Rock & Rose Landscaping

08/04/08

Can't stop staring at the garden...

by kerrypaulaboyd at Citysearch

We were fortunate to have found Rock and Rose to help us completely overhaul the former yard of one of the city's most notable botanists! Our back yard is now a sanctuary where we do most of our entertaining because it is the most soothing place to hang out with friends. People take one step outside from the living room and their eyes go so wide - they're hypnotized and enraptured - they start to stroll to whichever plant has grabbed their attention first and say - "what is this beautiful flower, I've never seen anything like this before?"

We strongly endorse the entire team - they never push to close a deal and are always sensitive to the cost associated with landscaping. They first want to find out what you prefer, what your tastes are and if there any plants that you might be attached to.

However, when you're READY - they deliver!

My husband is a tough judge of people and slow to trust anyone, but the consistent attention that Rock and Rose has given us and the yard won him over early on.

The fascination is that even though we can't wrench ourselves out of the yard during the day, it's even more magical at night!

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Nothing

07/10/08

Avoid these gardeners / landscapers like the plague!

by TedR99 at Citysearch

To be fair, this company starts out with a great impression -- they'll send Mike Boss (yep, that's the owner's real name) out to your yard to do an inspection, give you some utopian design plans, and trick you into believing your yard will become the next featured garden in Dwell magazine. The problem is that all along the way, they will deliver substandard results, install dead or dying plants, break (rather than repair) your sprinkler system, and all the while charge you above-market rates (including when they have to spend time and labor to fix their mistakes)! These landscapers are engaged in highway robbery, and trust us, there are far better gardeners out there (smaller firms or individuals) who will do a better job for a fraction of the cost. Stay away from R&R -- despite whatever you hear on this site -- you will thank yourself 100 times over!

06/25/08

Ponds, native plants, hardscape - they do it all! My garden was featured in Ponds Magazine!

by JeffreyJWard at Citysearch

R&R did a fantastic job for me when I decided to completely relandscape my garden. It was a typical 27x27 San Francisco garden sloping steeply away from the back of the house, divided into three 9'-wide tiers. They were really good about listening to my vision for the garden as a place of quiet contemplation (rather than, say, bbq parties) and as an oasis of nature in the middle of the city.

R&R constructed a very artful, small two-level pond of natural free-standing stone that offers my shubunkin and goldfish, turtles, frogs, crayfish, minnows, etc., a very safe and welcoming environment. They worked with me over three years to craft planting solutions that would both attract birds, bees, and butterflies to the garden. A challenge was finding plants that could stand up to the activities of three Weimaraners, and they were good about working with me to experiment with various plants.

R&R was willing to let me drive the design of the space. They took my ideas, amplified and extended them, and improved on them. For example, I had a notion of emphasizing redwood and copper as themes. I also wanted to hide the wiring for the fence's post-top lights and my security cameras in a copper pipe that would run along the top of the fence as a decorative element. R&R extended this idea to include copper pipe ballisters for the deck and stairways, and additional copper elements in the design. They fabricated a set of copper bowls that carry water from the upper level of my pond to the lower level.

All in all, I've been very pleased with Rock & Rose, and they continue to provide ongoing maintenance services and new garden elements (such as my bird feeder "tree") to the garden.

• Pros: Very customer-focused, creative, and flexible.
• Cons: I get separate bills for new landscaping and ongoing maintenance.