, we discovered that they had BUTCHERED our garden - most of five++ years of growth was cut away and in a most unappealing fashion. Her crew ripped out plants that a previous crew had installed only a month prior, had trimmed four bushes that were covering an unsightly wall into lollipop shapes, completely exposing the wall, trimmed new growth off of once per season budding plants without any care for shape or aesthetics, butchered slow growing manzanita plants that may never recover, etc etc etc. We were appalled and contacted her. Tamara responded to our concerns, but would not or could not take personal or financial responsibility for making us whole. She told us that the crew she sent was inexperienced and had never worked on a personal, mature garden (only on storage facilities and office complexes), and that she did not have the $$ to replace the plants destroyed or to pay for someone else to replace the plants (as we told her that we could not work with her anymore). We thought about going to the CSLB so that we could at least recover her bond, but did the time/money calculus and finally settled on her paying for two plants to be replaced, at another landscaper's wholesale cost (approx $500). So far, it has cost us over $10000 to get the garden back to where it was, and it will take a few years for it to look as good as it did prior to November 2025. We tried to support this independent, woman-owned business; but her model of a different crew every time coupled with an inability to run her business in a fiscally responsible manner makes it impossible for us to recommend her to ANYONE

I hired Garden Mamas to do our landscaping at the recommendation of one of my friends. Tamara was…read moregreat to work with - very communicative and worked within our budget. The project was completed within the time she estimated. Invoicing/payment process was clear and easy. I provided photos of the types of plants I liked (from other people's yards) and they provided a list of recommendations with descriptions and pricing as well as placement suggestions. I appreciated Tamara checking in on me a a few times after they planted to see how things were going and reminding me to turn off the water during the rainy season. It's seven months later and I am still enjoying admiring and tending to my plants as they grow.

Quick response and lightning-fast estimate. Two days later, 2 strong, personable folks arrived on…read moretime and diligently completed my gardening cleanup, exactly as I wanted and fast, for a fair price. They managed the green waste, taking it out to the street in proper bags for recycling. I couldn't be happier! I have 4 more projects for these great neighbors (this business is hyper-local to my West Oakland home) and I'm so glad and grateful to have the help while keeping my dollars at work in my own neighborhood. Highly recommended.

Very pleased with Hoes and Ditches' approach to maintenance - they really care about making an…read moreovergrown space look tidy, fresh, and new again. My back yard looks so much better. As soon as they finished the job I thought "Why didn't I do this months ago?" High-quality work and thoughtful communication, 10/10, would recommend :)

Miri is priceless. She is extraordinarily knowledgeable about native plants and the creatures that…read moreinhabit native gardens. She takes time to understand the client's needs and what all is involved. She was undaunted by my challenging site in the Oakland hills and her rates are extremely fair.

Cancelled 20 minutes before our schedule appointment because she was tired. I suppose that makes…read moreher honest, but I can't recommend Miri.

Tamar Carson is a gifted artist. She and her husband, Rogelio Giron, work beautifully together and…read moreare great problem solvers and complement one another's talents. Intuitively, Tamar came up with a beautiful design for redoing my front and back yards, after listening to what I wanted and sensing my environment. Her vision included creating a terraced garden with stone retaining walls and two serene patio areas. She and Rogelio really listened to what I like. I said I wanted blue grey patio stones and that I liked a few sprinkles of glitter. So they brought perfect blue stone and mica schist stones. I was delighted. I even thought the grout was beautiful. After requesting a list of plants I love, Tamar featured some of them along with those she knew would be especially good throughout the seasons. The plantings are beautifully balanced in terms of placement, color and height. To make my garden more manageable for me, they added irrigation, drainage and a few thoughtful safety features. For example, in the slightly sloping backyard, Tamar recommended a path of large, solid stepping stones, and on the deck a handrail and a serving shelf to easily move serving platters from the kitchen to the dining table on the deck. These things make my life easier and safer. Tamar and Rogelio provided good value with an estimate to which they adhered. If additional items were desired as we went along they discussed the cost with me and verified whether I would want them. I enjoy my new garden as a peaceful sanctuary to deeply enjoy nature and to share with friends. I highly recommend Tamar and Rogelio if you want inspired design and expert execution from true professionals. They are outstanding. They are a joy!

I had called as well as requested a quote via yelp and didn't get a response. Granted it was over…read morethe holidays, but yelp claims 100% response rate. Tamar later returned my call and was super gracious. It was very nice to speak with her and she was very honest and forthcoming.

Fiddlehead Gardens did excellent work. I needed a gardener and met Racheal Perry while she was…read moreworking in the garden at a friend's house in SF. She was doing a great job there so I asked her to come and give me an estimate at my house close by. She got in touch with me a few days later to set up an appointment. I hate to do gardening work and had gotten very lazy and needed a lot of help. I have a backyard deck with two very large planter boxes full of dying and out-of-control plant growth. I also have two planter boxes lining my driveway that needed a new irrigation system and a lot of clearing out done as well. Racheal arrived at the initial appointment on time. She is very pleasant and has a lot of experience and knowledge. She obviously loves what she does. I received a fairly priced written estimate by mail within a week. And Racheal came up with a smart way to do the irrigation system in the front of my house that solved a big watering headache. I was very pleased. A couple of weeks later Racheal and Cate came to my house and did a fantastic job. They were on time, hard working, polite and fun to talk to and did all the work as expected (which took a full 8 hours). There was a lot to do and afterwords my deck/yard and front planter boxes looked great. They hauled away a big truck full of plant debris - good riddance! I am very much looking forward to entertaining and hanging out on the deck during the summer. And knowing that Fiddlehead will be doing monthly maintenance, I know my deck will be in good shape. I am also looking forward to seeing the new plants grow. Thanks Racheal and Cate!

I can't say enough good things about Racheal and Fiddlehead Gardens. She took our modest-sized…read morefront planter beds (and our modest budget) and crafted a plan that turned them from an eyesore into a tidy and easily maintained space. She was also the only one (!) of the landscape architects or gardeners I called who assured me that she herself planned to work onsite throughout the entire job, supervising her staff and attending the fine pruning of our unruly apple tree personally. Her attention to detail also deserves a mention: the irrigation system she designed is a marvel, with miniature sprayers positioned perfectly for the various plantings. She even took it upon herself to tidy up our overgrown agapanthus, despite it technically not being part of the work order. A five-star experience from beginning to end.

Contacted them. Response was assuming and dismissive stating they only work on projects that will…read morecost between $80k to $300k. I've got close to a mill but I'm not going to spend most of it on outdoor landscape design and install. Main guy only apparently has a permaculture certificate per the website. Plenty of other landscape companies who went through the full AA coursework from Merritt + similar experience + a better attitude.

We love Oscito. Our new landscaped hill project was as painfree as they get and we can't wait for…read moreour awesome "plant palette" to grow in! Thanks Ben, Francisco, Luiz, Michelle and everyone else that worked so hard on our project.