Sage and Stone

We worked with Gabe, Martin, Leo and Leah (among others) to completely remake our backyard. We couldn’t be happier with the result! Gabe and Martin walked through before the start of the project to ensure they understood how to translate the plans into reality. Sage and Stone also worked with us on options to reduce the overall scope and budget, for instance suggesting we could lower costs a bit by doing some of the demolition and prep work ourselves (which we did). The project started on schedule and the team reliably showed up every single day for the next ten weeks. We had them remove and create a new retaining wall with Techo-Blocs, relocate a freestanding structure onto new footings, install pavers under the structure, and install a new composite deck. The team also leveled out and rebuilt a small path in the yard, evening out a slope and creating a more graceful grade by installing large 4’ black granite steps. Everything was edged using Colmet to keep the lines clean and they even installed a freestanding outlet in the yard to bring power to the seating area. There were minor adjustments along the way and the team showed great attention to detail. For instance, the freestanding structure posts required a skirt to conceal the post brackets. These were hand scribed onsite and featured backcut cedar with an elegant slope, cleanly mitrered and sealed joints, and most importantly, sealed undersides to protect them from water damage. Small details like aligning paver joints with the natural lines in the steps or landing, finding materials to patch up areas of the house that were newly exposed by the updated deck profile, and concealing electrical lines were most appreciated. When the inevitable issues arose, Martin walked us through the situation and we quickly reached a suitable outcome that he effectively managed. I can’t stress enough how hard everyone worked and that effort consistently carried to the end of the day until they cleaned up the jobsite. Tools were neatly arranged and materials were moved into inconspicuous places before the crew left everyday. The yard looks fantastic and we love spending time out there. We’re extremely happy with their work and would love to work with them again! Highly recommended.

We had gone with Sage & Stone upon recommendation.
Things went OK: My wife and I met with Gabe a few times to get his advice. Things were a bit fluid: Although our design goals did not change a lot, the price estimate moved around. 
The work done was of good quality. However, there were a few problems: Our retaining wall was damaged (a slight chip) and they reimbursed us for the estimated cost. Afterwards, we now have a bit of a weed problem in our yard still, and it turns out this was due to some of the soil choices during planting. I think the crew could have done a better job explaining the implications of these choices to us, rather than spending so much time on aspirational design discussions. 

The work took far longer than agreed and some of it had to be done over as it wasn't to specifications. As far as plant work,I was very disappointed. Since it took so long many of my plants that were disturbed died and the ground cover they put in I had to replace. I feel changes made to the original plan were not reflected in the cost and the time delay in completing the project created a great deal of inconvenience.

unknown

It has been a pleasure working with Sage & Stone. Gabe has a high level of expertise, knowledge of hardscaping and landscaping, professionalism, and great communication.  Lima (on-site hardscape project manager) is an expert hardscaper with a good eye for design.  They showed on time, worked very hard, and finished by the day they said they would. 
The demolition was complicated because the fireplace was partially crumbling and had working plumbing and electrical in it.  They did a great job.  The final product is a beautiful, new rockery retaining wall.  It has nice plantings and new mulch throughout.  The
gravel pad is level and without issue.
The project took four days, just as they estimated. The project was about 5% over budget due to unforeseen sight conditions.  But there was good reason and they explained the extra charges before proceeding.  
Overall, we could not be happier with the project.  Sage and Stone is a great company to work with.

They came out at the time scheduled and immediately began working. The project took two days. They cleared everything that was discussed and left it looking very tidy.  He offered great ideas for different things that could be done in the front and the back. He suggested a patio in the back and was always thinking about my desire to minimize continuing maintenance. I look forward to working with Gabe more.

He was profession, responsive, provided updates and discussed all possible ways to address any challenges. The work was completed to our completed satisfaction and it looked like they had never been there they kept the area so clean! We plan on using him again this fall.

Travis, the owner gave us a bid promptly with enough detail to evaluate it against other bids. My main reason for hiring Travis is that I felt I could work well with him and the bid was good. In the past I have fired contractors before the job got started. He didn't seem intimidated by the work space which was at the bottom of a steep driveway making the job more difficult. The crew always showed up on time and worked hard. The neighbors even commented on how had the crew worked. As the job progressed there were changes to the plan, some suggested by me and some by Travis. He was always open to suggestions and questions. I got the feeling that the whole crew was concerned that the I liked what was being done. The job ended up taking longer than planned, but some of the delay was getting lights and the decorative art panels on time. As far as I could tell they didn't take any short cuts. The soil was amended properly along with generous amounts of top soil added. The ground under the blue stone patio was compacted with several layers of gravel.
The different members of the crew were skilled at different aspects of the job, labor, electrical, irrigation, gardening, masonry and carpentry. The people knew what they were doing which made the process go smoothly and there were very few do overs. So in the end I would hire Sage and Stone again and also highly recommend them to others.

A pleasure and joy to work with these guys. They were ON TIME and always had great suggestions for me. I wasn't sure about a few details, but they were easy to talk to and had great ides. Overall a great experience, and local. Would use them again.

These guys are great! I am a Landscape Architect doing residential designs from home so I can be home with my son. I don't have time to do construction management at the moment. These guys are the ONLY company I feel 100% confident handing plans off to. They are fast, knowledgeable, responsible, use exact materials/plants specified, and have never let me down. Employees are respectful of homeowners and me and my plans. I trust them to make substitutions when they need to. They aren't the cheapest nor the most expensive bid you will get. Pretty middle of the road. So nice not to have to worry once I've given them my finished work!

Gabe, the owner, visited with us first to discuss our goals for the project. He then inspected our yard, and after one week drafted three different proposals for the project. We had modest goals initially, but Gabe provided some fresh ideas that we hadn't considered before. He was very open to discussion with us, and we eventually settled on a hybrid of two of the proposals. The start of work was scheduled within a month from the agreement. The main work occurred over 3 weeks, which we thought was a reasonable time frame for the project. During the building of the deck, there was extensive rot discovered in the joist that was to attache the deck to the house. His crew was able to address this, and make the necessary repairs in one day. This led to an increased cost of the project, but this was of course understandable. The deck included built-in benches, a container garden, and a gate. The fence includes three gates total, including one with wires that were turned to musical cords! The crew also build raised beds for vegetable. Best of all, there was seemless integration of the fence, deck, and vegetable beds. The crew also planted a berry patch, various ground cover, and even started veggies in the raised beds. The crew was always prompt and professional, and Gabe was in constant contact to provide updates and receive feedback.

We first called and got a quick and friendly response from one of the owners. He came over and talked us through some design ideas.He was enthusiastic about the project and made some great suggestions. We decided on a design and scheduled for them to come and build the fence. Three weeks later we had the fence of our dreams. Both Gabe and Travis were wonderful to work with and took time to explain things along the way. The project was over the original estimate but that was due to our choice to add an extra gate. Travis worked that into his schedule even though it required more labor hours. I highly recommend this company.

Sage and Stone worked long hours and many weeks to transform our overgrown backyard and ugly side yard into beautiful, functional and sustainable spaces.

During the planning process, Gabe provided detailed and thoughtful plans that reflected his great taste in plants and impressive knowledge of materials. We kept him pretty busy during this phase, asking for changes in design he was happy to accomodate. His patience and professionalism were much appreciated.

Once work was underway, the Sage and Stone crew were always friendly, creative and hardworking. If we asked to have plants moved or paths extended, these changes were handled quickly and always to our satisfaction.

Our particular project was done during the winter months over two phases. And during this time, rain and cold were a constant. But this did not deter Gabe and the Sage and Stone crew from showing up when expected and working long after dusk and dark.Weeks later, we have a beautifully constructed backyard, a handsome new fence and planter boxes filled with top-quality soil.

Now that spring has sprung, the fruits of all this labor are taking shape. Many plants are blooming beautifully, the property looks more whole and secure, and we are anxious to see what will grow in the backyard and planters in the months ahead.

Thank you Sage and Stone for helping us get more than we expected from our landscaping investment.

They are a green company and they are local. They do a lot of native planting and they are very innovative. We have foundation issues and they work around that very well.

Gabe Shulman one of the two owners of the company was the lead on the project, and he was great to work with. This was a relatively small project, and so we did not want to spend a lot of money having a plan drawn up. When you get a landscape plan done, you get a cad map with a lot of circles drawn on it and a plant list. We figured that we could get by with a hand drawn plan and not pay for the drawing. So instead we did our homework. Before we started the project, we looked at a number of the websites of the companies we were interested in. The work that Sage and Stone had posted was exactly what we were looking for, and in fact we were using many of their pictures to show other landscapers what we wanted. We walked the yard with Gabe, showed him what we liked on his website, described plants we liked, and left him to play in the yard for a bit. In about a half hour, he drew a plan for our yard that was pretty much what we wanted. We then gave him a budget and let him and quot;do something greatand quot;. We went to Marenekos to pick out our rock and flag stone, and they picked up what we picked out (I think they charge around $200 to do this. Given what Marenekos charges to deliver, this is a great deal.)

The work took 3 days, using 2 to 5 people at a time, and everything came out amazingly well. In addition to buying plants, Gabe goes around your property and with your permission takes plants from other areas and puts them into his design. I am not even sure where some of the things he used came from as I did not recognize them.

This was a time and materials job, and so you give them a budget to shoot for and hope for they can stay within it. They went over their estimate by around $900. Of the budget, not including tax, around $2600 was labor, and $1400 plants and materials.

We totally love what Sage and Stone did and would use them again if we needed anything done.

Couldn't be more pleased with the work from Sage and Stone! They presented us several options for our yard at several different price points and worked with us to get the most bang for our somewhat limited buck. They worked quickly and we had a brand new front yard in about a week. The work was done a year ago and everything is coming in really nicely. And even a year later, they are still available if we have questions or if we need help with maintenance. Great guys. Great work. We will use them again (when landscaping comes back to the top of the list of things to do around the house).

It went very well overall. The playhouse was good looking, they re-used materials from a deck that we demolished, and we appreciated the input they gave on some designs. We had some trouble with an automatic gate after the project was completed (something they were very willing to do, but admitted they hadn't done it much in the past and it was a mutual decision to have them do this) and they were extremely responsive at coming back to make it work. The patio and plantings were great as well.

I've been collaborating with Gabe and Travis for more than two years now, and this piece of work is the latest in a series of improvements meant to accommodate (a) my quirky design sense, (b) my desire to garden with unusual edibles, (c) my small multi-purpose yard, and (d) my hectic travel schedule. I had tried two other landscaping firms before with little success, so was hugely relieved to find them. I count absolutely on their knowledge of local gardening conditions, their willingness to research solutions, their extraordinary design sense, and -- as people -- their light-heartedness and good cheer. It's a pleasure to have them around.

I found Gabe and Travis through "My Huckleberry" and gave them a call in Winter of 2008, because they specialized in unique, northwest-style landscaping. Our home was 16 months old and had some drainage problems. We knew that we wanted a functional front and back yard that served three purposes: 1) dear-resistant and edible flora 2) super kid friendly 3) made good use of all spaces. Gabe and Travis took our needs to heart and designed a very good landscape plan with planting lists and natural resource ideas. It took us only a couple of tries before we finalized our plans, and they were very good sports about our feedback and general questions. On our last meeting they gave us three books on gardening techniques and plant vocabulary as a thank you gift - super nice. In the year since, they have followed through with e-mails asking how we did, and did we need further assistance.

They started a month later then they said they would. The hardscape turned out great but the landscaping they did not amend the soil, which they said they would in the estimate. They didn't put the plants in we agreed on. Attempting to resolve the problem with the company was not a good experience. We left like we weren't important and that our job was too small to even be considered to make right. My husband and I ended up doing the work ourselves. We paid a hauling service to take the unamended soil away, paid for new soil to be delivered and the paid for new plants that we planted. They did give us a $250 credit toward the service but that didn't even cover the cost to haul the unamended soil away. I would not recommend this company.

They started a month later then they said they would. The hardscape turned out great but the landscaping they did not amend the soil, which they said they would in the estimate. They didn't put the plants in we agreed on. Attempting to resolve the problem with the company was not a good experience. We left like we weren't important and that our job was too small to even be considered to make right. My husband and I ended up doing the work ourselves. We paid a hauling service to take the unamended soil away, paid for new soil to be delivered and the paid for new plants that we planted. They did give us a $250 credit toward the service but that didn't even cover the cost to haul the unamended soil away. I would not recommend this company.

During the initial consultation, Gabe was very enthusiastic and I got the impression he really enjoyed his work. He was never pushy. He took notes and photos of the site and really took the time to talk about and help shape a vision for our garden. I particularly appreciated how he presented his estimate and sketch. He offered two possible designs and included photos of the plants he suggested using. During the job, Gabe and Travis were professional, friendly, patient, and overall extremely pleasant to work with. They arrived on time, worked quickly, and were always willing to explain what they were doing and answer any questions I had. I thought their estimate was very fair.