SUE ODA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Sue designed my dream garden. I have been looking for someone who understood the Japanese rock garden style. She hit the nail on the head. The yard is not big. There is a redwood deck, a stone patio, and the landscape. It is a space to be viewed--a space that evokes tranquility. I told Sue that I wanted to be able to see something beautiful from every window in the house. She made that happen. Japanese elements are everywhere--half-hidden by a shrub or tree or integrated into a cluster of stones. Movement is created by a beautifully shaped dry creek bed and thoughtful plant placement. The yard is not only beautiful, it's got great bones! Her design of a head stone retaining wall and the transition from one level of the yard to the next has drawn much envy from my neighbors. Sue knows construction. She is the whole package.

Very thorough.

However, the big snag came in hiring a gardener to do the work. Sue recommended someone and they were just not responsive at all. It took a couple of months just to get them out to my home to start the work. So though it started in June with Sue, it did not finish until October.

I had to end up emailing and following up to make sure that the work would start. Probably should have taken a hint from that and hired someone else. The gardener was very poor in keeping me informed or showing any interest in doing the job.

The end result looked nice. The problem is that in actuality it did not meet my criteria of cost and low maintenance. One of the flower trees (Rose of Sharon) was struggling from the start and never really took off. The passion flower vine ended up requiring a lot maintenace in trying to train the vine and control the growth (which was difficult because it was in an awkward corner of the yard). The daisies and blue fescue started overrunning the yard and had to be continually maintained. The rocks that I chose because I liked the color, essentially were not used - the gardener had brought her own that she had around. Right now I have 2 sacks of rocks in my garage that I paid for and were minimally used as a token to me. The ground cover that I chose was not used as the gardener decided on an alternative.

To do it over, I would probably not use the landscape architect (though Sue herself was professional), but go directly to using a gardener and working out project details with that person.

Fine. She came and looked at the space, then we met again to look at her drawings. Based on my comments, she made a few changes. The only problem was it took her a few weeks to find someone to do the work. And, of course, the rain delayed things.

I contacted her to design our little (and very chaotic) backyard and front porch. We met once to discuss what I was hoping for the project. She listened, took notes, took some measurements and also helped me with seeing what could be possible. The plans took a couple of weeks - we met again to go over the plans, plant choices, etc. She showed me pictures of what the plants would look like. After this process was finished, we went to choose some tiles together - it was really educational and fun! Then she began contacting very good contractors/tile people/iron workers - and this took some time (which was not her fault). She made appointments for these people to come give estimates, and scheduled/coordinated the work being done. Once the project began, she oversaw the project - giving input to the workers, making sure that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. It was good to have someone professional overseeing this - the workers responded better to her!

I contacted her to design our little (and very chaotic) backyard and front porch. We met once to discuss what I was hoping for the project. She listened, took notes, took some measurements and also helped me with seeing what could be possible. The plans took a couple of weeks - we met again to go over the plans, plant choices, etc. She showed me pictures of what the plants would look like. After this process was finished, we went to choose some tiles together - it was really educational and fun! Then she began contacting very good contractors/tile people/iron workers - and this took some time (which was not her fault). She made appointments for these people to come give estimates, and scheduled/coordinated the work being done. Once the project began, she oversaw the project - giving input to the workers, making sure that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. It was good to have someone professional overseeing this - the workers responded better to her!