We were so thrilled with Kathy's design and support of our back yard renovation. It has transformed our life! It is so much better than we even dreamed of! The only problem is that now friends never want to leave our back yard! Kathy was so extremely responsive to what we wanted, giving us just the right amount of space to make our own decisions, but not so much that it was overwhelming. She was meticulous, responsive, and collaborative with our landscaper. She advocated for our needs and she has continued to follow up with us and help with questions that come up with this brand new space for us. HIGHLY recommend! read more

Kathy has been wonderful to work with from start to end. She's incredibly thoughtful and truly listened to our concerns, wants and needs. She's exceptional at what she does and we trusted her fully. We appreciated her honest feedback, her expertise and we highly recommend her for anyone considering a backyard renovation. I love how our yard has evolved and is not only beautiful with the floral and tree selections we decided on, but most importantly I'm so grateful that we can now host special parties and enjoy a beautiful safe space with our family. Thank you so much, Kathy! read more

We worked with Kathy on a very large, unkept property that we purchased with wild trees and overgrown vegetation everywhere. While we had some rough ideas of what we wanted, we needed a lot of guidance to turn those ideas into a clear, long-term vision. We spoke with a couple of landscapers before choosing Kathy, and what stood out immediately was the quality of questions she asked. She took the time to really understand what we were trying to achieve and helped clarify priorities we hadn't fully articulated ourselves. We felt truly heard and confident that she understood our needs better than anyone else we spoke to. Kathy guided us through every step of the process. She coordinated with an arborist to identify which trees to keep, worked closely with the landscaper on tree removal, and arranged for a 3D model of our house so the design could be visualized accurately. The final design was everything we asked for and more. She thoughtfully enhanced our ideas and elevated them in ways we wouldn't have imagined on our own. The video walkthrough she created of the final design was incredibly helpful, especially since this is a multi-phased project that will be completed over several years. She also broke the overall design into clear phases that aligned with how we want to implement the project over time. During execution, Kathy managed the project end-to-end, handling all communication with the landscaper. We didn't need to get involved at all. When issues came up on site, she was quick to adjust her designs to accommodate real-world constraints. We are extremely happy with the results and have received many compliments from our neighbors. We are very satisfied with our experience and look forward to continuing to work with Kathy on the future phases of our project. We would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for a thoughtful, professional, and highly capable landscape designer. read more

We absolutely love our new front yard that now has the curb appeal we always wanted! We waited 30 years to redo our front yard that mostly consisted of overgrown junipers. Our neighbors across the street used Kathy to design both their front and back yards. Both turned out beautiful, so we decided to consult with her. After a consultation with Kathy, we knew we wanted to work with her due to her extensive landscaping knowledge, creative ideas, attention to detail and thoroughness. Kathy designed a plan with drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, deer-resistant plants, flagstone walkways, and pavers for the driveway. It takes an artist to choose the right texture and color plants, group them beautifully together with rock boulders to look great. She remained actively involved with the landscape contractor during the implementation phase overseeing the placement of plants and stones. Kathy also provided excellent recommendations for arborists and landscape contractors which made the selection process easier. We could not have chosen a better landscape designer that was fully committed from design through implementation. read more

We were referred to Kathy last year when we're beginning to explore redoing the landscaping in our front and side yard, which were both in desperate need of updating the existing 90s landscape. Our decision to work with Kathy was solidified over the phone and in-person consults that we did to start the process. We were impressed with her local knowledge, great questions, and guidance as to what the process would look like. We also loved how communicative and transparent she was about timing and costs. We were thrilled once we received the master plan and couldn't wait to see what it would look like once it was completed. Upon deciding to move forward, Kathy provided a list of contractors to work with and made a recommendation on who would be best for us based on the demo, plants, and stone work we wanted to do. Kathy helped to shepherd the process from start to finish. She was directly involved in guiding with precision the placement of the stones, plants, and lighting. Once the project was complete, Kathy did a meticulous review (helping to ID which plants didn't make it through the planting process, adjusting lighting based on how the plants had settled, and ensuring we had the right irrigation and lighting equipment installed) and provided us with a comprehensive plan of how to care for each and every plant. We've included before and after photos. We would highly recommend Kathy for any of your landscaping needs! read more

See all

Kathy transformed our challenging hillside backyard from dated and overgrown into a backyard oasis. She carefully considered our needs (outdoor lounging area, decluttered hillside, fountain/lighting features) and guided us away from elements that would not fit our landscape or budget. After iterating our 3D design plans, Kathy provided terrific recommendations for contractors, arborists and vendors. During the build, Kathy was very detail oriented and hands-on to make sure everything was installed just right. We especially appreciated the education she gave on how to maintain our new landscape and supported us after the project was wrapped up. Highly recommend Kathy to anyone looking for an expert landscape designer who treats each project as if it were her own. Thanks Kathy :) read more

We moved into a newly built modern farmhouse where the builder clearly saw the landscape as an afterthought...lawn in front with uninspiring shrubs, a nice deck in the back but the remaining terraced landscape and yard was just decomposed granite and more lawn! Of course, we did not want to waste water trying to keep the lawns green. We were looking for more lounge space, play space and garden space. After meeting Kathy and hearing her process for designing our landscape, we were all in! She has a refreshing perspective, great experience with the layout of our backyard and a practical attitude. Kathy created a beautiful, robust design incorporating all of our wants and needs. We now have an enviable front yard of drought tolerant and native plants with a fantastic Japanese Maple tree and some boulders. Our terraced backyard now has dining space, lounge space with a fire pit and steel pergola, play space for our daughter and garden space. The rock walls, patio, lighting, etc. are all great and Kathy oversaw every detail. We could not be happier with the design, Kathy's plant & tree choices, and her project management skills keeping everything on track. I would highly recommend Rock Paper Clippers for any landscape project you have! read more

We had the great pleasure of working with Kathy on designing our new home's landscape. What impressed us the most about Kathy was her knowledge, passion, creativity and professionalism. Kathy checked all the boxes on our wishlist and went above and beyond - low maintenance/sustainability, large plant variety, visually harmonic with the surroundings and colorful. We have a net-zero home, so sustainability was on the top of our list - Kathy picked out colorful draught resistant/tolerant plants and taught us to look beyond succulents. We love colors - Kathy would send us to different houses to check out their plants to make sure we love the colors and the looks, she even helped us picked out our house's exterior color. We wanted something topographically interesting - Kathy brought in big rocks and little rocks, purposefully designed high grounds and low grounds for different types of plants based on their water usage. We wanted a worry-free installation - Kathy was involved every step of the way during the installation process to ensure every detail in the design was captured by the contractor, she even chased after the contractor for us for plant replacement and fixing the lighting system for free! We really couldn't have asked for a better landscape designer, who takes such great pride in her work. Kathy is extremely knowledgable about plants, landscaping, lighting and irrigation, so every time we had a question, she would have a thorough answer on why and why not it was a good idea/would work. I used to laugh at "homework assignments" she gave us, granted that we knew nothing about plants - she asked us to look at the pictures of the plants and read about them (yes, she did quiz us on things once in a while ;)). But after working with her for a while, I started to appreciate her assignments - we started to understand why she made the choices/suggestions she did, we started to appreciate the level of detail that goes into landscape design, and after everything was done, we were beyond thrilled to see the final product that we were part of making. Kathy still stops by our house periodically to check on our plants and makes suggestions if anything needs attention/to be replaced. Not only have we been thoroughly enjoying our views outside our windows, we've had so many compliments on our yard from neighbors as well as people passing by. We have happily referred friends and neighbors to Kathy. In short, when it comes to landscape design, in Kathy, we trust! read more

Our backyard was an eyesore when we bought our home. The deck was way too large relative to the yard size, and concrete was poured in the oddest places and angles. We finally committed to re-do the entire yard, and we are so thankful for Kathy's vision, guidance and expertise. We talked with a couple other designers, but they were nowhere as detail oriented as Kathy. We needed some hand-holding, and that's what Kathy did. Kathy listened to our general ideas, and she put together a specific design for us. In addition to the design, Kathy also put us in contact with a couple of contractors with whom she has had positive experiences. We obtained proposals from them and selected one to perform the work. Kathy was regularly in contact with them, and frequently showed up on site to check the progress and make any necessary modifications. The final result was an outdoor dining/entertaining surrounded by a botanical paradise. It feels so serene back there now. We love it. In fact, we love it so much that we also asked Kathy to help re-do our front yard! No more lawn mowing, and we love the lighting, tree, flower and plant selections Kathy recommended to completely change the curb appeal. Highly recommend Kathy for your yard design! read more

Kathy rescued our yard! Before working with Kathy, our yard was overgrown, chaotic, full of dead lawn and - thanks to a homemade pond from the prior owners - unsafe. We rarely spent time out there. We interviewed Kathy along with a few other landscape designers and were impressed with her knowledge of plants and her vision for what we could do with our space. We decided to move forward with Kathy and she helped us work through exactly what we wanted, suggesting design elements and layouts we never would have thought of. Once we had a landscape contractor on board to build out the design, she partnered with them to make sure the end result was perfect. Kathy helped us through the inevitable speed bumps during construction, guided us through decisions and answered all of our questions thoughtfully and thoroughly. These days, we spend almost every evening out in the yard. The layout is clean and functional, the plants are colorful and unique, and the lighting makes it a magical space. We love it and constantly get compliments from neighbors. Thank you Kathy for turning my confusing layout sketches and vague ideas into a beautiful yard we'll enjoy for years! read more

We can't stop hanging out in our new backyard -- Kathy transformed it from a dull, drought-damaged place to a lovely, water-wise space that every family member enjoys. I had an idea what we wanted but Kathy's great questions during the consultation and planning helped clarify what would work for us. She gave us a few choices to make, but when in doubt we followed her recommendations and couldn't be more glad that we did. She kept a careful eye on on our installation process and made a few adjustments to the design along the way. The whole space if lovely but I have to say, we particularly love the little fountain she included in the design -- it is a burbling delight! read more

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to landscaping and gardening - I grew up in SF so its never been something I have been exposed to. Now that I live in the burbs, we have a house that was in some seriously need of landscaping help. And we don't have a single flat area that is perfectly square with consistent conditions that was a blank canvas that I could easily copy what I saw online. No, we have multiple areas, some shady, some super sunny, some covered by huge pines, some covered by oaks, some completely exposed, some hilly, some flat, etc. So needless to say we needed a plan to figure out a cohesive look and also the right type of plants for the different zones on our property. Its pretty unlikely that I could have a ton of research and figured it out on my own because not only would it take a lifetime but it would require a ton of trial and error that would be so discouraging. Enter Kathy, she is an expert on all things landscaping. I was amazed at her level of knowledge on plants, hardscaping, and irrigation. She put together a detailed plan and helped with the installation process as well to make sure the actual landscaper didn't miss out on some of the finer details. The best thing is that with some "designers" they can be disorganized and slow to respond back, Kathy is the exact opposite. She is super organized, has everything laid out in easy to comprehend documents, and is super prompt to respond to communications. I would say its an investment because her expertise is not cheap, but if you want to have a landscaping plan that is not only going to look good but also be sustainable (aka, not die in a few months because the plants were inappropriate for the conditions, etc), I highly recommend you at least get a consultation from her. Also she makes sure the landscapers don't do anything that doesn't make sense, like in our case, not putting enough water emitters by larger plantings, which is something I wouldn't have caught on my own. read more

We have curb appeal now!    We met Kathy through a recommendation from my co-worker, who had both front and back yard design and landscaping done.  (And how did my co-worker find out about Kathy?  By admiring a neighbor's landscaping and asking who the designer was.)  We replaced mostly dead lawn in our front yard with stone veneer-sided planting areas (with cap stones), a 12'x12x patio area (that needed a lot of dirt hauled in to level out the area) fenced on 2 sides with cable wire fencing, removal of 30+ year old railroad ties (that served as a sidewalk), a new concrete sidewalk along the street and 3 wide concrete footpaths that now lead up to the house.  There is so much more to describe.    What impressed me most about Kathy is her ability to visualize a design from our wish list of ideas.  Then follow it with measurements (slope, distance, quantities), suggest hardscape materials and plants (many of which we were unfamiliar with so we had some homework to do), suggest lighting and irrigation ideas we didn't even know existed, and connect us with a landscape contractor who was professional and a pleasure to work with. read more

Our backyard had been ignored since we took out the kids' playstructure. While we had a nice deck, the lower tier of the yard needed a serious update. We met with several landscape designers and Kathy really stood out as someone who is responsive, open, creative and straight forward. When we met with Kathy she listened to what our needs were and our aspirations for the space, and was very clear about what was possible. She had some unique design suggestions that helped create a unique feel to our space. In addition, she was very candid about budget considerations. The design process was fantastic, she came up with novel solution for connecting our deck to the lower tier and the renderings that she makes allowed us to visual the impact of different design features. Once we finalized our design Kathy helped us find Landscapers to perform the work, and once identified worked seamlessly with them. We added a mezzanine deck, replaced a wood retaining wall with stone, adding a beautiful fountain, repaved the lower section and added lighting and irrigation throughout. It is a pleasure to entertain in our backyard (perfect during COVID times). Besides being available all throughout the process, Kathy has continued to respond to questions and challenges to make sure the plants are healthy and growing. The best thing about working with Kathy is her creativity, pragmatism and availability. I highly recommend Kathy to anyone looking to update their outdoor space, and can't wait to work with her on our next (front yard) project! read more

Kathy is a fabulous landscape designer. We absolutely love the results of the front- and back- yard new design that she did with us. It has all of the characteristics that we wanted and some others that we didn't know enough to ask for, but now really appreciate. In addition to a keen eye for design, Kathy is very knowledgable about plants and how to care for them. She has a high bar for quality and isn't afraid to voice her opinions, which came in handy when we were going through the installation process. Every day I enjoy our new outdoor living space! Highly recommend. read more

We loved working with Kathy. Our yard was a mess after having to remove a large tree from in front of our house. And, we know very little about plants. We met Kathy through a neighbor and liked her immediately. She is practical and no-nonsense when it comes to getting things done. I told her that we had no idea what we were doing but that we liked "color." From there, she came back with a design, plant recommendations and, best of all, a great recommendation for a contractor! From start to finish, Kathy was great.And, our yard is gorgeous! We get complements from people all the time now! I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a great, practical-minded designer! read more

My garden is fabulous! It is totally transformed. When Kathy and I first started talking about this project, I was sure that it would be costly to make it at all presentable. Kathy saw the potential in the existing hardscape with some stain, paint and small repairs. My drab courtyard feels like a beautiful outdoor room without having spent a fortune. She actively solicited my ideas and we selected a variety of plants that are not found in every other on the block. I was fascinated to work with her on the placements and plant selections because she has an amazing eye for design. My garden looks like no other and I can't wait for it to grow up! read more

After attempting to design our front and backyard on our own....and never feeling satisfied with our ideas we decided it was time to hire a designer. Having known Kathy on a personal level for a few years she seemed like the perfect choice. I emailed her to ask about how she worked, cost, etc....and she got back to me promptly with detailed answers to my questions. We set up a time to do a walk through and we were impressed immediately by her eye for design, plant knowledge, thorough approach to the design/project, and creativity. We spent months brainstorming together in person, over email, through text, and even via Pinterest board. She created a wonderful landscaping plan complete with a visual plant list. The design included a paver driveway, rock walls, rock bench, DG patio, travertine patio, lawn, electric water feature, stone bird feeder, and beautiful drought resistant plants. We were pleased with her design and perfectionist attitude (woman of my own heart). When the design was complete we had a hard time finding a contractor in our price range that we felt comfortable with. Kathy went above and beyond to help us find the right person. We were so touched by her desire to make sure we had the right contractor to work on our yard for us that we hired her on to check on the project weekly. The project was completely in a timely manner (even with all the crazy rain), and turned out just perfect. To be honest it is even better than we imagined! We can't wait for all of our little plants to grow! She did an amazing job transforming our ivy jungle into a safe place for our toddler and dog to explore. We are already loving all of our time relaxing in our new space. She listened to all of our hopes and desires and truly created a special place. read more

When I first met with Kathy, my backyard was basically a hill of dirt. She listened to what I wanted . . . a deck, no lawn, vegetable beds, foliage and flowers in green, burgundies, and purple hues, and plants that were drought resistent. She was so knowledgeable and easy to work with. She is like an interior decorator for your yard. I could not be happier with the outcome!. I had tried to work with landscapers directly, but found that they were asking me what plants I wanted and had little to no advice for me. I knew from my past expereince, in the side yard working directly with a landscaper, that I needed someone to represent me and guide me in my decisions when tackling the back yard. I was so impressed with Kathy, that I had her redesign both side yards that I had tried to do myself years earlier. Kathy asks the right questions, learns your style, and works with the landscaper to ensure the vision she presents becomes a reality. Cannot say enough about how valuable Kathy is! read more

Wow. I just had my first meeting with Kathy and I don't think I've ever learned so much in a one hour period! She is just such a wealth of information from both a design and a maintenance standpoint. Plus she was both complimentary of the good stuff and very honest about things that needed to improve which I really appreciated. I truly feel like my garden is now in good hands. If you think your "gardeners" are taking care of things for you...think again...and hire Kathy! read more

I'm delighted with my new garden design! Working within our small budget, Kathy Brenner of "Rock Paper Clippers" transformed a drab rock path into a serene new garden bed and stone patio that will camouflage our detached garage and provide shade for our yard. Her design solved so many problems! In one short consultation, Kathy saw a possibility for improvement that we never would have thought of on our own. Throughout the process, she taught me tons about how to trim and care for my plants. She has a fantastic design eye! Kathy worked patiently with me to resolve all my concerns, tweaking our plans several times to work around problems. And she helped us re-use materials to cut costs. The end result has made me so happy! Now I have a gorgeous garden view out my back door. read more

Kathy helped us to transform our front and back gardens into beautiful outdoor spaces. We had moved into a house with "dated" landscaping and Kathy's vision helped us to make some simple changes to update the feel of the spaces without completely overhauling some of the existing features and structures. She is a great resource of plants and materials and I appreciated that she presented us with many different visuals along the way to help us decide which direction to take. We could have worked with our gardener to simply replace some plants but we would not have been happy with the outcome. Kathy can see the "big picture" and she made a plan to make each of the spaces come together for a really finished look. read more