Home Services reviews in Poway, California

Would not recommend this landscape company to anyone. Ruined my expensive flowers which took years to grow. I would consider finding some people who are aware of the difference of pruning and removing roses. Gracias pa nada , thanks for nothing .

Based on a very poor experience I would rate California Smartscapes on the following categories on a scale of 1 (poor) - 5 (excellent):

Hardscape work: 4
Landscape design/plant selection: 1
Customer service: 1

They do not have their own crews so you are at the mercy of which subcontractor they select and they do not watch over them carefully.
They suggested and planted items that were incorrect for the space and in some cases plants with a short life without any discussion that they had short life spans. The planting work was sloppy including poor earth preparation to give plants a chance to survive and grow properly. They were unresponsive to concerns and complaints with a poor attitude.

I can’t say enough good things about this company! Everyone, including Andrew, Al, and Carlos were very friendly, communicative and they finished the project ahead of schedule. They provided great suggestions and were very attentive to detail. I am very happy with the design and construction process. It turned out great and have been living in our backyard!

Very easy to work with and the results fulfilled our dreams. We did a remodel of a large backyard and worked with Andrew who did the design, including Plants, Palms, paver walkways, paver retaining wall, bbq island modernization, and more. Leo and his crew worked through summer heat and finished the job on time. What more could anyone ask for?

We have already hired them again to redo our fron yard!

Andrew the designer was terrific! Very considerate, creative and responsive; he gave us a design we loved, and the project was done on time as promised. Leon was great and his crew was really professional.

Exceeded expectations. Workmanship was first class. Very easy to work with.

When I saw the vision Shayna the designer at California Smartscape had, I had to make it into my backyard paradise. Sal, Rafa and the team were thorough and dedicated in making the vision a reality. I will enjoy this backyard for years to come! The last day, a house inspector was over and he noted how clean they worked and what a quality job they had done. He asked them for their business card so he could refer them business. He is somebody who would know and probably the greatest recommendation right there!

The team at California SmartScape is amazing! We could not be more thrilled with how our patio, pergola, and grill area turned out. Andrew and Sal had great ideas for perfecting the design, materials, and layout of our space. They finished the project on their exact projected timeline. The workmanship was excellent. We are so grateful for their ideas throughout the process - many details they suggested have dramatically enhanced the utility of the space (e.g., adding a water filter to the sink, choosing a larger fridge). We highly recommend California SmartScape!

California Smartscape brought our imagination to reality all within our budget and time request. Our Modern/Contemporary space came out exactly how we pictured it. Despite the COVID19 setbacks, they pushed through on time and very professionally. The project manager (Leo) paid great attention to detail and made sure we were satisfied all the way through. Great company!

Under new ownership - Unfortunately
Don't use them unless you plan to spend over $100,000 - That's their minimum they said.

The old company did a great job on our backyard in 2018. So we wanted to use them again for the second phase that we had planned out with them at that time. I contacted them in June of this year, had the Designer out the beginning of July, and never heard back about our design after that. I've emailed back and forth for 2 weeks now trying to get a time estimate for when we will get the design and cost. Finally today I got an email saying they are only do projects over $100,000.

But they couldn't have told us that back in June when they knew it was only going to be a Built in barbeque area? Now we wasted 2 months waiting for nothing, when we could have spent that time with another designer and getting our project going. Horrible!

They got the 2 stars because under the old ownership our project was great (it cost us around $40k). But if you plan on spending $100k+ then I'm sure they will still do a good job.

We used California Smartscape for a front and backyard refresh at the recommendation of a number of our neighbors. Very pleased with the results. Project went smoothly and on time. Any requests and/or concerns were immediately addressed. Love our new yard!

California SmartScape well exceeded our expectations. We brought them in to correct a poor initial job with a different vendor. They came up with great solutions plus far enhanced our yard to the point we now love being out there and hosting parties. Team approach with design & install really made the experience. We highly recommend!

We used California SmartScape for both the design of our project, partnering with our HOA/Landscape Architectural review committee and for the construction of the project. In every aspect of the engagement, this team was professional, responsive, high quality and on top of things.

Jesse York was our landscape designer. We LOVED Jesse's eye for detail and thoroughness. He has has a lot of experience in projects around our home so he know what the fire department and HOA asks would be. That made our task much easier. Jesse is also very amenable to feedback and partners amazingly well with homeowners. He really listened to our asks and ensured he incorporated everything on our wishlist and in a manner that fit our budget and wishlist. Jesse worked with us every step of the way and really ensured that we were comfortable spending the $$ allocated and directed our money spend in the best value for the buck. LOVED working with Jesse!

Leo was the project manager on the construction end. Leo is an ALL Star across the board. He is extremely personable, is very familiar with the project, ensures the project proceeds at a great pace, is a strong partner on changes if any, gives great advice on where to spend $$ and is very familiar with construction codes, needs of his team, aligns every step in the most efficient way possible. In our case, we'd picked another company to do our pool construction and Leo partnered with the pool project manager to ensure communication channels were clear and handoffs were smooth. Leo was such a DREAM to work with.

Overall, this was the largest scale project we have taken on and California SmartScape made it easy for us every step of the way. LOVE the work and the end results, love the people who worked on the project, ALL STARS all the way!

I talked to at least 12 landscape contractors. Our Fron, back and side yards had to be taken from dirt to design to working scape. Smartscape provided a designer that knew her stuff. She kept us from making hard and soft scape blunders and botanical mistakes. She provided a great color rendering with detail and specifications.
The Field Supervisor Alvaro was super! He supervised most of the work, was my contact throughout the project, and was always immediately accessable when I had a question or ran into a problem. He helped us navigate the COVID supply chain issues and we moved things along well even despite the pandemic issues. His Crew Chief Carlos was outstand as well as his crew. Extremely hard workers and very meticulous, even the daily clean up was great! Smartscapes runs projects fairly strict. We made a couple of changes, and each change was ordered, documented, quoted, and timed. The Project came in pretty much on time and on budget.
If you are looking for a professional landscape service from Design to Working layout with quality, on-time service, and attention to detail: then Smartscapes has got to be on the top of your list. They are not the most expensive and they are not the cheapest. I received quotes and calls and visits from companies that promised the moon, but could not draw it out, write it down, or give me a decent BOM and Quote. If you are looking for quality landscaping design, construction, and detailed work, Call Jessica, Shayna, or Alvaro at Smartscapes!

We hired California Smartscape for a complete backyard redo. The landscape design was creative and stretched our imagination while checking the list of what we wanted. We had both pavers and poured concrete hardscaping installed and the craftsmanship on these were top notch. We really appreciated the thoughtfulness of the workers, every day they cleaned up any mess on the front driveway and street so that there was minimal impact on the neighbors during construction. We are cactus and succulent enthusiasts and the landscape architect was very accommodating in fulfilling our plant wish list. The reason for 4 and not 5 stars is that communication between the project manager, lead architect and us in terms of next steps and change orders could have been better and a few miss-steps could have been avoided. Overall we are extremely happy with our new back yard and with California Smartscape.

We just had our backyard remodeled this fall by California Smartscapes. The first word that come to mind is Professionalism. Nick, our designer came up with great ideas that really opened up our yard and made it more usable for entertaining while simultaneously transitioning plantings to make them more drought tolerant. Overall the yard has a much more high-end look to it as well. Alvaro, the lead contractor and the entire crew were terrific. They were always on time, worked hard long hard hours, were incredibly friendly and professional.
They cleaned up every day, other then durring the demolition, our yard was spotles at the end over every work day. Alvaro responded immediately to any questions or concerns that we had throughout the process. Both he and Nick are also very honest. They never tried to up-sell us on anything, they made sure we were fully aware of any pros/cons of certain decisions that we had to make throughout the process. There were only a few minor issues along the way(mainly with the electrician)
consider this review 4.5 stars, everything was resolved and overall we love our yard. We finally had an opportunity to "break it in" a few weeks ago. We had about 30 people over and there was plenty of shade and dining space, spots for the kids to play, areas for corn hole etc... it worked out beautifully.

Enjoyed the whole process with California Smartscapes from start to finish! Jesse was a great design expert and nailed the clean look we were hoping for. Our crew was led by Alvaro and he was the best! Super hands on and there everyday to make sure the work was done correctly. We are so happy we went with them and LOVE our backyard paradise:)

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.

We had a blank slate at our new house and California Smartscape showed us what we could do with it. The sales presentation and 3D renderings were all done without having to make a dollar commitment which we really appreciated: they took the time to earn our business. After we signed the contract we had a few minor delays due to city permits but once the guys got started they really came through - just like the owner promised us. It just 3 short weeks we went from a diet front and back yard to our dream yard. Leo was our project lead and we absolutely loved working with him. He continuously went above and beyond to make sure every detail was exactly how we wanted it. California Smartscapes is an incredible company and really deserves all the praise they get. Thanks for everything!

We used Ca Smartscapes to landscape our back and front yards. We were new construction so we’re working with a large dirt lot. Andrew was awesome to work with on design, goals, and budgets. They required no up front payment unless you loved the design they built and wanted to use them to do the work— took all the pressure off until we designed a solution that we loved. We met with many other landscapers and this was not the case at all. They even had us into the studio to do the whole HGTV experience of visualizing out backyard in 3D. When the work started they had a top notch team with a great project manager (we had Leo)- stayed exactly on budget and within the proposed timeframe. Would gladly work with them again and again.

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.