Sacred Space Gardens

Aug 4th, 2020

Our experience with Sacred Space was awful from start to finish. First, it took them as long as a month to respond to our emails or calls. Last fall after our initial contact, we couldn't get in touch with anyone for weeks to at least sign a contract, get a drawing, and be informed of a start date. When we finally got communications, they were impersonal form letters addressed "To clients," not our names. I don't think they ever learned our names. As for the landscaping, the plants were badly chosen, the work was sloppy and amateurish, and the irrigation left plants dry and yellowing. The mulch that was laid was thin and dirty and allowed weeds to quickly spout. Many plants turned out to be not deer resistant and were quickly eaten. Others were too puny to survive. The "ground-cover," we later learned, would take five years to fill out, if it even survived because the spouts were so tiny. And the end result: A "landscaping" that was mostly dirt with a few green things sticking up here and there and a lot of weeds. But this was not the worst of it. When the pandemic hit, it is understandable that the maintenance we had ordered did not happen. Then, a month or two after the restriction on outdoor services was lifted, three of the young women showed up for a few hours to "weed." Mostly, they chatted and laughed with each other. We could hear them from the house. The three did not bother to weed the back area, which was the most weedy. That slope was too steep, they complained. The trio also did not address the dryness of some areas. Even so, we received a bill for this maintenance of $945. Broken down, this amount paid each of the three workers $90 an hour for a couple of hours of socializing. To be fair, I don't think they were intentionally slacking off but just are not knowledgeable and are unaware of their ignorance. After that, we discontinued our relationship with Sacred Space and looked for a landscaper or gardener who could fix the mess. During the interview process, candidates politely shook their heads at the faulty irrigation, deer-friendly plants, and expanses of dirt.Fortunately, we were able to find a wonderful, very knowledgeable gardener who is methodically fixing each problem. What a difference!
Aug 2nd, 2020

Chris Hurley made me popularI live in a SF high rise where more than 5 different Gardner's have disappointed us over the years. Chris is an artist who created and operates a mindful and proficient landscaping company. Chris and his crew changed our bldg with a landscaping that speaks for itself. Our front street and rear patio gardens are alive: colorful and. manicured. The bldg keeps thanking me for the recommendation but it is Chris and his personal qualified crew that transformed our garden spaces that we appreciate daily...a gift that keeps on giving. And BTW Chris's fee saves us money that is being invested to improve our gardens.
Nov 24th, 2017

Because I had so much work done over several months with Sacred Space Gardens, I can give an unqualified thumbs up to this highly proficient landscaper, Chris Hurley. First of all, designing both the front and back gardens was a great experience.  Chris listened to my ideas and then took them and made them better.  Not only were the workers always on time, interesting to talk to, and highly skilled, I just had a very good feeling from them. When the project was finished, I simply could not believe how wonderful it all was---a mini Golden Gate park in my tiny back yard.   A side bonus:  it was a good way to meet my neighbors, who enjoy stopping to talk to me about how beautiful my front garden is.
Jul 13th, 2017

Whenever I hire a professional to work on my house, I'm filled with trepidation. We've all heard the horror stories about jobs that, after they're started, are extended so much that they go weeks or even months past the agreed-upon deadline; about workers who are disrespectful; about corners being cut; about shoddy workmanship; and about owners not understanding the vision the customer has in mind, and/or the end product not resembling that vision. Sacred Space Gardens allayed all those fears, and proved to be one of the best companies we've ever worked with.We have a standard-size Inner Parkside backyard that, until a few months ago, was a "yard" in name only. It contained only a completely overgrown mass of weeds and a small wooden gazebo-like frame that was too short for anyone to stand beneath. After many years of hemming and hawing, and based on recommendations from neighbors on Nextdoor, we finally hired Chris at Sacred Space Gardens to help us.We had a vision but no details. We knew that we wanted the weeds and a diseased tree removed and replaced with low-maintenance plants; we wanted a full patio; we needed the wooden structure taken down; we envisioned a small side patio in a warm spot of the yard for reading; and we hoped for a tiny area in which our small dog could do his business.Chris - who is always on time - met with us a few times to hear about our ideas and commit them to paper. He suggested a flagstone patio, a surrounding stone seating wall, a wooden pergola-like frame to replace the one being torn down, a flagstone reading area, artificial turf for our dog, multiple varieties of plants, a number of pathways, a drip/sprinkler system, and a nighttime lighting system. We took virtually all of his suggestions and hired him without even talking to anyone else.The two workers from Sacred Space Gardens (Lobsang [the construction manager] and Mr. Salvador), fixtures in our yard for many weeks, were a dream. I sort of miss them. They were friendly and professional, got along with each other famously, were always on time, worked incredibly hard, and cut no corners. Everything they did was artistic and rock-solid. We've rarely seen such knowledgeable attention to detail.They were also, by the way, very strong. Because there is no long, straight way to transport things from the garage into the backyard, they had to hand-carry everything, including dozens and dozens of heavy cement bags, one at a time through our downstairs hallway and laundry room. The schedule did run a couple of weeks long, but it was in no way anyone's fault.  We had some unforeseen problems, including rain delays, and our soil turned out to be so riddled with rock that Lobsang and Mr. Salvador had to drill away at the rock for days in order to prepare the soil for planting.In the end, our yard turned out to be much more beautiful than we ever imagined. The patios, the stonework, the plants, and even our dog's area are stunning. We feel like we're in Paradise out there.So I am giving Sacred Space Gardens 5 stars, although I wish I could give them 6 for exceeding expectations.Two notes:  We have not yet used the garden maintenance services offered by Sacred Space Gardens because the plants are so young that we don't need monthly maintenance yet. That may happen down the road, in which case I will update this review. My photos, then, are not doing justice to what the yard will eventually look like because the trees and plants will get much bigger and the ground cover will be much more spread out.Secondly, the whole process was not cheap.  If you are looking for inexpensive "quick-and-dirty" work in your yard, you may want to go elsewhere. Chris is all about quality, and that's what we wanted. Quality, reliability, respect, and an artistic touch, and we got all of that. Now I need to go stare at the yard for an hour, because that's what I continue to do on a regular basis.
Feb 14th, 2018