We were referred to Julie Orr by some neighbors of ours whom had worked with her in the past. Working with Julie was great -- she was quick to respond and helped us transform our yard into a beautiful hang out space for our family and friends to enjoy. Julie was fun to collaborate with, receptive to feedback, and she offered creative solutions as the design evolved over time. During the construction phase she visited multiple times to check that things were running smoothly. Selecting the plant material was also a lot of fun. Together we carefully curated a list of plants that not only met our low water desires, but also complimented the style of our home down to the color palette. Overall the entire project from start to finish took about ten months and were pleased with the final result as we wanted something relatively simple but updated, fresh, and modern. We are still getting compliments from neighbors as they pass by! We recommend Julie! read more

Julie was recommended to me by my mother and my sister. As I really liked the yard transformations done at their houses, I also scheduled time with Julie and I am very glad I did. Julie created a wonderful design to completely redo my front yard and driveway. Julie worked with me to understand what elements I knew I wanted and helped complete the vision by providing insight and guidance on the details for which I was clueless. To see the final result is amazing. The designs on paper and photos do not do justice to seeing it in real life. The transformation from a gopher riddled lawn, tired brick flower beds with peeling paint and out of control geraniums to a beautifully clean paver patio and walkways and driveway, new lawn, wonderful assorted plants, trees, accent lighting with a smart phone app, and an irrigation system that adjusts watering based on temperature and weather (it checks the local forecast) is truly wonderful. I would not hesitate to work with Julie again. read more

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Julie is amazing. She designed our backyard into a completely new and awesome experience. First, she inquired about our goals and ideas, then integrated them into something wonderfully beyond what we imagined (without going overbudget!). The transformation has completely changed how we use the space and, by extension, how feel about our home. Moral is high! No question, we will definitely call her back to do the front yard. Thank you, Julie!! read more

We hired Julie Orr Design to design our front and back yard spaces. Julie was friendly, efficient, full of ideas, knowledgeable and so much more. I was amazed how quickly Julie understood what our priorities were and how we wanted to use our outdoor space. She designed a beautiful plan and then worked with us to make changes to make sure it was exactly as we wanted. Working with her was one of the best choices we made! The plans have since been implemented and we enjoy our beautiful outdoor space every day! She has also been so helpful in answering plant questions as they come up as our plants grow and mature. read more

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This is an update to my previous 2-star review. Southbay Landscaping came and sawed off the edge of the stair so that it would fit flush and installed new flat inset lighting. They also scrubbed the iron stains with a masonry cleaner called Zep (one cup of Zep diluted in one gallon of water, scrub with scrub brush for a long time). The stains are much less noticeable now, and Matt of Southbay has told me that the cracking and chipping of the stone should no longer happen now that there is no longer an overhang. I don't know what arrangements, if any, he had with Julie Orr on the cost reimbursement. Here are some photos after the cutting off the stair lip and the scrubbing. The light fixtures are not the same color, but Matt says that he will fix that. My Old Review is Here: Great Artist. Some Technical Problems Leading to Expensive Repairs First, let me say that Julie is a wonderful artist and I really admire her designs. But, we had some unfortunate technical problems that are going to lead to some expensive repairs, and neither Julie nor her general contractor (South Bay Landscaping) appears ready to step forward and make it right. Julie works with South Bay Landscaping. After she completed her design for us, we bid out the project to two contractors. Julie told us that she strongly recommended Matt of South Bay Landscaping, and that if we chose them to build the project she would work with them for free throughout the construction. But, if we chose a different general contractor to build the project, she would not work with them. That was my understanding. Julie's contractor came in at a much lower bid, and Julie's preference for South Bay carried a lot of weight in our decision to hire them. Our project consisted of demolition of our old deck, building a new arbor, installing a large step/platform of stone tiles that spanned about half the length of our house, lighting, sprinklers, and new landscaping among other things. Slightly less than a month after the project was finished, we noticed that ugly brown stained had appeared on the concrete next to the stone tiles. The stone also began chipping at the ends of the step where there was a slight overhanging ledge. We got in contact with both Julie and her contractor about this problem. Julie was prompt in replying, but her contractor South Bay Landscaping took much longer. It was like pulling teeth to get an answer from them. Julie and Matt came to look at the stains. They told us that the chosen stone had leached iron, which had leaked onto the concrete and stained it. Neither the stones nor the concrete had been sealed. We didn't know that the concrete and stones should have been sealed. We didn't know that this particular stone would leach iron. We also didn't know that this particular stone wasn't cut thick enough and had too many internal fractures in its structure to be used as outdoor steps. That's why we hired a landscape architect--to prevent expensive mistakes like this. So, they told us the cause of the staining and fracturing problems. Julie said to talk to Matt about repairs. We wanted Matt to pay for the repairs. Matt said that the problems were Julie's fault. Julie said talk to Matt. So, there we were stuck in the middle with no remedies. Some more months went by and communication with them was like pulling teeth. I finally got fed up and told Matt that I would contact the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint about this problem. He responded promptly and came to meet with me. He offered to saw off the lip of the stairs and to swap out the two lights on the side of the steps with internal lights that would sit flush. He also offered to powerwash the concrete. He said he would only powerwash the concrete once. We would pay for sealing the stones and concrete. Based on my research, concrete is porous and once iron has leached into the concrete, powerwashing won't get it out. Also, cutting off the lip of the stairs would ruin Julie's beautiful design and show ugly lights sitting flush on the side of the steps. Furthermore, the sealing costs thousands of dollars. Given the poor state of our relationship, I'm feeling that hiring them for remediation work would be throwing good money after bad. We're taking our losses and calling it an expensive lesson learned. I've added photos of the stains and the broken stone. Overall, I would say that Julie is a wonderful artist and I love her designs, but the stone leaching and fracturing problem is an expensive one for us. read more

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Julie provided an Express Garden design service for our back yard redesign. Julie came to our home and worked with us to quickly understand what we were looking for from a landscape layout and plant perspective. Within a few hours Julie provided - on the spot - an AutoCAD generated PDF of the design, as well as a detailed inventory of plants tailored to our needs. We were then able to provide these documents to the landscaping company as a useful project planning and costing reference. We're very happy with Julie's work, and the final product that was produced from it. read more

We hired Julie to help design our front yard in Campbell. We already had strong ideas about a couple of major features and that wasn't a problem for Julie at all. She did a great job of incorporating the things we already knew we wanted, and adding all of the design around them to fit perfectly. The design was completed in a timely manner, and Julie demonstrated excellent patience with our many changes along the way. Now that the installation is completed, we couldn't be happier. We love the new look and everyone walking by our house comments on how great it looks. We've already referred Julie to neighbors and their project is under way. We highly recommend Julie Orr for your outdoor project, whatever the scale. read more

Julie designed both our back yard and front yard. We love it. My house is on a corner near a park. You can image many people walk past my house everyday. Everyone loves the design. read more

Julie gave us 5-Star service in helping us design a new front yard in 2019 and a year later we can truly say it was a success. Julie did a great job understanding what we were looking for and then providing fantastic ideas to make it come to light. First off with the hardscape she provided really outstanding ideas that we could use to bring not only our yard to life, but our house and driveway as well. For the landscaping she really focused on keeping a nice blend of trees and plants that complemented each other and there was not too many plants/trees to close to each other. It was easy to follow Julie's process with some being in face to face meetings and some just being through email and her website. Also she helped coordinate with the landscapers to make sure the installation process ran smooth. We were just talking again today about how much we love our yard! read more

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Julie worked with us for a full front and back yard redesign. She brought in great ideas that we had never considered and came up with and awesome design. She was organized, responsive, timely and made multiple trips to be sure her designs met our expectations. Our only complaint about working with Julie was her disregard for the budget we gave her. We expected our landscape architect to keep the completed design within our budget, or at least warn us that the items we were designing are going to exceed our budget. We have obtained bids from her recommended builder, and two others in the bay area and they all are at least double the budget we told Julie we had. We've now got an awesome set of plans that we won't be implementing until we save up more. We've glimpsed Eden and now settling is not an option. read more

Julie designed a new back yard that we installed this summer. We love the design, and the final product is gorgeous. Julie was great about listening to and understanding what we were going for. She interpreted our needs and wants, and came up with a design that addressed them perfectly. Julie went above and beyond to help us with the little hiccups and details that occurred during the project installation, like helping us to fix the color of a stucco wall that was off after the first attempt. We thought her pricing was good. Julie is very personable and easy to work with. She gladly accommodated our crazy schedule. We fully recommend working with Julie! read more

We worked with Julie for our residential front landscaping project. We haven't really worked with a designer before and had originally planned to do everything ourselves. Well after staring at weeds for too long and struggling to come up with our own plan, we gave Julie a call. She was great to work with. She was able to listen to our ideas and incorporate them into coherent plan. She even was able to help make things work as our thoughts changed about major elements of the plan. We are extremely pleased with the end result and would highly recommend Julie! read more

Julie helped us design our new backyard which included a stone patio, lighting, fountain, and low water plantings. Julie was terrific to work with and clearly has a mastery of landscape design. read more

My partner and I had been living in our condo for about three years, despairing of a dark, ugly backyard full of weeds, ants, a rotting deck, a dead tree and a giant air conditioning unit. We never really used the space, but we were determined that this summer we would. A quick search of Yelp and Angie's List lead us to Julie Orr Design. From her website, it sounded like a good fit--we were looking for something drought tolerant, easy to maintain, and that fit our lifestyle and our budget. We opted for the Express Garden service. Julie gave us some great homework to do to help her zero into our style and our requirements. We then spent an afternoon with Julie and her computer designing the space. First thing to go was the deck, which made our small backyard seem even smaller. We were going for a modern look, so she created this cool space with really large (24"x24") pavers and gravel, with three different focal points. She understood what we wanted, gently challenged us on our knee-jerk reactions, understood what excited us. In the end, we have a space that we use a lot (although we probably would have used it more if the summer hadn't been so cold). During the install, she worked with our contractor to make sure the vision was taking shape, to confirm the plants were in good condition, and to make last-minute adjustments. We were in great hands from start to finish. During the summer, one of our neighbors cut down a tree that had been shading our yard, so some of our shade/partial shade plants started to suffer. We called Julie in again for a check-in. We're going to move a couple of plants, replace a couple of others that don't like the new sun/shade mix. Plus, she gave us some ideas for containers and things to do in the fall. In all, we couldn't be happier, and we have a modern garden space that fits us and that we enjoy using. Quite a change from last year. And we're looking forward to next year after everything has had a chance to grow in. I highly recommend working with Julie to help bring the design of your yard into focus, especially if you are looking for creative ways to incorporate sustainable, native, or drought tolerant plants into the mix. She's great. read more

Julie worked with us to provide her "Express Garden Design" service for the small undeveloped side yards of our new detached town house. This was a very appropriate approach for our project, a short but intensive analysis of our site, taking into account our preliminary ideas and preferences, recommending appropriate hardscape and plants, and providing a PDF plan that we could provide to our HOA for approval. All done in one 2-3 hour site visit. Julie's recommendation for a contractor worked out very well for us, and we are very pleased with the final results of the installation. read more

I am a landscape installation and maintenance contractor in the South Bay and I have had the pleasure of installing two of Julie's designs this summer. Julie has a knack for picking plants that fit their space, compliment each other, and don't need a ton of water or maintenance to look great. A good designer like Julie can make a contractor look really good too because the finished product really pops. read more

Worked with Julie last year on the landscaping of my back garden and she is an amazing person to work with. She is friendly and listens and really got my idea of how I wanted to design my back garden. She is full of creative ideas, detail oriented and never left me hanging during the whole project from beginning to end. I highly recommend her! read more

I enjoyed working with Julie and thought she came up with practical and attractive solutions for the hardscape renovation of my small garden. She was sensitive to my budget constraints and suggested the use of Calstone pavers for my driveway and patio, which blended beautifully with the Connecticut bluestone she specified for my back porch and steps. We got rid of a large expanse of pink Arizona flagstone, re-sized the lawn, built raised planters and traded a water-thirsty front lawn for a low-water landscape, which has grown beautifully in the last 3 years. I had some issues with her landscape contractor, and if I had to do it again, would insist on bidding the job out to several contractors. I would recommend Julie's services and think she did a very good job on my small garden. read more

After a recent home expansion, our backyard was in shambles and small. Julie was recommended to us by a long-time friend whose backyard was as practical as it was beautiful. Their design was something they said they'd never would have come up with themselves. That's the type of help we needed because we had no idea where to start or what was possible. Our space was small and our wish list long: table seating for eight, full outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, fire pit, trees to block structures from neighbors' back yards, and fruit trees. Julie made it happen. She was conscientious of our budget (it was one of her first questions) and she routinely made recommendations to keep costs down but also highlighted areas where it was worth splurging. One of our favorite recommendations was for the Brustor pergola with moveable louvers (that close automatically in rain). The louvers close to block afternoon heat, but also open for light and warmth in the winter months. The structure also has lights and sound which is excellent for dinners and entertaining. Julie walked alongside us in working with 3rd party suppliers (pergola, outdoor kitchen vendors, and landscaping company), so we never felt alone. We loved Julie's work so much that we also worked with her on our front yard. She gave us a design that expanded the front porch making it a much more usable space than before, preserved a 60 year old camphor tree that other designers said should go, and recommended plants to increase the home's curb appeal. We cannot recommend Julie enough. She transformed our spaces into places that accommodate our lifestyle where we all love to spend time in. read more

Julie is very experienced, knowledgeable and creative landscape designer. She really helped bring my vision of a fluid transition from a static wood deck down to a curved garden, slate path and grass patch come true. She also worked very well with our landscaper, getting down in the dirt with them to ensure the positioning of our slate was exactly how we wanted it. Her plant selections were a perfect blend of right for soil, native and eye pleasing. And our Meyer lemon tree is pumping out fruit like nobody's business. Highly recommend her for any size landscaping job. read more

We hired Julie to do an Express Garden design for our huge backyard a year ago. I found her through the great reviews on Yelp. We were so excited and had great expectations. Well, it was disappointing. Julie came out and spent 2 hours with us. She did a simple design for us, mainly picking plants since we already had some ideas about our landscaping. It was nice to have a PDF for a landscaper to follow. But here was the big problem, we didn't go with Julie's landscaper (a pretty rude and cocky young man). We found a landscaping company on our own. It's now a year later. A lot of the plants Julie chose aren't doing well in the Belmont's clay soil, especially under our oak trees' canopy. I remember raising the question with her about one type of plant in particular that I was worried about and she stood by her decision even though we had over 35 of them. We wanted rusty colors and a drought resistant garden. We got a green and gray backyard with plants that don't want too much sun but don't like shade either... so lots of dead plants to replace... Her $800 fee wasn't worth it. I felt bad for one of the previous reviewer below, named Joanna, when I saw Julie's arrogant & presumptuous answer. - Julie, I wish you cared about ALL your customers. Creating peaceful havens and beautifying nature, should be a labor of love, shouldn't it? read more

Had Julie come out to do an Express Garden design for our backyard a year ago. I found her through all the great reviews on Yelp. Well, it was OK, but not great. She came out and did a simple design for us, mainly just picking plants since we already had some landscaping. Spent about 2 hours with us. It was nice to have a PDF for our gardeners to follow. It's now a year later. The backyard plants are nice, but nothing special. They haven't really bloomed or grown into the garden that I wanted, not as colorful. They are easy to maintain like I had wanted, but not sure if for my situation, her fee was worth it. read more

We decided that it was time for us to redesign our front yard, and we were looking for a plan that we could migrate to over phases, breaking up our investments cost, and allowing us to do some of the work ourselves. One of the major drivers was to also reduce our water load in the dry summer months. Julie's expertise in sustainable landscapes and ability to match that to our requirements/input resulted in a design that we are quite happy with. We have only implemented 1/3 of the over plan, but we can already see the yard taking on its new design. Julie's attention to detail is highly appreciated; she delivered within budget and on time. read more

If i could give more stars I would and here's why: Julie listened very carefully to us about what we thought we wanted. She has done two designs for us. She figured us out pretty quickly---for the first one, the back yard, we needed a landscape design that included lots of patio space for little kids to ride trikes on, a "lawn" area for climb-on toys and running around, a nice seating area for adults, and beautiful, minimal care plantings around the perimeter. We'd tried to visualize this ourselves, but couldn't quite figure it out. She nailed it and it's all done and functioning perfectly. For the front yard we went though a couple of design changes (at our request) before landing on a no-lawn design with lots of ground cover, grasses, and small trees. It's absolutely beautiful. Julie is very professional and easy to work with. We felt her fees were quite reasonable. I recommend her with no reservations whatsoever. read more

I highly recommend Julie Orr Design. Even though Julie had a busy schedule and had to come "out of her way" to meet with us she provided a great design for a very "tired" backyard landscape. We love it. She also stayed the course in recommending a landscaping contractor who worked well with us and met our budget. Thanks Julie. read more

Julie was the perfect resource for us in landscaping our backyard. I would recommend her to anyone! Throughout the design process, she was responsive, organized, creative and open to ideas. She was also willing to work within our budget (we are do it yourself folks who needed some professional guidance before putting a shovel to our project). For those not as budget constrained, she can put together detailed CAD drawings and create elegant hardscaping plans. For us, she was willing to hand sketch out a brick patio design and a planting plan. Then she helped us to order the plants at a discount and arranged the plants for us at no additional charge when they arrived. She specializes in native plant selection but is not a "natives only" snob- again, she is flexible and works with you to achieve an amazing result. read more

I am thrilled with how my project turned out. It entailed a complete makeover of my front and back yards. (See photos). The project included hardscape, outdoor kitchen, Louvretec roof, firepit, lounge area, lighting, speakers, heaters, and garden (new lawn, flowers, trees, and irrigation). Julie designed everything, I am super happy with the end result. Julie was very easy to work with and full of great ideas from the big picture level to the small details. It was a pleasure to work with her and I felt I got real value for money (as evidenced by the joy we get out of using our new backyard and the comments from friends and strangers). I have no hesitation in recommending her. read more

Loved her process, very creative. Had lots of great ideas and wonderful, modern taste.

This is an update to my previous review. Julie contacted me and told me about the technically issues she was having at the time all this happened and offered me a complementary design item to make sure my experience was good. I appreciate her response and effort to communicate. I will definitely reach out again and look forward to working with her. read more

A growing tree in our backyard had created lots of shade that had killed off our lawn and then our two large dogs had slowly destroyed many of the remaining plants. Julie worked with us to create a backyard that is enjoyable for humans and dogs. She asked lots of questions and really helped us define what we wanted from our yard and then created a design that went far beyond our expectations. We now have a beautiful, sub-tropical garden with a seating area under our oak tree, a raised container for growing vegetables that the dogs can't reach, and even a digging pit to keep the dogs occupied. Our yard is now truly a haven we want to spend time in. Julie was wonderful to work with, and we recommend her without hesitation. read more

I worked with Julie a few years ago and have wanted to post a review and finally getting to it. I was very disappointed with her services. I won't go into every detail but the final straw was asking for a dogwood tree and she planted a bush telling me it was a dogwood tree and pruned it to look like a tree. Her installation guy, who was her relative, smoked in my backyard and left his cigarette butts all over. He brought a bottle of wine at the end of the project with a passive aggressive brand doubling at a snide comment. I would not use her again. I still think of it when I look at the dogwood tree I went to buy and planted myself when she was done. read more

Julie is a talented landscape design professional. Sustainable, California Native plants that use little water are a specialty. Her design work is beautiful and will represent what you want to achieve read more

"I know when I refer my clients to Julie they will be graciously, professionally and creatively taken care of by her expertise. My residential remodeling clients have been extremely happy with the results of her designs and the process to complete them. I look forward to many creative years of working with Julie and will not hesitate to refer her to all my clients to complete their outdoor living environments." Patrice Greene, DzignIT read more

We took advantage of Julie Orr's Express Design Service for a complete re-landscape of our front yard and some minor changes in the back yard. We provided pictures of landscapes we liked with an eye toward a low-maintenance, low-water, native-plant look and a budget. Julie did the rest: first measuring, then sketching some options with some recommendations. We chose a sketch, then discussed hardscape options and plants we liked. Julie did the rest. We had a complete plot plan at the end of one afternoon. It was an efficient process, and we love the results. Julie continued to be involved in our project. She was available for questions, made recommendations and was on-hand to help select pavers for the new hardscape and again to approve and set plants when they arrived. We enjoyed working with Julie and look forward to doing more projects with her. I would definitely recommend her design services. read more

Julie is a very knowledgeable about plants and has a great process for selecting what we were looking for. Amazing designs and plans were our end result. Unfortunately what was designed was double our budget we communicated so we had to scale back. Julie didn't provide a new design without the hardscaping in terms of plant layouts so had to work directly with landscaper to put in a path to make the yard look right. We went with SouthBay her recommendation and they have been amazing. But we are missing some plants that were on the approved designs so now having to address this. Was not the easiest process working with Julie and felt we had to really keep on top of this to get to the approved designs. Lots of changes of plants, sizes etc before we started which to me is not ok. When you approve a design you approve a design and plant changes and sizes just are not ideal. Had to request Julie address front yard layout as the planting wasn't per the designs, took a couple of trys to get her to see the issue. Ok but now blown away with her work. read more

I have hired Julie a few times now, with the latest being our largest project. She brings a lot of knowledge and creativity to each project, but also listens well to your wants and needs. I appreciate her honest approach and design sensibility. I'm NOT someone who wants to spend hours every weekend maintaining my garden, but I want it to look good. I now have a beautiful landscape that is very low maintenance. Thanks Julie! read more

I waited about a year to write this review because I wanted to make sure the design and work held up. My yard had challenging drainage issues and I was fearful the next big rain would change it. I'm happy to say that it still looks great - even better, now that the plants have matured. The entire process working with Julie was easy and effective. She listens well, incorporates feedback into her design and I never felt abandoned through the process. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a landscape designer. read more

My husband and I love the new yard that Julie helped us with. We have a very long driveway, 3 side yards, plus a back yard that were in desperate need of updating. Julie worked with us to keep the design within budget. She was super flexible and patient about the changes we made to the plans. When the plants arrived, Julie did the final placement before planting. She also helped us pick out our flagstone, pavers, and lighting, plus the containers for our porch; and she even met us at a nursery to pick out the plants for the containers. Julie definitely provides first class, detail-oriented service. The landscape work was done by Southbay Landscaping and we're extremely happy with the results. read more

Julie Orr designed an incredible back yard for me. I described what I wanted and she came up with an amazing plan to make it a reality. She provided blue print type designs, she checked in regularly as the job was being completed, and she followed through to make things happen right to the end. She made it really easy to select plants that would work for me, pavers, and granite counter tops. She is well connected and was able to direct me to all the resources I needed. read more

Julie did an amazing job redesigning our yard by creating a space that is very tailored to our family. Even after her design drawings were complete, she regularly checked on the builders and was readily available for questions and additional suggestions. We could not be happier with how our yard turned out - all for the great vision that Julie had. From figuring out how to make our yard as flat as possible to balancing outdoor living space with grassy area for kids to play on, Julie was terrific and I just cannot recommend her enough! read more