Kitson Landscape has been an exceptional landscape company for the 20 years that I've known them. They service our HOA and many other places in town. For many of those years, I had been the liaison between my HOA and the Kitson crew. The crews I've seen over the years are always respectful and hard working. When we asked questions about what type of trees we could plant that have certain characteristics (e.g. some flowering, not heavily deciduous, not a lot of fruit droppings, not too tall to block views, etc.), the owners of the company provided a great list of suggested tree candidates for us to review. If I recall correctly, the management at Kitson has advanced degrees in horticulture, so they have a wealth of information about so many plants and trees. Coming up with a list of trees fitting the characteristics we wanted is simply not something I could have done and there is no book containing a list of trees. It's only someone who has a vast knowledge after seeing a variety of trees in their growth habitats who could formulate such a list with those specific characteristics. I once wanted to donate some of my own money to re-landscape around our HOA pool and I chose a palate of drought-tolerant plants (from the Goleta Water District's drought tolerant plant display). Sarah (at Kitson) offered to draw up a sample landscape design to lay out those plant types in various locations. She was very helpful and, in retrospect, I realized that many "landscape architects" are now charging big $$$ for simple landscape designs. She didn't even charge us for her landscape design, which wasn't a trivial thing to do. The Kitson foreman, who comes out weekly with his crew is such an amazing person. He's like family to us. So diligent and always cheerful and can solve vexing irrigation problems or breakages. He's also so very patient if fussy neighbors make demands. I'm well-connected in town, so some of my clients also use Kitson and I have heard no negative comments from these clients about Kitson. So I'm quite surprised to see a few bad reviews here. Could it be competitors trolling? This just doesn't make sense! And the one nasty review about Kitson using Round-up is quite odd. I believe Kitson doesn't use Round-up currently. They use something else that is super benign. And even when they used to use Round-up, we have fruit trees in some areas and Kitson's foreman was very accommodating: "No spray near the fruit trees." Ironically, as it turns out, all the anti-Roundup hype in the news lately may actually be way overblown. Google for the following article on-line: "EPA-science-could-torpedo-roundup-lawsuits." And perhaps the guy who posted about Kitson's blowers at his office building needs a lesson in the "corporate pecking order." Your office landscape company (in this case Kitson) probably has a contract with your management company and/or the owners of the office building. They decide what type of parking lot method is employed (blowers or labor-intensive sweeping). Blowers are the most cost effective way to "sweep" an office parking lot. If there are enough complaints about blowers to the office management company, then the owner/manager has an option to forbid the use of blowers and pay for more expensive broom cleaning of the parking lot. Surely they don't want to pay for costly broom sweeping of your parking lot, so the lowly employee/tenant in an office building like yours needs to contact your office management company with their concerns. The landscape company workers will do what the office building owner wants them to do per their contract. So, of course, the workers at the landscape company will ignore your requests because you're not on the contract. This problem would exist with any other landscape company where someone who is not their boss is telling them not to do what's in their contract. read more

Professional, consistent and reliable. Management is very responsive when I have any concerns or additional needs for service. The Irrigation specialist is the best! read more

My company uses Kitson for the maintenance of our property and also for the design of the plantings. I have always been impressed with how courteous their staff is. The stop whatever they are doing when someone passes by. They work hard and our property always looks top notch. I also really like the layout that the put in. They used native plants but arranged in a beautiful way. I was talking to one of the crew about other places they do. If you drive down Hollister between Fairview and Glen Annie and the property looks good, it is probably because it is maintained and designed by Kitson. read more

I've watched Kitson Landscaping keep a large park near my house in top condition for many years now. I walk my dogs daily through the Girsch Park area and often come across Kitson crews while they mow and trim, plant and prune this park with skill and professionalism. The park area is used by many people throughout the year and the landscaping always looks beautifully maintained. The Kitson workers are always kind and friendly to me as I pass by. This business has been in the area for a long time and they know what grows here best. I think they're doing a super job everywhere I see their trucks and workers around town. read more

Unfortunately; my property management uses kitson, so I'm stuck with them. Not once has the kitson crew acknowledged my family or myself when working in our yard. I don't mind this, just seems unprofessional and unnerving that there is zero relationship with people that are so close to my home and small children. While working in my office at my home I watched kitsons workers look through my downstairs window. Why would they need to be looking inside my house? I have small kids, which makes this concerning. When I came home from wrk one day there was a kitson worker next to my garage. I opened it when i came home and it was open for a few moments. The worker was fiddling with irrigation lines that weren't even broken so it was strange he was even that close to my garage for no reason. Within a week, my garage door opened at 2am. A black car with all black tinted windows somehow opened my garage. Luckily he raced away because my neighbors chased him away, they saw the whole thing. I called the police and made a report. I can't prove it was related to kitson, but multiple red flags have been raised on who they really hire? This combined with them peeping in my window, just raised some red flags. Also, the police said if someone is close to your garage when you open it they can have a device that can use that same frequency to open at their own convenience. This is not only concerning because I have very expensive equipment in my garage, but also because I have a family with small kids. Their website boasts on how long they've been in service, that it's family run and that their owner has a degree from cal poly. That's great but that's not who's working in my yard. I doubt the workers have college degrees. The individual who started the company no longer is the individual in your yard doing the actual work. Like I said my property management hired them and I have no choice. read more

The Management Co. at our office building uses Kitson. They blow dust and dirt on our cars. My office window was open and the dirt covered my desk. I have called Kitson a couple of times and they ignore it. They trim bushes at 3-6 inches from the side of our cars in the parking lot. They need to be reported to the APCD for air pollution. Some of their field staff are rude and don't care. read more

Kitson Landscape has been maintaining Winchester Commons for over three years. During that time, they have always been and continue to be the consummate professionals. The Operations Manager is always available, visits the site regularly and takes photos (for easy reference) to document issues that need attention . The crew that maintains our complex is always courteous and they do a fabulous job. The crew wears vests that identify them as Kitson and the Ops Manager usually wears a vest and always has on a green Kitson shirt and drives a Kitson vehicle. Kitson has made it very easy for owners to identify their personnel. Kitson has been instrumental in assisting us to reduce water usage and plan the stages of turf removal. They also provide expert assistance in the refurbishment of yards and common areas. Winchester Commons is proud to have Kitson as our landscape and maintenance vendor. As the President of our HOA, I am thankful to be able to work with an extremely professional company such as Kitson. read more