John, Whitt, and crew thoughtfully designed and created a beautiful garden in our brownstone's backyard. Their passion for horticulture and impeccable detail in their work is evident each and every day as the garden continues to grow and change week by week. They also installed a breathtaking rock wall, completely made up of materials found buried on our property - most likely decades ago. Considerate, punctual and friendly - we're so thrilled to have found John and his team. read more

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I have worked with John and his team for the past couple of years. They re-created our small front garden which was a plot of dirt when we bought the house. They also helped us to create a more enjoyable backyard on a budget with planters. John is very reliable, and his team is very efficient. They set up an irrigation system for both the front garden and the planters, since we knew that we couldn't rely on ourselves to manage the watering of the garden. John and his team were great with coming up with different ideas and also were able to collaborate with me on what I was interested in. I highly recommend Design by Plants! read more

John and his team did a wonderful job of recreating our back yard garden. they were all easy to work with and provided us with a garden that was just what we imagined. read more

John, Anne and Team: intelligent, creative, great listeners, kind: they chose the best plantings to maximize our limited space and gave us a lovely garden full of variety and interest. They are a pleasure to work with and we highly recommend their work. 7/4/2019. read more

John and Anne were a pleasure to work with. From the beginning, communication was easy and clear, and their responses always prompt. (We've worked with other landscaping/gardening firms who weren't very responsive!) We had a special circumstance in which we needed their help documenting the plants and setup of our garden to prepare for scaffolding from our neighbor's lot for a new building being built. John and Anne were empathetic of our situation and very helpful - even offering to do a sun analysis of how much sunlight we'd get after the new building is built, and moving some of our beloved fruit trees and bushes into pots to ensure their survival during the construction. On the day of, they arrived on time, explained everything they were doing, answered our questions and helped assuage our concerns over the construction as much as possible, and were very efficient. Anne even made me a bouquet of roses cut from our rose bush! They followed up promptly with their survey and analysis and answered some additional questions that we had. All in all, a great experience and I wouldn't hesitate to work with them again. read more

John and Anne from Design by Plants, and their team, are a delight to work with. We recently hired them to help clean up and shape a long overdue backlog of overgrown shrubs, bushes, and weeds in our Prospect Heights backyard. The before and after is astounding, and the yard now looks very clean, structured, and well taken care of. They also allowed us to work side-by-side with them, so that we could learn the how-to of pruning and shaping various areas of the garden and can do it ourselves in the future. Their prices are reasonable and they are very knowledgeable as well as pleasant. read more

We join the chorus of rave reviews for Design by Plants. Anne and John provided wonderful design and plant selection ideas, and (together with their assistants) are a delight to work with. They took our vague suggestions about what kind of garden we wanted and turned them into a fully realized design that improved upon our ideas immeasurably. We're about 9 months into our new garden and each month brings new delights. The design also includes a beautiful stone patio and raised cedar bed (both built by John) that we enjoy quite a bit. Finally, we appreciated their flexibility and transparency regarding the cost of various design options. In sum: we can't recommend them highly enough. read more

We called in John and Anne to transform our ailing backyard and they did terrific work. They're thoughtful, creative and smart, and a pleasure to work with. They were full of ideas, and really responsive to any of our notions, no matter how vague. They offered a lot of options at each step, and are really resourceful about working within a budget. They also really know plants, and I love their interest in sustainable design, using native plants, etc. They actually did a lot more than planting for us -- they also did a fence, a pergola, stonework and a brick patio, so it was one-stop shopping, so to speak, and we were really happy with all of it. Their fees are very reasonable as well -- I'm certain others would have charged more for what they did, especially in NYC. In short, they were great -- a high recommendation. read more

My terrace is long, skinny, and faces North. I had no hope of gardening until I met Anne and John. They assured me a garden was possible and asked intriguing questions about gardens I'd known and loved. I told them about the Japanese rock garden my mom and dad built along a retaining wall in my childhood home. I was enamored by the combination of rocks and plants and I wanted to bring them into my Brooklyn home. I also wanted lots of green and many textures, so Anne and John suggested a variety of grasses and blooming plants. My garden blooms from March - November and in the dormant months I enjoy the waving grasses and snow-covered juniper. It's truly awesome. They have transformed not only my terrace but my entire apartment because the windows no longer define the northern boundary: I'm surrounded by plants. read more