California Smartscape

My husband and I are thrilled with our new backyard! From the beginning Andrew understood our needs and worked on a design that would give us more usable space for our family gatherings. Andrew is jus wonderful to work with! He is attentive to your needs and concerns and has an incredible vision for hardscape design and landscape. Once the design was done, they had to demolish existing cement and level our whole backyard to have more usable space. They installed pavers, lighting, gas lines for our fire pit and grill and landscape. It all came together even better than we ever imagined! The whole team was led by our project manager, Alvaro, who is a pleasure to work with. Every worker that was brought in was professional, punctual, and tidied up before they left for the day. Alvaro was always responsive and accommodating with the changes that we thought needed to be done along the way and still the project was completed on time and within the budget. We wish we could give more than 5 stars and cannot recommend this company enough! Hiring California Smartscape was the best decision we could have made and one we will enjoy for many years to come!!

California Smartscape provides a landscape design service you will appreciate as the owner, Richard, helps you develop your best options to take a nondescript landscape and makes it remarkable. Andrew Vesey, the designer has broad and specific knowledge in hardscape design. If you have ideas or not Andrew will help you bring options into focus. He has a creative mind and well-thought out plans to put your landscape project in the best possible condition. His work crew is highly commendable because of their talent and work ethics. They are on time, work hard, and pick up the site at the end of the day. They are gifted and dedicated workers who are professional, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. If you have any questions or concerns, the Project Manager, Alvaro, will address them. He stands behind his work 100%. You can depend on your area lasting a long time since the materials used are excellent quality. The outcome is a beautiful oasis and one I will enjoy for many years.

My wife and I hired California Smartscapes to complete a 100,000 plus landscaping job at our home in Bay Park. As you can tell by the photos it turned out amazing! In fact, it turned out better than we could have anticipated. The guys were very professional and their effort and work ethic was first class. The team lead by project manager Sal were very responsive to our requests and were there to answer any questions we had. We are excited to spend our weekends and nights outside BBQing, enjoying the fire pit and watching sports! I will say there is no one more excited than our labradooble, Callie! Now, all she wants to do is be outside playing ball on the grass :) Thank you all for making our home complete!

Our whole experience was great. From the first meeting with Andrew to talk about the design, to the final walk through with our project manager Alvaro I felt that my needs were well taken care of. We only had a couple minor issues during the whole process and they were handled quickly and effectively. I would definitely recommend CA Smartscapes to anyone wanting a backyard remodel!

We are so pleased with our new backyard! We have so much more usable space, and less grass to water. Andrew was awesome to work with for the design aspect. Saul and his crew did an amazing job - hardest working guys I have ever seen. They demolished an existed cement patio, installed pavers, moved 2 big pygmy date palms, installed gas lines, put in new drip system, installed new sod. We had a few plants not make it and they were quick to get them replaced. We highly recommend California Smartscape and will use them again when we do our front yard.

CS was attentive and suggestive to my goals for the property, listened intently, created 2D rendering of the project concept all at no initial cost to me. Had owner, Richard and designer Samantha actively engaged in making my plans for the project not only appropriate for the property but also worked aggressively to control the budgetary requirements. Compared to the 2 other designers I was evaluating, it was an impressive beginning. Project delivery, given the hurdles that we had to jump through, was amazing. Project Supervisor, Leo, was attentive to my desire to make changes on the fly as we laid out the project and was good to communicate and discuss the additional cost for change orders. The professionalism of the crews and attention to details was a very positive experience. Even up to the day of the final walk through. Having been through a massive landscape remodel of this kind only once before (not same in scope) I was impressed with their ability to manage all aspects of it's complexity. I could not speak more highly of CA Smartscape and their team. Would hire them again without question!

My husband and I are just thrilled with our front and back yards by California Smartscape. We now have the prettiest landscaping on the block! Our front and back yards are virtually worry-free and low maintenance and GORGEOUS! It started with Samantha, our landscape designer. I must have sent her a hundred photos from Pinterest, magazines, etc., hoping to convey the elements I wanted for my garden. She incorporated/translated this elements, along with a small pool, and other requested features, into beautiful outdoor living "rooms". Her design exceeded all our expectations! Sal was the contractor assigned to our project. He is kind, patient, and ensured that all projects were completed to perfection. Our satisfaction was a real priority to him. He always made himself accessible to answer any questions and concerns we might have; he is extremely busy, so this is no small feat! A project with so many moving parts can easily become a mess, but Sal was on top of everything at all times. Now I have only to enjoy my stunning landscape and congratulate myself for going with California Smartscape!

I am very pleased and even amazed at the transformation of my back yard. First, I must compliment Jesse, the landscape architect who designed my project. I had very specific "wants and needs" which he incorporated perfectly. The renderings and plans were excellent. The job supervisor, Leo, was very impressive. Even though he was overseeing quite a few other jobs, he never forgot any details or tweeks I wanted in my project. He was always very responsive. It took approximately 3 months to complete my project. I'm sure it would have taken other companies much longer as I saw happening when my neighbors had landscape work done at their homes. Many days there were 5-7 men on my job; they showed up promptly at 7 AM and worked very hard all day. They would also clean up the site at the end of each day. They were very experienced, as evidenced by the great work they did. I am a very particular person, so I closely watched the work being done. Santiago was often on-site and always checked the plans to be sure the job was being built as specified, He also expertly did much of the work himself. My backyard went from having very little useable or functional space to a place where I can easily entertain 50 or more people. When the job was done they did the final TLC, as Leo calls it, and they even washed my lower story windows and patio doors that were bordering the construction site. Final compliments to Jessica the office admin person and Richard the owner of the company. Unfortunately the photos were taken on a cloudy day and don't do the project justice.

We contacted California Smartscape to give us an estimate on redoing our front and back yards. They had been destroyed by putting a pool in and by a large tree in the front yard that damaged the hardscape. We spoke at length to Richard and Nick about our budget and our ideas for the yard. The proposal they came back with was within our budget and had all the elements we wanted. We were pleasantly surprised because we had contacted others and their proposals were way above budget and did not have the elements we wanted. The crews that came out to do the work were wonderful. They were professional, considerate and respectful. Steve was a great project manager who attended to things as they came up during the work. Ruben was a good crew supervisor. He had a good relationship with his workers. Now that our project is complete, we couldn’t be happier. The whole yard has been transformed into a natural landscape with easy to care for low water plants, low voltage LED lighting and drip irrigation. We even have a small artificial grass lawn in back! If you need landscape work, this is the company I would recommend.

We had a wonderful experience with Isaiah and his team. We remodeled our small backyard to remove a bunch of concrete and put down turf grass, planters, irrigation, lighting, and a patio. Isaiah did the design for us and we love it. He even picked out all the plants for us. They started within a few weeks of the initial meeting and knocked it out in a week with a pretty large team. We cannot recommend this company enough!

I hired this awesome company through a referral by my friends who also gave a smashing review. This company is stacked with talent with Jesse as my designer architect and Leo and Edgar's team as the executors. They earned the 5 stars with being on time, great communicators, prices holding up without changes and ultimately great finished product that matched the design to a "t". I highly recommend them, they made my landscaping dream come true, now we spend so much time back there.

I was in a bad relationship with my former landscaper who left our backyard a total nightmare. Multiple landscaping companies came out and ran the other way after seeing the mess our former landscaper created. We were a total mess! California Smartscape came in, and from the first meeting I just had a really good feeling about them. Jay and Jesse came in for the inital quote, and Leo was the project manager for the duration of our project. They were prompt, responsive, professional, and above all - KIND. Just really, REALLY good people. They got to work right away and completed everything in the time frame they gave us. Throughout the whole process, I was in the know of what area would be tackled next, what materials would be brought in, who would be working on what... each week the communication was clear on what would be done. They have this business down like a well oiled machine, and always answered any questions I had in a prompt manner. Leo had the best attitude coming into work. He is extremely thorough, knowledgeable, and easy going... even when there were some unexpected challenges (left by my former landscaper). He was like a friggin' detective, figuring out our old plumbing/electric lines, and combing through our old plan to make sure our new yard would be perfect. WE LOVE LEO!! We're about a year in, and everything has held up perfectly. The guys installed a drip system for our plants, and we use less water now, but our trees are twice as tall as our neighbors who started their landscaping way before we did. Seriously, they have everything figured out to the tee. We're so thankful they decided to take us on despite the challenges... now we have so many neighbors asking who did our yard - I still can't believe they were able to turn the mess around into a perfect backyard getaway.

I would highly recommend California Smartscape!! Our yard looks amazing!

I wrote a critical comment about the company shortly after they finished there were three particular things they did not do correctly and it wasn’t until I posted on Angie’s List that they made the repair now two years later about 1/3 of the project has to be redone because of improper irrigation

We recently completed a major job with California Smartscape and are very pleased with the results and the process. Our job involved replacing a large driveway and two patio areas totaling about 1800 square feet and about 100 feet of walkway with pavers, synthetic turf in two backyard areas, replacement and addition of drainage systems on the 1/2 acre lot, removal of extensive overly mature landscaping and replacement with new plants, rock, and mulch, plus new irrigation throughout. We interviewed 5 firms for the job, and selected California Smartscape as the best overall balance of design and creative ideas, cost, and schedule. One main reason we choose them was the communication right from the start with our designer Andrew. Even at our initial meeting he was raising ideas and areas of concern that other companies did not address, and he listened very carefully to our likes and dislikes. His resulting design was a nice blend of his creativity and things we wanted, and as a result it was clear from the start that we would end up with something we liked. They weren't the cheapest bid, but their price was reasonable for work. I also liked that right at the beginning they highlighted several areas that would be TBD in the bid and the reasons why, indicating the potential issues they might run into once demolition began. Other firms tended to gloss over this, perhaps to not give the impression that there would be significant cost increases, but I've done enough construction myself to know what one can run into beneath the surface and what those can do to project cost. I appreciated California Smartscape setting proper expectations to avoid sticker shock later. The company was able to start the job fairly quickly, and we had a significant work crew at our house for the next couple months. The crew was always prompt and courteous, and they worked very hard throughout the day - it was clear that there was never any slacking off from these guys! Our project manager, Leo, was good at keeping everything flowing smoothly, and had clearly scheduled the work crews and materials deliveries so that there was no wasted time or off days. He was also responsive whenever we raised any issues (which were minor and rare) or had questions. We are delighted with the outcome, and we've had many wonderful comments from neighbors and passers by. We plan on staying in the house for years to come and hopefully won't be needing such extensive landscape work again for a long time, but we would certainly use California Smartscape again and recommend them highly.

They worked with me from start to finish on design, function, materials and budget. Fast, friendly, punctual and professional. We are super happy with our new backyard and are now officially ready for summer!

They were prompt professional and efficient. Good overall design and craftsmanship.

California Smartscape did an excellent job on the complete re-do of our front driveway, walks and landscaping. We are very happy with the design and the execution of the plans by the very professional workers. The construction went very well with no disturbances and the workers left the site tidy and clean every day. All the staff were very responsive. We highly recommend the company.

Overall, it went great. We waited a year to write this review because we wanted to see how everything held up, in case there might be any issues that arose after the initial install. Among the firms we interviewed, California Landscape was the most flexible in trying to meet our budget goals while also meeting our overall design intent. Their professional landscape designer, Jesse, did an excellent job listening to our high-level intent and our ideas, as well as contributing his own suggestions. His cost proposal(s) were thorough and included options that we could potentially subtract in order to stay within budget. He delivered beautiful color 3D design drawings that included pictures of proposed plants. Key element of the new design were (1) replacing all concrete with pavers, (2) removing rock that covered the front "lawn" & side gardens and replacing it with more tropical looking gardens, (3) removing the wood deck and installing a 2-tiered paver patio, (4) removing the Bermuda grass and replacing it with artificial turf., and (5) removing a palm tree that was blocking lake views. After the design was signed off, construction was planned. Construction began roughly on time and went largely as planned, although the project took a couple of weeks longer than the original 4 week schedule. We were well informed of each step and each day's and week's plans. Crews were efficient and courteous. The project manager, Leo, was diligent, although he was managing a large number of jobs (more than we expected), so he wasn't on-site quite as often or for as long as we were originally expecting. As any issues arose (either as noted by California Landscape or by ourselves), they were openly discussed and quickly resolved. Some resulted in slight cost increases, others resulted in slight decreases. We felt pricing of any changes was fair and California Smartscape was very straightforward to deal with. They were very professional and we had no major conflicts. At the end of construction, the resulting landscaping looked beautiful, although obviously many of the plants were still quite small and hadn't grown in yet. We received many compliments right away from people who saw the front & side landscaping. We also received many compliments from people who saw our rear landscaping (the house is on a lake and boaters frequently pass by our back year). We were delighted with the way it looked. The only significant glitch that we ran into for the construction part of the project had to do with a railing that we wanted on the raised rear 2-tier paver patio. Although we technically didn't need a railing because of the height of the decks, we wanted one. California Landscaping was not willing to take on the railing portion of the project themselves, but they said they could refer us to a railing contractor who could provide what we wanted. Unfortunately, when the recommended railing contractor showed up, he passed on the railing project because it was not a simple type that he only does. California Landscaping was unable to help us at all once the railing contractor punted, so we were left on our own to source it. That turned out to be problematic. We eventually got it done, but the railing part took much longer than we wanted and it cost quite a bit more than we had planned on. The final result looked great and turned out great, but the railing part of the whole process was painful. The railing aspect of the project was another reason why we delayed our Angie's list review - we didn't want to provide a review until the full project was completed - including the railing. Then the heavy, heavy rains came in the winter of 2017. It was a good opportunity to see how the full landscaping (installed in the spring & summer of 2016) would hold up. We had a 1-yr warranty so we were still well within the warranty period when the winter rains came. Well, the rains prompted some settling of part of the raised 2-tier deck, which caused a section of pavers to tilt upward. The deck area also puddled significantly due to the settling. So, we pointed out the quality problem to California Smartscape. The company owner, Robert, came out to inspect it himself and immediately committed to repairing it back to new. Cost was never discussed, but the repair was done without any cost to us. A couple of weeks later crews were dispatched to repair the paver deck settling problem and they did an absolutely first class job at the repair. It looks brand new and we're confident that the settling problem won't recur. The company held up to their high standard of quality from design, to construction, to any subsequent fixes that were needed later on. We would (and have already) highly recommend California Landscape.

Great. Couldn't be happier

California Smartscape was the most responsive landscape company we have worked with.  They were extremely punctual and professional at all times.  We felt that the cost was worth how accommodating and easy to work with they were. We would recommend them and hire them again in the future.  

They were fine. They did a good job. I think that their pricing was reasonable. The workers were friendly and professional.

Our experience with California Smartscape was OUTSTANDING! We were so impressed with the 3D landscape design that Andrew created for our backyard. We had considered 6 bids from other companies before signing a contract with California Smartscape. The other companies presented a design for us on paper but it was still hard to imagine what the backyard would really look like. Andrew projected our backyard creation onto a large TV screen in their lovely showroom. He was able to show us the plants that we wanted in the planters, the color and size of pavers, the seating walls, and matched the natural stone of our new fire pit to our existing stone BBQ. Andrew even had my wife and I sitting around the fire pit having a drink and our dog lying on the pet friendly turf wagging her tail. This presentation really sold us on California Smartscape. Our Project Director was phenomenal. Bob W. and his crew Geovany, Epe, and Simone were hard working, incredibly reliable, punctual, and so accommodating to our every wish. They were creative (made excellent suggestions) and very patient with my wife's desire for perfection. The guys always were willing to redo, exchange, or move, this or that. They were just FANTASTIC! The two men that sealed the pavers were as hardworking and meticulous as the other employees of California Smartscape. The artificial turf installers did a wonderful job as well. They gave our small turf area a rolling hill look as opposed to a flat installation. We have already recommend California Smartscape to a number of our friends and would highly recommend them to you.

From the design to the execution of the project, it all was top notch. They worked with us to nail down our design providing invaluable recommendations based on their knowledge and experience. We wanted a few unique and custom features in which they helped find the right practical approach. As for execution, the men that worked on the job were a pleasure to have around. They were very concerned with doing everything "right" and did not rush through any of the many detailed parts of the project. I feel confident that they built us 2 yards that are not only practical and will last but also that capture the theme we were trying to achieve (not easy as we had quite a few ideas). If you want to partner with a company for a large landscaping project I highly recommend CS. From the owner on down they all have the right attitude and abilities.

First, let me say.... our project was not easy. We had high expectations of what we were trying to accomplish. We went through two other high-end San Diego landscape designers, both of whom were awful, to say the least. Jay Gardner of California Smartscape came to our rescue, telling us, "We will create the yard of your dreams."  Jay indeed created the beautiful yard we were dreaming of - perfect for our family and perfect for entertaining!

Throughout the process, we were able to see the vision created by Jay and his wonderful designer Jesse in 3D, which allowed us to easily implement and immediately see any changes in the design to create the perfect backyard we had imagined.  Our onsite contractors Sal and Bob managed the job to perfection. Their skillful staff were on the job site every day, worked diligently, and were always respectful of our property.  The project was finished in a timely manner, as promised. After going through **** with two previous designers, we found heaven with California Smartscape.  

We now sit and enjoy our backyard with our friends and family every day. We thank Jay, Jesse, and their entire staff for helping us achieve the ultimate entertaining backyard, where all of our neighbors want to visit!