Planting Justice

Planting Justice is awesome. You all gave us lots of helpful advice along the way, were really clear, made beautiful beds and a trellis, planted our baby plants with loving care, and helped us figure out what we can sustainably plant and grow. Thanks for your awesome work and I also really appreciate your mission. Go fruits and veggies and berries! Thank you Nicole and Siddiqqi!

We had a fantastic experience with Planting Justice. Our designer, Nicole, met with us and offered knowledgeable guidance on raised beds and trellises for our backyard, as well as what to plant when and where. She was extremely clear and detailed in her communications. The crew, led by Siddiqqi, came in and built everything quickly and beautifully. We now have a produce garden ready to burst with edible plants. Thank you, Planting Justice, for the excellent work!

I love working with Planting Justice!
We hired Planting Justice last summer to transform our yard from a lawn into a food garden, and we now have raised beds, herb spirals, fruit trees, a fire pit, drip irrigation, and an amazing amount of vegetables to eat and share!
These folks are a joy to work with. We had some issues with the irrigation system, and they have been very responsive in coming over to troubleshoot and fix the problems. We’ve harvested so much delicious food so far, and it’s only getting better. We are definitely planning on continuing our relationship with this great organization to help with our ongoing gardening needs.
Highly recommended!

Good cause but, like so many «cool» young ventures, they are not experienced enough, won’t admit it, and don’t understand that customer service matters. I paid them at a high hourly rate to design our front and back yards. Design process was extremely slow, communication terrible, and the outcome less than mediocre — which was to be expected:
Despite several friendly requests on my part to check in about our needs, which changed during the renovation, the designer refused to even talk with me over the phone until the design was completely finalized with detailed cost overview — this meant I paid for someone to design and calculate items I no longer wanted! Normally, a landscaper presents initial ideas in simple drawings so the customer can adjust. When I pointed this out the designer wrote that I had «too high expectations» — heh? (They credited me for part of that time, which I appreciated.)
Then, after a 2-​month complete communication gap and passing a deadline I was told my new contact person had been on vacation and sick — all without anybody else telling me that or answering my simple process question. We finally installed just a small food forest together, but trees were planted too deeply despite me voicing my concern. Crew was very nice and worked hard and efficiently, but some of the staff treated me disrespectful and apparently wrote me off as a difficult customer.
Well, yes, one can always blame the customers, but I later met someone who never even hired them due to a similar initial experience … I suggest these guys become a bit humbler and learn about design process and business — or focus on doing good in the world and leave business to others!

The Planting Justice team (Or, Sal, Julius, Julio, Kevin and Siddiqqi) just finished installing raised fruit and vegetable beds, perennials, no-​mow lawn and a drip irrigation system in our back yard. From the planning phase through responding to our post-​installation questions about operating the drip system, they have all been professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly helpful. Our plants are thriving and we are looking forward to a fruit– and vegetable-​filled summer. Really their work alone is reason enough to hire this team to transform your yard. But that work also provides the extra benefits of creating job opportunities and helping to subsidize a garden for a family who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Truly a win-​win-​win situation!

I had a very bad experience on many levels.
As part of the work, I agreed to have a vegetable bed built to replace a wooden bed already in place. I was told it would «echo» the fluid curves of the garden paths. I was told it would be built of small white rocks similar to ones already used for edging in part of the garden. Instead, a grossly oversize structure was created, using large rust-​colored rocks piled crudely one on top of the other.
Only about half the materials ordered were used but I was charged for all the materials ordered, plus a «deposit» that was added to cost. Thus, the actual cost of materials used was $ 365, the estimate was $ 967, which grew to $ 1267 required as «materials deposit.» Even if I had not rejected the over-​sized rock bed, there would be a sizable discrepancy, since two tons of moss rock were ordered (at estimated $ 370), but only about one ton ($ 185) used for construction of the bed. The compost and mulch were also over-​ordered by about double, even though more mulch was actually used than would have been necessary if the rock structure had remained.
The yard was left with debris in it, and a small flagstone wall that had to be disassembled temporarily for the rockbed structure was left disassembled.
Everyone involved was gracious and charming. When I pointed out the discrepancies in billing, the bill was revised to accurately reflect the charges, and the project manager visited my home to talk and, as he said, to try to make things right. He disclosed that another customer had had a very similar experience and had said that if the staff were not so nice, he would have thought he was being scammed. Those were my sentiments as well.
The project manager agreed to personally perform the hour of follow-​up maintenance that was part of the contract, and to use that time to teach me about pruning trees as I had requested.
When I initiated a correspondence to set a date for the follow-​up visit, the project manager gave me three days when he could make time to come. I responded that since I was retired, and he was busy, he could choose the day most convenient for him, and I would be available. For reasons still mysterious to me, he became very upset that I didn’t pin down the date, which he took to be an indication of my «hostility». He suggested that I didn’t fit with the spirit of Planting Justice.
All in all, not good. I hope this was an aberration, and due in part to inexperience. But I would advise potential customers to pay attention, and not be too disarmed.

Five stars! I love this team!
Planting Justice provides gardening expertise, permaculture design, and installation, plus they work for social justice by installing gardens and teaching maintenance and cooking for low-​income families, schools, shelters, and prisons, all while employing people with barriers to employment, like graduates of their garden program at San Quentin.
My own backyard is big and had potential to be great, but we needed to reclaim areas that were overgrown, consumed with weeds and brambles. Or Rabinowitz, our permaculture designer, was kind and a careful listener to what we wanted from our yard. He has a depth of knowledge about what it would take to make the improvements I needed (and more!). A couple weeks later he returned, along with a tower of cardboard, a ton (literally) of rocks, compost, mulch, and a 4-​person team to start the transformation. The next day came the plants: veggies, herbs, berries, fruit trees, vines, natives, flowers, and attractors. Finally, on the third day, they installed 2 extensive drip lines, complete with solar-​powered timers and instructions for how to modify and maintain the whole system.
On top of that, for every 3 paying clients, they can take on a free installation for a low-​income family or other site. They are planting beautiful, productive gardens and teaching clients and school kids how to grow and cook their own healthy food. By using permaculture principles, they create low-​maintenance, site-​specific, meaningful gardens, that delight and surprise. Certainly, my own kids and myself included, are continually surprised by the amount of food we’re harvesting from our own backyard.

Planting Justice, and Or in specific, are absolutely amazing. Not only do they do an amazing job in training those who need it and promoting food and economic justice in the East Bay area — but they also did a bang-​up job on my home garden in Emeryville. They were efficient, friendly, and I get tons of compliments on the garden. I can wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone.

The Planting Justice crew were wonderful to work with! I worked with Andrew mostly in the planning and installation. Andrew was knowledgeable, easy going, creative, quick to respond to both e-​mails and phone calls, and he worked with in a specific budget!
I had a big space to fill and we did it using some of the materials we had on the property. Such as the old concrete slab, which we used to create flower beds and some old ceramic pipes as flower planters. The crew finished within the time-​frame estimated and as I said before within budget!
I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to gardening, but no way could I have done the amount of hardscape work that needed to get done to bring my yard to a usable garden space.

Yep, this team works backyard miracles. Planting Justice helped transform my house’s yard from a wild brush patch to a thriving urban oasis of greens, herbs, fruits and veggies complete with compost, chickens and bees! They were a dream to work with and offered a wealth of knowledge regarding everything from soil to plants to animals to grey-​water systems. Their work was done quickly and top quality and best of all, we had the satisfaction of knowing our support was also benefiting future clients who can’t afford to pay market value for permaculture landscaping. Through their focus on education, community rehabilitation and social justice, they do more than just rebuild gardens, they transform lives.

Wonderful people who do great work for our community! They can transform your yard into an edible paradise in no time at all.

I had been slowly trying to work on my backyard for over a year. I took permaculture workshops and bought books and even went to permaculture training. But after a year of doing things in fits and starts, I finally realized I needed professional help, both to design the garden as well as implement the design.
Planting Justice installed a greywater laundry-​to-​landscape system and planted an edible garden in my backyard in 2 days. Their knowledge of what plants/​trees would be good for my space, as well as their design sensibilities are impressive.
They planted avocado trees, kiwi, grape, pineapple guava, persimmon, kumquat tree, and tons of winter greens and herbs.
I’m extremely happy with them. I wholeheartedly recommend them. It feels good to know the money I spend is being used to support their programs working in schools, prisons, and in the community.

I met the Planting Justice team in autumn 2008 through a craigslist posting when I approached them about helping us build a vegetable garden for our school (
). Both Haleh and Gavin immediately showed great enthusiasm and generosity toward our school. Shortly after our first meeting, they returned with tools, materials, and the manpower to build our very own edible garden… all pro bono. They built the beds, supplied the dirt, and even helped the children plant the vegetables.
They regularly followed up with us by coming back to check on the vegetable garden, often supplying us with what we needed to help it thrive. They were incredibly proactive while extremely accessible.
One year later, when we organized a community work-​party to expand our garden on a Sunday morning, they showed up with wood, tools, and the experience we needed to build the new beds. With their expertise, we were able to design an expanded garden for higher yield so that we may source more of our foods from our own garden. They also generously donated new plants to put in our beds.
Planted Justice has shown unparalleled commitment and dedication to their community. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty and show a vested interest in helping others thrive. Their problem solving skills and creative solutions for making the most of very limited resources renders them invaluable to the community at large.
My only complaint is that there aren’t more people like them in this world, but I am confident that they will inspire many others to follow suit. In so doing, their impact will be far greater than their immediate reach.

My yard was completely transformed in 2 days– amazing! All I want to do is sit around and watch things grow in my backyard. Everyone that comes over has commented on how fantastic everything looks. The best part for me though, was that my garden benefits me AND the schools or other families that Planting Justice works with. Could it get any better? Besides that though, the organization is easy to work with and very responsive. I would recommend them to anyone (and I already have).