Kevin responded promptly after I left a message. He came to the house the next day. I showed him…read morethat I needed. I asked Kevin to clean up our front, side, and back yards. They were overgrown with weeds and some dead leaves from the rainy season. Also, the bushes needed trimming. He scheduled to do it only a few days later. His crew of 4 arrived on time and worked hard. The results were transformative. I am planning to have them do regular maintenance. Thanks Kevin!

Tom came out and we discussed my backyard project. He made a few recommendations that made the…read moreproject better. During the work, Jamie made another recommendation that tied the new pavers to the existing patio. The crew did the work quickly and professionally, and I'm very happy with my backyard.

I went for one of their Intro to Bonsai classes (doesn't teach how to do bonsai, just fundamentals…read moreof what bonsai is, how to appreciate, etc), and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a one hour intro led by a volunteer, who was knowledgeable and also answered a lot of our questions. Afterwards, they took us around the garden and gave us an overview of some of the trees in the garden. Membership is also available and fairly affordable - also seems to come with a lot of good perks! Regardless if you go for the class or not, it's a very nice and tranquil way to spend an hour or two.

Beautiful gardens hidden away in a busy city…read more Sad to see a group of teen throwing trash into the lake. They don't even respect their own area.

I first heard about JV from the "Diamond Certified Directory", a free guide dropped annually in my…read morearea showcasing Bay Area businesses judged to be the best of the best based upon customer satisfaction, loyalty and expertise. They had a near perfect rating and were praised by pleased clients. After contacting Juan, he came over almost immediately to provide a quote. I wanted to update my high maintenance, overgrown front yard with low maintenance, drought tolerant plants and pavers. Juan listened to my ideas and provided his own useful knowledge. They were the right group for the job! Shortly afterwards, I also met Michael, the Project Manager. He and Juan manage several work teams that we got to see in action over the next several months. Workers were here religiously 5-6 days a week; usually starting around 9am and working usually until after 5pm in good weather and bad. The teams work incredibly hard and are extremely skilled in all facets of yard construction. Any concerns or glitches were met by almost immediate response by JV, whether or not the request came during the course of the work day. I was extremely impressed when Michael came by late one evening during pouring rain to clear water backing up onto the street and sidewalk due to equipment left at the curb. Near the completion of my front yard, I started to talk with Juan and Michael about completing the backyard and sides as well. They continued the pavers from the front with a backyard patio and paths on the sides. My old redwood deck was replaced with a composite deck and wood pergola, artificial grass, maintenance shed and complete lighting. Roxanne, their plant specialist, listened to my plant suggestions and designed a yard full of interesting plants to meet my requirements. Even though the job is now complete, JV wants to make sure customers remain satisfied. Many of my new plants were planted during the winter, and as I live in a frost zone, I was unsure of what would survive the winter. I'm pleased to say that only one type of flower planted in the front yard appears to be struggling, but Michael has already said they would be replaced if they didn't survive until spring. It's that type of customer follow through that makes JV Gardening amongst the best in their field. Now that my whole job is complete, I'm very happy that I used JV for the job. I truly think I made the best decision by hiring them!

The team here did incredible work. I was looking to replace my dried out front lawn with drought…read moreresistant plants. They came out to take a look a day after I requested a quote, and began work a week later and just 2 days later they did an incredible transformation. Highly recommended!

We are so SO happy with our garden! Lara was perceptive to our ideas and synthesizing them into…read morewhat will actually work for our ability and the climate. Besides that, her communication and organizational skills are excellent, and she's a gosh darn delight, besides. Shout out to her crew, too, they were wonderful. I highly recommend Bountiful Botanicals. Seriously, I can't say enough good things!

From the start, working with Lara @ Bountiful Botanicals has been a pleasure! Our project was quite…read morelarge, involving a bigger crew, and dealing with unexpected challenges throughout the project due to our back yard having a lot of "hidden history", so to speak. But Lara and the crew were able to meet these challenges head on, and found ways to optimize time so we were not bogged down with extra spend. We completely overhauled our back yard, from an overgrown mess to a yard we could be proud of, and most importantly, safe for our kids. Lara was great in understanding we had kids, and she helped in choosing materials that would work well to reduce or eliminate chemicals or difficult/sharp surfaces. Same goes for plant selection, equally good for our kids and dog so nothing with poisons, and lots of fun edibles for the kids to easily pick off an eat. Without a doubt, I highly recommend Bountiful Botanicals for your project, both large and small. They can take on any challenge and have the skills within the team to get any project completed. I've included a before, and a few after. The details speak for themselves on the quality and craftsmanship from the team!

This was a perfect stop for a staycation since it was open on Labor Day. It was pretty quiet, which…read morewe didn't mind. There were so many types of flowers, some of which I've never seen, and it leads out to Lake Merritt itself. My family and I took our time to look at everything and we there for about an hour. *Verdict: Free to the public, this is a great place to soak in the sun and escape from the hustle and bustle of the city!

A lot of times, after my run around the lake, I like to come here and just walk around, it's so…read moreserene and peaceful here! It really doesn't feel like 7 acres in here at first, but once you explore all of these gardens, you get a feel of just how expansive it is in here. It's free to enter, but also has limited hours. It's open weekdays from 8AM-3PM and weekends from 8AM-4PM. You will find people sitting on the many benches in here conversing, or just taking in the scenery. I've been walking through here for a long time, always enjoy being here!!

After purchasing our home, a lack of attention had gotten the best of our yard. I hired Andres to…read morehelp get an overgrown and disastrous yard situation under control. After a big initial clean-up job, Andres agreed to a fair monthly rate for bi-weekly maintenance. They always do a good job keeping things tidy. But here's where the five stars come in... Andres' service really stood out during the recent installation of an artificial lawn. The first contractor completely misled us in terms of his knowledge and capabilities. He started work on the project and after many delays, we realized he wasn't going to get the job done on time. I called Andres up on a Tuesday night with an urgent request. Since we had been his regular customers for a while, he put a rush on the job and brought over an army on the very next day. The job was done in a matter of days! More importantly, he was able to do a thorough job and explained each step in the process. We learned a valuable lesson in only hiring trustworthy contractors to get jobs done on time. Andres is our go-to for any future landscaping needs.

I hired Andres to remove and replace the old and faded bark in my front and back yards…read more In addition to replacing the bark, I also hired Andres to adjust my bougainvillea plant since it was not thriving in its current position. After the bark removal and replacement was completed and after I paid Andres in full for all the work, the following day I noticed several areas in both yards that were not completely covered by bark and actually exposed the underlying landscape materials. I immediately contacted Andres about this concern, sent him several photos and requested more bark so that all areas would be completely covered. Andres totally dismissed this request and concern... to the point of that he did not bother responding. Furthermore, my Bougainvillea's previously healthy leaves dried up and crumbled two days after Andres replanted it. It's probably suffering from shock. After this latest experience and Andres's nonchalant and unprofessional attitude, I do not recommend this company.

Nice-sized municipal rose garden located a block off busy Grand Avenue. A good place with benches…read moreon various terraced paths with a large variety of rose bushes and trees. Has a reflecting pond and a terrace for weddings. There is also a path recognizing the Oakland Woman of the Year with names since the 50s? Many plants are not blooming yet as of early May. Should be glorious in the next few months. No dogs or bike riding in the garden although I did notice a few people letting their dogs run wild in the non-rose bush upper terraces.

Beautiful rose garden…read more Wonderful walkthrough Benches all around with scenic picnic areas What a gem!

After a number of lackluster experiences with TaskRabbit (getting ghosted mid-conversation, having…read moreconfirmed Taskers not show up, having Taskers provide inefficient service), my husband and I decided to start a gardening project on Yelp in order to request quotes for our front and back yard. Isai responded within the hour with an offer to drop by for a free consultation and his contact information. We were able to schedule something for the next day which had to get pushed back another day, but throughout it all, Isai was very communicative and punctual. I received a number of quotes within three days from my Yelp request and Isai was the most reasonable by far. We were able to book a day and time that worked for us the week after. Before our appointment, Isai reached out with at least six different photos of options for ground cover and I appreciated being included in this process even though I don't have extensive knowledge of landscaping or gardening at all. The day of, Isai and his team came in the morning and within just a few hours, completely transformed our front and back yard. They worked quickly and methodically to uproot all of the weeds from the front rock garden and in between the concrete; shaped various shrubbery and trees; weed all of the planters in the back yard, lay down landscaping fabric, and also the mulch; and, sweep up various leaves and fallen fruit. Payment was easy through Zelle and as he left, he notified us that the yard waste would be a little heavy because the weeds were wet. He also asked if we had pets (we don't). He indicated that weeding the front yard was difficult and that a little Round Up at the first inkling of weeds would go a long way in keeping them at bay. We are truly impressed by Isai and his team and very thankful. I would not hesitate to recommend them and to request their services again.

I recommend Zavala Landscaping very highly! I would give Isai 10 stars out of 5! He was very…read moremeticulous and careful. We had decomposed granite throughout our backyard. Isai made sure everything was evenly covered and leveled. I would definitely use his services again!

The Pardee Home Museum has been on my radar for a while as one of the few places in the East Bay to…read moreget afternoon tea. I ended up finally booking the garden for a large party this month and was impressed by the experience from start to finish. It's hard to believe that it's entirely volunteer-led! Everyone I met was clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the house, its history, and its preservation. Making a reservation was easy and the coordinators were kind and courteous during the whole process. The day-of place settings were beautiful and the food was some of the best I've had for tea in addition to being generous and variable in servings. There were even some kid-friendly items (including some non-caffeinated beverages) as I had a few young guests in attendance. The tour we had following our tea service was detailed and informative without being boring. The house itself is incredibly preserved and in immaculate condition. It was great learning about the history of the Pardee family and their influence in the Bay Area, California, and beyond. There were some interactive parts too including getting to touch some antique items and listen to some hand-cranked music players. I will undoubtedly be back sometime and highly encourage anyone who likes good food and vibes or learning about local history to book a visit themselves. If you have people from out-of-town visiting, the Pardee Home is an excellent first choice for doing something low-key and private but still touristy.

The Pardee Home Museum (Italianate architecture) was built by the Pardee family. Three generations…read morelived lived there from 1868 to 1981. The last survivor put the home in a trust that is run by a Board of Trustees. It's self-supporting and run by volunteers. The father (made money in the mines, was an eye doctor and a California State Senator) and his son was Governor of California who made the poppy flower CA's state flower; reformed prisons; and established the EBMUD. All furnishings and collections are original and left intact. The tour is about 1.5 hours. Tour was educational and interesting - it covers the entire residence of 3 floors. The tour guide was nice and knowledgeable. She kept the tour intense so you wanted to know more. She gave insights and tibits of the family. All questions were answered. The afternoon tea is delightful. The food is prepared from scratch with lots of love from the volunteers. They were friendly, personable and thoughtful. Since it was the day before Easter, they put some Easter bunny theme to the tea. Just lovely people who made a delcious three course of food assortment. I definitely recommend the tour to learn about Oakland history and to visit one of the last standing historical mansions. Tea was authentic - no crust on the bread :)