Bountiful Botanicals, Inc.

Lara and her crew are extremely professional, fast, and have a passion for their work. Lara is a talented landscape designer, and created a garden for me that is very beautiful. She took care of everything. Though Lara is very busy, she manages her projects very well. She is on time, and gives her full attention to each of her customers. Lara’s bid was on the high end, but I felt it was well worth it. I would hire her again in a minute.

Amazing how having a beautiful garden lifts one spirits. I had put off re-​landscaping for years, dreading the whole ordeal. Thank heaven I read the reviews for Lara and her team and got in touch. I second every positive comment others have made. Lara has great ideas, is budget conscious, and very responsive. Franicsco and his crew are incredible. They transformed our yard in a week, during a heat wave. They put their hearts, not only their skills, into the work. Overall, a wonderful experience, the result of which we will enjoy for years to come.

My husband, dog and I could not be more thrilled with our experience with Lara and her Bountiful Botanicals team.
I have never had an experience with a contractor quite like working with Lara. She was collaborative and open to our ideas, all while having a great vision for how our backyard would come together. She was quick to respond to all emails, even questions about how plants were doing and what weeds we should pull long after the completion of the project. She was respectful of our budget, providing cost saving options along the way as well as advising us on what we shouldn’t cut corners on. She showed up every morning of the construction, giving us an opportunity to express thoughts we had had about the work done the day prior and totally willing to make changes (including digging up plants if needed). She’s also happily stopped by multiple times since the work was done to adjust watering, replace plants that had issues and just keep an general eye on things.
And it isn’t just Lara — her crew was wonderful! Again, totally willing to make changes but also always ensuring that the project was realistic based on our water pressure, etc. They were very respectful of our neighbors and our space, leaving everything cleaner then when they got there (including doing some front yard clean-​up even though they were there for a back yard project). Francisco, who lead the team, was great — he even defending some of our plant choices to a passerby concerned about their drought tolerance.
The icing on the cake was how incredibly dog friendly they were. They brought treats for our pup, were very conscious of keeping the gate closed and would literally stop in the middle of their work some days just to pet her. I wanted to have Lara and her whole team over for a beer to enjoy the yard after the project was done.
If you are in need of a beautiful yard created but a creative and kind team, call Lara immediately.

Thank you Unilocal!
We found Lara and team right here on Unilocal and she was the only landscaper in the several we interviewed that seemed to know we are in a drought. Lara is all about drought resistant smart simple clean designs. She is creative and fun to work with. She has a fabulous team and Lara truly collaborates with Francisco and EZ and the rest of the crew. It was a great process working and problem solving together. In addition to redoing our post renovation wrecked backyard, they patched our leaking irrigation and made our entire front bed use less water. We are super particular, but we found ourselves just trying to stay out of the way of Lara’s vision as she does such beautiful work. We put down turf and broke it up with planted beds, a flagstone semicircle and a tiled patio. We get so many compliments and we are using the space exactly as we had hoped. Lara is high demand, but worth waiting for!

What can I say that 5 stars can’t? I had been looking for a landscaper for a home that I purchased with a badly neglected front lawn (I use the word «lawn» very loosely, as by this point it was a collection of weeds with a blade of grass here and there). I wanted to remove the grass and put a mix of flowers, edible plants, and black mulch. I interviewed about 5 landscapers all who seemed very capable. I chose Lara because she was personable and obviously very passionate about what she does.
Lara was super easy to work with. I had a few plants that I liked and she was able to tell me what would work best and why. She paired the plants in my list with other plants that really made everything pop visually when placed together. In the end, she designed a beautiful space that I couldn’t have imagined myself. All while keeping to my requirements of having a low-​maintenance and drought resistant yard.
I now have a beautiful grassless space that has flowers and plenty of edible additions like strawberries, sage and lavender. I sometimes catch myself staring out the window just admiring the landscaping. My neighbors all love it as well. I definitely recommend Lara!

Our HOA hired Lara and her team to completely renew the landscape of our condominium. From the very first meeting, Lara has been very professional, personable and truly passionate about her job. For logistical and financial reasons the project was divided into four phases. As October 2014, the first three phases have been completed on time and on budget. Besides Lara, I want to commend her work-​force, lead by a great guy who literally gets the job DONE! Working for a condo can be tricky since there are many issues at stake, from cleaning after themselves, to the safety of those who live in the premises, from street parking issues to noise rules etc. In many occasions her team had to work harder and longer in order to meet our association requests, or simply for not disturbing neighbors. We definitely appreciated their «customer-​oriented» approach, and we thank them for being so respectful of the people and the place. As a result, our condominium has tremendously increased its value and curb appeal. Thanks Lara!

Lara’s been excellent to work with. She came up with a great design for our front yard, and was very willing to make changes to accommodate our preferences and budget. The work’s been complete for 3 – 4 months now, and we still get compliments. Her follow up has been stellar. We had a few problems with a group of plants that died, and she replaced them at no charge. She’s patiently answered our questions, made numerous trips to adjust the irrigation timing, coached us through our first winter trimming. Bonus: her foreman Stephan gave us a great tip to keep our dog from jumping on the window (packing tape on the sill, sticky side up — it works). Thanks Lara!

Once again Lara’s team has saved my garden! About 5 years ago, Lara installed a terrific garden and patio that has been so easy to care for and stays beautiful year round. That is, until this last year when I remodeled and my irrigation was uprooted by another contractor, and blew out our electrical, including my timer. TIred of hand watering, I finally cried uncle and had Lara’s team come out to fix the mess. They were great. We fixed a few valves, replaced a bad timer, and checked the whole system for leaks. Her irrigation specialist, Francisco is the best. He patiently walked me through the new timer, checked to make sure we were not still leaking water at the water main, and waited until we had all the last details nailed before heading to his next job. Courteous professional service. You can’t ask for more.

Lara and her team are amazing. Our backyard was a big ugly slope of unusable space. We now have a beautiful functional backyard, great seating areas and lovely flowers and veg beds. Lara listened to what we wanted, added lots of great suggestions and worked with us within our budget. She takes the time to make sure there is not ambiguity and that her clients are happy. Her crew were hard working and respectful our property and privacy. They cleaned up every night and made sure we had room to park during construction. Some many little details they thought of and made sure everything was first rate. We’re looking forward to working with Lara on the next phase!

Bountiful Botanicals did a great job on our front and back gardens. We wanted low maintenance but attractive and usable spaces. Lara and her crew were experienced, knowledgeable and friendly. I highly recommend them. Excellent service.

I’ve been looking around for Landscape Designers and called Lara based on her positive Unilocal reviews. I didn’t realize she no longer served our area (Hayward), she still spent time with me on my phone answering questions about my hopes for a new landscape. She was very honest about budget (much lower than others), and she gave me some tips about hiring a landscaper.
She seems relatively booked up due to her success, but I wish her all the best. It’s not every day you come across someone willing to go the extra mile. If she was willing to spend the time for a non-​customer, she definitely seems like the type of business I’d want to work with.

Glows: Lara and her crew take excellent care of our plants. We have hibiscus, roses and generic «bushes» lining the driveway, plus a back yard with a lawn, a couple of trees and a small garden area. Everything stays vibrantly alive and pleasingly under control. Everyone on her crew is pleasant to talk to and clearly loves what they’re doing. I haven’t met Lara herself but my wife says she’s wonderful and loves our cats (not that that affects gardening but it shows she’s cool). They also take full responsibility for any mistakes. On a recent visit they accidentally cut a driveway light wire. They would have fixed it on the spot if they’d seen it; as it is, Lara is going to reduce our next bill to compensate us for the inconvenience.
Grows: The grows really all boil down to communications. The irrigation specialist showed up without all the info she said she would provide him (but the job got done fine); when the team’s mower broke and they couldn’t finish the grass, they didn’t tell us (but everything else was perfect). Invoices could be more prompt, as could email responses (though lately the latter is not so much the case). She does respond quickly to phone calls, so if you need to reach her right away, phone her.
In general we love the work of Lara and her team so much that the «grows» above are minor.

We were beat and broke after renovating our lower hills house, and left the landscaping until last. (‘Everybody does,’ Lara said with a smile. Within minutes of meeting her, I already felt encouraged.) She looked over our sorry yard and both saw and clearly explained what it could become. And even though Lara has true artistic vision and ability (as you can see from the photos), she never forgot that she was working with real people on a budget. She worked conscientiously, understood our needs exactly, and was so clear and easy to work with that we took all of her suggestions — and she still came in under budget! Her perfectly legitimate consultation fee was worth every penny, plus she credited it back to us anyway. Lara was not the first landscaper we interviewed, but she definitely was the last.

Lara Wilson and her crew are the best! She had a vision immediately upon seeing my front yard. She’s quick to response and suggest creative and beautiful ideas that suits the layout of the yard. She transformed my entry way with pots full of edible herbs and flowers which are welcoming to the senses. I was so pleased with her work, I had her re-​design part of my back yard as well.

I know Lara for many years, she is a very professional and detailed oriented person. She is very passionate about what she does. I would highly recommend to work with Lara. She is knowledgeable, personable and easy to work with.
Thank you, Lara!

Lara and her crew transformed three terraced areas along the side of our house from a weed-​infested wasteland to beautiful, low maintenance gardens. At the first consult, we talked about some aesthetics as well as some of the constraints — we needed plants that were deer-​resistant and low-​maintenance — and from there she suggested several plants and landscaping ideas that would work. I was glad to have her expertise in this since there were several plants that I had been thinking of that the deer would have gobbled up, or that would have needed more sun than the location would get. She followed up by emailing photos of the suggested plants and initial estimate, and we fine-​tuned the selection from there. We had to reschedule the actual work a few times due to the late season rains that kept coming! but Lara was great at communicating the schedule changes in advance. She also diagnosed/​repaired/​improved our irrigation system — replacing the leaky valve, old timer, and spray system with a more water-​efficient drip line — and added several decorative boulders that gave the garden a more finished look. Now I find myself staring out my windows a lot, watching the hummingbirds flying around the hydrangea, or bees buzzing around the lavendar. I’m excited to watch our gardens mature!

Lara did a great job turning our dried out weed pile of a front yard into a garden. She installed an irrigation system which helps everything that was planted thrive. I really appreciated how she surveyed all the planting areas around our property and gave very wonderful suggestions as to what type of plants to plant in problem areas. She also gave great advice on how to get rid of bugs on fruit trees without having to use any pesticides.

Lara is the best. Last year, my Berkeley home — and fellow homeowner’s agreed to landscape the front of our home. We, as a group, had very specific requests, and types of plants that we thought would work. Lara took our suggestions — and improvised — using her own creativity and knowledge — and created the most beautiful, natural front yard. We live very close to the walking community off College Ave. in Berkeley — we get compliments ALL of the time. It has been a little over 1 year — and the plants have grown and are simply beautiful, and healthy. Any time I have a question or concern, I can just call Lara and she will give me the tools to take care of it on my own — or step in immediately and come over and take a look. She is responsive, consistent, affordable and A PLEASURE to work with. A-​plus work.

Lara is seriously awesome. We were looking for someone to consult with us on how to turn our scraggly, weedy, unkempt lawn into a mulched, drought-​tolerant paradise. We wanted to do the work ourselves, both because we’re cheap and we liked the idea of it. I talked to a few different landscapers who balked at the idea, but Lara was game from the get-​go. She:
1. Instructed us on how to kill the lawn without poisons/​chemicals.
2. Had her crew installed a main drip irrigation line and hook it up to a timer.
3. Came up with a plant and materials list, and helped us get everything we needed.
4. Showed us how to create mounds, how and where to plant, how to create flagstone paths, and how to lay the drip lines.
She was very up-​front and honest about costs, and really worked to stay within our budget. She was always responsive and communicative — very different than most contractors. Now we’ve got a yard to be proud of AND a feeling of mighty accomplishment. Thanks Lara!

Lara and her crew did an excellent job landcaping my yard when I first moved into my home in Alameda. They are on time, work fast and know how to clean up after themselves. Lara is very friendly, professional and a pleasure to do business with. I’ve had her continue to maintain my yard and every time I’m pleased with the results. I highly recommend contacting Lara for any work you need done to your garden!