Green Gallery Landscaping

I depend on referrals and Unilocal Reviews to guide me to the best Service
People possible.
Nathan Parsley is exceptional. His communication skills are superior. I learned so much by just following him around my property. He explained, in very easy to
understand terms, what he felt needed to be done and was very sensitive to my desire to stay within my budget! I felt his pricing was very fair.
Hats off to the people in this world who care about others and the quality of service they provide.
Thanks Nathan. I will be happy to refer others.

We had a pretty comprehensive backyard project to do. We discussed several options, everything from a patchwork of mini projects, to an all-​in-​one approaches. For each of the options & decisions, Nathan gave just the kind of guidance I’d want, clearly laying out the costs & results, as well as highlighting cases where half the effort would deliver most of the benefit, as well as the reverse: cases where cutting a cost corner would substantially diminish the overall effect.
Nathan & team were terrific — Nathan’s communication style is straightforward advice, recommendations and tutelage without pushing a given outcome, be it of style or of scope.
And he deploys his crew (s) full-​tilt at the job site, so once we made our design choices, the results were in the ground right away, without us having to wait around for his team to become available to do the work.
Nathan squarely addressed any snags we hit, owning up to & quickly fixing any for which he/​his crew were responsible even at substantial cost of extra work, and working with me to quickly diagnose any others that were my fault or the fault of other contractors I had working on the property. And he & crew worked easily with other contractors I had on the property at the same time — flexible with easy give-​and-​take.
Nathan has a great eye for space, good working knowledge of the options — from hardscape to edibles & ornamentals, drought tolerant, native, etc –, and a great model for how to get projects accomplished quickly & well.
I recommend Nathan & Green Gallery unreservedly.

This spring we finally decided we needed help reshaping our yard. After some quick napkin math, we concluded that our «do-​it-​yourself» approach would take about 10 years complete. Green Gallery came referred to us by family friends, and we had Nate stop bye for some idea’s and opinions. Living in the Berkeley hills, most of our yard is slopped, and we were anxious to carve out some flat space. Going back and forth between different layouts, we were initially leaning towards the cheaper, less practical solution. Nate provided insight, guidance, and a list of pro and cons. I can’t express how happy we didn’t go with the first option! The results are absolutely great, with drip irrigation, retaining walls, stairs, and all! We are spending so much more time outside. Outside of the excellent workmanship, the Green Gallery crew was just easy to work with. They came on time, cleaned up, and went above and beyond to be curious to our neighbors. This, and the job completing on schedule (does this ever happen?), was almost as important to the work itself.

I can’t say enough about Green Gallery, who installed my CA native plant yard in 2010, and who continues to maintain it yearly. The garden was just on the Bring Back the Natives garden tour, and over 500 visitors came to the garden, raving about it. Many especially liked the incredible fountain he built for me out of local moss rock boulders. He is one of the most professional, kind people I have had the pleasure of working with. His staff is incredibly hard working and completely on time. I so appreciated how his staff (4 men) spent over 8 hours working on my garden in March– I let them use my bathrooms and even got them Starbucks – they were that deserving! I would recommend them to my best friends… with our five year history together, and the consistent excellence — what a godsend.

When my husband and I got married in our back yard, Nathan and his efficient, hard-​working crew of quality guys did a major overhaul, making it look like a an actual venue — it was amazing! The initial consult he gave us was not just for the actual event, but for the space going forward, taking into consideration every detail from where we live in the hills and how much sun we get, to overall sustainability. We ran into some budget issues along the way and Nathan approached our situation with creativity, helping us to achieve our vision. He and my husband worked together to choose a sustainable soft and hardscape design that we now get to enjoy all the time. He is a pleasure to work with, super knowledgeable, straight-​forward and a total professional. With his competitive prices, aesthetic, talent and great communication, I cannot imagine working with another landscaper. We have some plans for a deck makeover and a front lawn facelift, and we’re actually looking forward to having Nathan and his crew back up here!

I agree with Carl G. Green Gallery is NOT who you think they are. Nathan comes across as a nice guy as some other reviewers have described. However, wait until things go wrong. In our landscaping job, Nathan’s crew had to drill and dig below a recently poured concrete step. He and I stood at the point of where they were going to drill, and as I pointed to where our existing wiring for our lighting ran, I asked him «are you sure that you’re not going to hit anything you shouldn’t? He replied «we do this all the time, this is easy.»
That very evening, our existing landscaping lighting failed to go on as they had for months previous to their Green Gallery’s work. So what happened? We explained what happened and asked if they’d come out to take a look at it. It ultimately took them almost 3 days of work to find the issue, and when they finally dug deep enough, there it was, the cut cable of our existing lighting. They got to the point and rewired it so that the lights were once again in working order. Fixed and we paid him in full
Next, he bills me for an additional $ 700 to re-​coup the time it took his crew to find the problem — the problem that they created and we had discussed prior to the drilling and digging. I failed to understand why I was at fault and had to pay his crew to recover their costs. His office persisted and Nathan called to discuss the outstanding amount.
We explained our situation with many friends (some who are contractors themselves) and we were all unanimously stymied and at a loss for his insistence on our paying him. Nathan had not budged. Meanwhile over time, some of the ground cover and shrubs they planted had died.
After a couple of months agonizing over our situation, I finally decided to pay him the $ 700 (even though every bone in my body told me not to) to try and come clean — why? Because I was naïve enough to think that by my «goodwill» effort to pay him, that he’d come back and replace the ground cover and shrubs that had died — that’s all I really wanted.
After contacting Nathan again to say I’d pay him, we met at the house and I pointed out what had died. He ran the irrigation system and found that a faulty irrigation hose failed to deliver any water to the ground cover area. He then said, but the faulty hose is not his fault. WHAT? Ok, but I didn’t put in the faulty hose either.
I reluctantly paid him the $ 700. He’s just emailed back to say that he’s charging me for the replacement ground cover, materials and labor. WHAT? Yes, how would he know it was a faulty hose, but not owning up to it and standing by his work? In essence, all that has transpired, the cut wire and the faulty hose is MY FAULT and I’m to be charged for it. YEAH, I’M THE BIGGEST IDIOT.
If this is the service you’re looking for, then by all means go for it. Some of you were lucky that nothing happened. Good for you. This could have gone in another direction, but for a business person not to own up to his mistakes and unfortunate mishaps… This guy is something else (and over time, we’ve met some of his friends — who agree with us). You make the call.
If you want to come over to see the dead stuff and shoddy work — contact me.
Update 4÷17÷15: Nathan now wants another $ 400 from me to replace the faulty irrigation hose and dead ground cover they initially installed. Is this good business?
I wanted to also share his communication style, verbatim:
«This is the exact conversation that we had when we met last. You agreed to replacement work with an estimate.
Apparently your partner writes emails under your name.
I could care less what you write on Unilocal– we are booked for the next 5 months from referrals from satisfied customers.
FYI– apparently you guys are the obligatory neighbor dinner guests that have proven to be truly boorish»
Sincerely,
Nathan Parsley
Green Gallery Landscaping
Lic# 894 893
510−541−9416

Overwhelmingly positive review.
Nathan had creative suggestions for an unusually– angled side yard project that we hired him for.
He and his crew put in stone walls, and installed drip irrigation for the site.
The crew completed the project ahead of schedule and left things immaculately clean.
Most importantly, the price was right.
Won’t hesitate to use his team in future.

Nathan and the Green Gallery crew just finished landscaping, adding water sensitive irrigation, expanding our walkways and leveling an area of our yard. We had consulted with other landscapers as well but Nate left us with a lasting impression. He was responsive, a great listener, down to earth, creative, budget sensitive and extremely knowledgeable in all the areas of landscaping & design we needed. He helped us focus our goals, design and then transform our yard into the vision we were trying to communicate. He manages his crew with respect and kindness; their overall energy and work ethic reflected that. It was pleasure to have them working in our yard for the few weeks they needed and with the close of every workday our yard was tidy and put back into a safe and useable state. We are so elated with the end result, we have a level play area in the Berkeley Hills, integrated planting beds, inspiring flowers and excited to watch our garden grow! I whole-​heartedly recommend Green Gallery and have no doubt that I will continue to work with them in the future. Thank you again!

It was a pleasure working with Nathan and his team. We have a single-​family home on a 10,000 sq foot lot, and needed to completely re-​landscape the front and back yards. This included: fencing, irrigation, drainage, hardscape, stonework, veggie beds, lighting, lawn/​plant install, and boulders. Nathan and his crew did a fantastic job! He was able to quickly review our site, see the problems, and propose solutions on the spot. The quality of his team’s work is excellent, and he is very detail oriented. A great listener and very responsive – when we changed our minds (which was frequently), he was able to work with us. Very happy with our yard, highly recommended.

I’m sorry, i don’t think Green Gallery did a very good job. His prices are very competitive, but you will get what you pay for: fast and shoddy work. At numerous points in the project I had to intervene and have them correct things. Nathan always agreed to fix things (never an arguer), but the fixes were also the quickest cheapest possible with explanations that sound like excuses to me. Downspout mot connected to the underground drain? They thought it would be better to let it drain on the concrete. Huh? Thats not what the contract said. Patio not level? Thats to help the water drain off. That much slope? Really? Or is it that they didn’t compact the soil before laying the patio. Hmmm… After a bit Nathan started avoiding my calls and only sent out his minions to deal with my griping. Whatever.

Our first construction experience with Nathan was an emergency as our back-​yard fence blew down after some heavy winds. He and his crew came out the day after and had a new fence and retaining wall up in one weekend.
That was the impetus to have Green Gallery do the full back-​yard remodel and landscaping we had been designing and planning for some time. We were much relieved when we approached Nathan with a somewhat preliminary design and he assured us his team could make it happen in just a few weeks.
Needless to say, we’re overjoyed with the results. Our yard was transformed within a month. Nathan and his crew put in a lawn, 6 raised veggie beds, a fire pit, a hot tub, a beautiful redwood deck and new French doors leading out to the deck from the dining room.
The Green Gallery guys, and Nathan in particular, seemed genuinely excited to create such an awesome space out of the empty pit our back-​yard used to be. Alejandro, Enrique, and Jose — in fact all of the workers (I counted up to 12 working simultaneously on more than one occasion, which may account for the speedy job) — were professional, friendly, and very punctual. Nathan was on-​site everyday, often several times a day, to make sure everything was running smoothly. He always went over the work with me and was always easy to reach. His pricing was fair and transparent, and he even reduced the cost of some of the work that took less time than he first predicted. And Nathan’s knowledge of plants was invaluable in helping us design and modify our planting plan.
After having had some disappointing experiences with other companies including landscaping, electrical, and general construction, we came to trust Nathan more and more through our time together. I highly recommend Nathan and Green Gallery Landscaping!

Nathan and his team at Green Gallery Landscaping are truly outstanding! Our scope of work involved extensive woodwork (~200 linear feet of fencing, decking, stairs, gates, mailbox), metalwork (entry gate, fencing), stonework (stairs, pathways, entry court), earth shaping on a steep hillside, retaining wall, irrigation system, drainage, and planting (sod, trees, succulents, etc).
I found his work to EXCEED my expectations on all fronts; quality, design, detail, and in particular his ability to execute and complete the project quickly and efficiently. At times, he had a crew of ~20 guys (both highly skilled craftsmen and laborers) working hard to complete the project and meet the deadline (which he always did). I initially thought his cost estimates were on the high side, so I received a few other bids and quickly learned Nathan was actually right at average (if not a bit low) for the area and his quality of work.
In addition, I found Nathan to be a super nice guy, very easy and fun to work with, highly communicative, and a creative problem solver (thank god!). Our large project was constantly evolving and not clearly defined at the outset (my fault), and Nathan was extremely patient and always willing to make decisions and changes in real time as needed. I’ll be calling Nathan for all of my future landscaping needs!

We found Nathan onYelp and selected him from the competitive bidders we selected. Our project was to add a retaining wall and reenergize the plants in the yard. Green Gallery came in with the lowest bid, bur the thing that sold us the most was his plant knowledge and enthusiasm for what he does. The work was performed quickly and it came out better then we had hoped. We highly recommend Nathan and Green Gallery.

Woo hoo! As good as it gets! We love Nathan, and his crew are a bunch of secret supermen. Our big and awkwardly sloped backyard was transformed to a family haven in TWO days. Working with Nathan was really fun, he’s creative and balances his knowledge with great attention to what we wanted and needed. Our yard is now super functional, has separate areas for my wild boys and grown-​up play. It is beautiful in a «this just happened naturally» kind of way. The price and quote were very reasonable and clear — no surprise costs. I highly recommend!

Nathan and his crew at Green Gallery are amazing! We are thrilled with the work they did for us in our back yard. We have lived for the last five years with a very steep and unusable space that was overrun with ivy, weeds, blackberry bushes, and old stumps. Green Gallery has turned that old disaster in to an oasis. For the first time, we are able to lounge and entertain in our back yard! Nathan is extremely knowledgeable. The work was quoted in a very concise and clear manner. No unexpected charges. We even changed our mind about things a couple of times throughout the process and we were always told ‘no problem, we can do whatever you like’. The team of workers was very polite, clean, and friendly. Work was done quickly and efficiently but with the utmost care and quality. I highly recommend Green Gallery.

Nathan recently completed a backyard renovation for us where he worked along with the landscape designer and us to make our backyard more useable. I can’t say enough about Nathan, Enrique and all the other employees who worked hard and listened to us when we wanted something. What started the project was that we wanted a wood-​fired oven for entertaining and when the oven builder «specialist:» backed out of the job, Nathan stepped in and built it for us even though he had never built one before. It, along with the arbor, low voltage lighting, suggestions for planting and stonework turned out perfect. As a bonus, he knew we were having problems with water intrusion in our basement and proposed a solution. We now have a dry basement. If you want to see what Nathan did in my backyard, contact me and I’ll make you a pizza.

Nathan and team offer things we appreciated: professionalism, honest feedback on our design ideas, dependability and flexibility. They gave our front lawn a face lift that still receives unsolicited praise.
If you are budget friendly, he finds creative ways to work with you. If you decide to make changes mid-​steam, he can add on work-​it adds to the budget but he works with you to find a win-​win for both sides.
Hope to have them back for back deck/​yard later this year.

Nathan and his crew transformed our front and back yards in a matter of less than 3 weeks. The job included removing large amounts of concrete, putting down a new patio and walkways, irrigation, constructing 3 trellises, removing a very old lawn, and planting shrubs to fit our personal choices. He also installed a water feature (fountain) and painted the front porch and built raised veggie boxes. The final results were magnificent. We were very pleased with the change as were the neighbors. His team was very easy to work with.
Mike — Oakland Hills

I highly reccomend Nathan and the crew at Green Gallery. Nathan was a joy to work with, very knowledgeable and professional. He really took time to talk us through the plans for our backyard and address our questions and concerns, even if they were outside the scope of the project he did for us. Communication with him was easy and straightforward, and we always felt confident that we were getting quality work. His foreman Enrique was also very talented and a pleasure to work with.
We hired Green Gallery to do hardscaping in our backyard. They removed an existing brick retaining wall and patio, built two new redwood walls and stone patio and walkway, put in lights and a new lawn. The workmanship was top quality and the prices were reasonable. We’d definitely use them again.

Green Gallery is a rare, if not unique company. I met Nathan Parsley through a consultation, as I was charged with doing just what the previous reviewer had done– getting a house’s yard ready for a sale. Now, I know that landscaping is expensive, so I was ready for that. But what Green Gallery was able to do was awesome.
Nathan was very knowledgeable and first asked what my goals were– aka did I want a very hands-​off, little attention-​needed yard. I did, which is very common. They used grape seed, mulch and ground cover in a drought-​tolerant, cost-​effective way that also complemented the similarly drought-​tolerant trees and flowers used. It was gorgeous, it highlighted the house, and the sale ended up being quick and relatively easy. (I now love banana plants, by the way)
The unique part was Nathan’s bond with his workers. Now, when I see a native-​born person of non-​Latino descent running any sort of labor crew comprised wholly of Latino immingrants, I think economic exploitation– now, I know the money is good for these guys and it’s the number one preferred job for a lot of immigrants, but, you know…
Enter Green Gallery. The first day the crew showed up, I was in the yard checking a hose connection when they pulled up– two big pick-​ups with trailers and about 5 guys total. The lead truck was playing some Banda and all the guys were joking and laughing in Spanish– nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t pay too much visual attention as I was working with a wrench at an odd angle, but could hear them all chatting and one guy giving orders to the crew– again, typical– Nathan, as I was sure, employed a native speaker who could lead a crew and, of course, communicate with them, right? Well, sort of. When I finished tightening the hose, I got to my feet and looked up to see Nathan himself holding court in rapid-​fire Spanish and telling the employees where to go. Talking to 2 guys about different things at the same time. In perfect Spanish. Very impressive.
Nate went on to explain that most of his workers have been with him since he started Green Gallery, and that he knows their families and goes to birthday parties and weddings and quinceaneras and the whole nine.
«Unfortunately, these guys are 100% second-​class citizens in most people’s eyes, with or without green cards», Nathan explained. «But here, we’re all just a crew. The language of commerce happens to be Spanish, but we’re just a crew. «
An exceptional crew. Highest, rating, highest recommendation.