Samscaping Inc.

Samscaping should have 5 stars! The only non-​5 star rating came from someone who did not actually work with them.
I knew that I wanted Sam to do our backyard from the get-​go. On a few occasions, while visiting friends from different facets of life, I would marvel at their yards and beg to know who did their yard and every single one that I marvelled at turned out to be done by Samscaping. When I went to visit references that Sam gave, again, I would walk in and feel, «Ahhh…» that peaceful serenity that emanates from each yard that he created.
Yes, Samscaping is not cheap, but they are worth it! Even my spouse who was not initially as gung-​ho as me has come around and constantly comments on how much he enjoys our yard. We have children and a dog and the Samscaping crew designed our dream yard with something for everybody. It is a gorgeous and well-​used extension of our living space.
Dawn, our designer, has an impeccable sense of taste. She really listened and masterfully blended my favorites with some wonderful additions of her own that I would never have dreamed of.
Our project included hardscaping for dining, seating, and grill area, new lawn, plants, trees, pergola with retractable shade, water fountain with retaining wall, sandpit for our freestanding hammock, play structure area, raised beds for vegetables, and all the irrigation required to maintain it. Sam, Frank, and Dave were constantly around, making sure that things were perfect.
We have a corner lot and pushed out our fence to gain more backyard space. This had to be rebuilt and we decided to have Samscaping beautify the outside strip, also. Neighbors passing by repeatedly compliment not only the outer landscaped area, but also our fence! I could go on and on.
If something isn’t perfect, they fix it. We love, love them… and our yard.

What can we say about the people who transformed our yard into something we truly enjoy every day? Wonderful group, they care about what they do and how you’ll enjoy it, and work hard to do things right the first time. It’s always nice when a project runs perfectly and everything falls into place as planned. However, a true test of a company is when things don’t quite go as smoothly. Due to circumstances that could have not be foreseen by the company, our landscaping project had a hiccup that caused a few weeks’ delay. That was when the high level of professionalism of SamScaping came to the surface. Because it led to our project lasting longer than planned and skewing their project pipeline, it interrupted their schedule more than it did ours. After the initial confusion, they did their best to accommodate our project among the many others they had. As it turned out, those little delays in between actually ended up for the best, as they gave us time to live with things for a while and initiate a few small changes that made our property look much better than the original planning. One thing we learned is that when things didn’t quite go according to plan or the schedule, it was usually for the best.
Sam (Owner): Sam struck us as a highly conscientious professional, who cares for the quality of the project as well as the welfare of his employees and is not just about making profits — a rare gem! A few examples were him making it a point to come by when subcontracting was involved, or stopping the work and sending the crew home when it got too hot in the summer. When a Jasmin plant didn’t make it after the transplanting, he dug-​up one from his own yard to replace it. These personal touches show how invested he is in the work, and it carries through to his team.
Frank (Foreman): It is hard to describe how much Frank added to the project with his suggestions in all domains. His attention to detail was superb, and his unique design ideas upgraded our project. He also was extremely helpful on the practical side with generous advice on pretty much everything, and we soon learned that he’s usually right. Frank made sure things are done in the right order, the right way, and without cutting corners — and all that with a constant smile and a refreshingly wonderful sense of humor. His level of attention to details and caring about our project was above and beyond what we’ve ever experienced, as was his patience.
Fermin (Mason): Fermin, with his 30+ years of experience as a mason, is a master and an artist. He soon figured out our taste, and though he didn’t always share it, he made extra effort to add little touches that complemented it. His suggestions during the design process of the hardscaping were right to the point, as he has the remarkable ability to combine practical considerations with an admirable sense of aesthetics. Our hardscape design was full of curves, always a challenge and some new ones that Fermin never encountered before. He came up with creative ideas to tackle these new challenges and seemed to have enjoyed the process.
Dawn (Designer): We got to work with Dawn after the designer who was originally assigned to us left the company. Dawn’s knowledge of plants is impressive, and her great suggestions showed she was taking what she had learned of our tastes into account. The garden ended up looking quite different than what we had in mind – and much better. She has the artistic eye to tie things together and create a flow that is pleasing yet doesn’t look contrived. She was very open to feedback and encouraged us to say what we don’t like, and when we followed her advice and cancelled a couple of plants on her list, she suggested another plant that’s become my favorite.
The crew: It was such a pleasure to have the SamScaping crew work on our property. The friendliness, caring and good mood of the workers made the experience a pleasurable journey. They all seem to take pride in their work, to the point that we often found one of them fixing something during his break. We were impressed by how clean they left then property every day, and by the way the different crews (hardscaping, irrigation, drainage, landscpaing) respected the work of each other.
Our garden looked surprisingly beautiful throughout the winter, and now – almost 9 months after the project was completed, and passing the test of torrent rains and a few nights of frost, it’s starting to come to life as spring begins. Sam and Frank have stopped by throughout the winter and into spring to check on how everything was doing, replacing a few plants that didn’t make it, and checking in with us.
And the end result is truly amazing. Thank you so much, SamScaping, for significantly improving our quality of life. And the neighbors are happy, too :-)

Even though it has been over a year since Samscaping had completed my landscaping, I felt they deserve a review on Unilocal due to Sam’s willingness to continually make sure the job that he had completed over a year ago is just as good as when he first completed it.
As I’ve said, working with Samscaping had been fantastic, and still is to some extent as it’s been over an year since we have completed our project and they still come by to replace plants, if dead, and check on their work. Enrica (our designer but has since left) was a joy to work with and was the one that designed both our front and back yard. Sam (the owner) was just amazing to work but I think his best traits were his honesty and integrity. He was extremely up-​front with any issues and recommendations throughout the entire process. The projects was managed extremely well and within the budget and time completed exactly as negotiated. He gave weekly reports on what was happening just like you would expect someone managing an expensive project like this to do so. The crew was extremely professional and at times, I probably saw 5+ working on the yard.
I can tell you that Samscaping is not the cheapest landscaper out there, but I would have them landscape any home and recommend him for any projects in the future. Like most homeowners, one of the biggest reasons for choosing a landscaper is to ensure that they are on budget and willing to work with you if you find issues along the way without gouging/​hold you hostage for price. How many of us actually believe that we wouldn’t want minor changes throughout the process? He did all that without charging anything extra. The finished product is exactly what I wanted and never felt like if I had only changed it this way, I’d be happier. Sam will work with you the entire process. You are paying for a peace of mind and I think that’s worth it given the horror stories I’ve heard from other homeowners.
What also sets Sam apart from others is his love of his work. He really enjoys what he does and it shows in the finished product. It’s as if he was trying to landscape for his own home and so he will meticulously ensure that every nook and crack are looked at as if he owned the home. He will find issues that you weren’t aware of and will fix anything you find. In fact, months after he was done, he continually checks on his work as plants do need time to set in and adjusts water as needed. Just recently (over an year since I finished the landscaping project), he came by and replace dead plants as well as the entire electrical outdoor outlets since I was complaining that it has been shorting out recently. No cost! It just doesn’t get better than this and I highly recommend anyone looking to landscape their home to at least talk to Sam and see what his team has to offer.

I am thrilled with how my project turned out. It entailed a complete makeover of my front and back yards. (See photos). The project included hardscape, outdoor kitchen, Louvretec roof, firepit, lounge area, lighting, speakers, heaters, and garden (new lawn, flowers, trees, and irrigation). Samscaping may well not be the cheapest, but my key criteria were quality and peace of mind.
Also, I look at the difference between price and cost. The price is what I paid. The cost to me was knowing that I got:
(i) value for money (as evidenced by the joy we get out of using our new backyard and the comments from friends and strangers)
(ii) peace of mind that I didn’t have to micro-​manage the project. I actually had an enjoyable experience (unlike some of the horror stories you hear about contractors),
(iii) comfort knowing that I got a quality product in the end.
Samscaping worked closely with my designer (Julie Orr Design) to take her vision and make it into a reality. Sam has a degree in horticulture so I was able to benefit from both his expertise in this area. Sam was easy to deal with and even on the few occasions where there were minor issues, I found him to be very reasonable and fair.
I have to give a special shout-​out to the day-​to-​day Project Manager, Frank. Awesome! I cannot speak highly enough about him. Apart from really knowing his stuff, he is very detail-​oriented and has a great design sense. I trust and value his opinion so much it got to the point where I would ask his opinion on everything (furniture, paint colors, you name it). If Frank is looking after your project you will be in very safe hands.
The majority of the team has been with Samscaping for many years (another good sign). When I compared the various initial bids I decided I wanted to buy experience. That had real value to me as I had never attempted anything like this project before and I am not very handy around the house. Sam, Frank and the team have been around the block many times and it showed. There were several times during the project when they made suggestions above and beyond the plan which turned out to beneficial to the overall project.
The bottom line is, I got an excellent quality end-​product and value for money. Highly recommended.

Samscaping has been doing the maintenance of my garden for the past 3 years and they are awesome! Finally I have someone that takes true care of my garden and my plants, from pruning to fertilizing, etc.
Last year they did the side yard after my kitchen remodel. I wanted to landscape an area that had become more visible after changing the position of the windows in the kitchen. Working with Sam was a true pleasure. I followed his recommendation for the plants to use in the area and the result is stunning. I wish I had known them few years ago when I did the entire landscaping of my backyard.

***UPDATE***
After reading Sam’s comments, I feel the need to update my review. Yes, like Sam said, he did recommend that I «look for one closer to home» and suggested one company in San Carlos. The reason why I failed to mention it in my original review was because to me, it wasn’t much of a recommendation, so he might have as well not even recommended anyone. Sam had recommended The Village Gardener because they supposedly «do good work.» However, according to fellow Unilocalers, this company does not do good work and has a 1-​star review! (
) If I was a business and I was going to recommend another company, I would make sure that company that I’m recommending is in good standing because my reputation is on the line. It would make me look bad if the client did some research about my recommendation and only saw bad reviews or worse case scenario, they even took my recommendation and had a horrible experience.
Yes, as a company, Sam does have the right to decide what projects fit his company the best. I admit that. However, my husband and I just didn’t appreciate his approach to turning down our project. At the end of his visit, he told my husband that he would email me a quote. If Sam felt that our project wasn’t a potentially good fit with his company after looking at our property, he should have said it then and there at the end of his visit or at least even mention that there is a possibility that he would not be able to take on our project. Then, if he rejected it, we wouldn’t have been as upset or surprised since he had already warned us. That’s why we came up with the conclusion that we weren’t worth his time because our project was not big enough and the money wasn’t there, at least for him. FYI, Sam, we did find some other good landscaping companies that we’re happy to work with. Based on what we told them that we wanted, it looks like our project is going to cost approximately $ 30,000, which we actually don’t mind paying because we feel like we’re getting what we want. I guess a $ 30,000 project is not worth Sam’s time. Just based on our experience, Sam is all about the dollar signs and we’re just as pleased as him that we aren’t working together! So, fellow Unilocalers, if your project is less than $ 30,000 or even the same amount, don’t bother to call Samscaping because you’ll be wasting your time.

Sam did a brick and decomposed gravel driveway for us along with some general landscaping and drainage work. They did a great job on all the work in a timely manner.
He is a bit more expensive than some but he has a steady crew of guys who knock out jobs efficiently rather than using an inconsistent crew of day laborers. You get what you pay for.
We will definitely use him again.

I have been working with Sam for several months on my project in Palo Alto and have had nothing but great things to say. I am glad that Sam is not the cheapest because you get what you pay for in landscaping.
As for Dee J, please consider your role and client etiquette. While I think it is fine to interview via the phone multiple landscape contractors to find out the best fit, you should be able to narrow your search down to 2 – 3 for an actual bid. Remember that you are building a life long relation with your contractor (well at least for the life of your landscape) and that you should be basing your decision on quality not price. Anyone getting 4 – 5 bids is just shopping for the lowest price and not really considering the relationship and how many hours it takes of their valuable time to create an estimate.
Sam is doing the stone hardscape, planting, carpentry, irrigation, lighting, outdoor kitchen and fire pit. He has also been helpful with other subcontractors like the sound system and mechanical arbor contractors.
Thank you Sam! Keep up the good work.

Sam came to our house to give us an estimate and right from the start he began a tirade of why he is the best (but not cheapest) and that if we were getting more than 4 or 5 bids, he wasn’t interested in bidding on our job. He said that people who get that many bids are just looking for the cheapest person. How untrue is that? Or was he just stereotyping us?
Anyway, he was extremely unprofessional in my opinion and walked away in a huff when I told him that he didn’t need to bid on our job. Wow, imagine what he would be like if you had some type of controversy if he acts this way on something as innocuous as a request for a bid.
Perhaps you do good landscaping. I wouldn’t know. But your interpersonal skills need some work!

I don’t know about you but whenever I have to deal with contractors my stomach seizes up… soooo I was thrilled to not have that be the case with Samscaping. We did a lot of homework before selecting Samscaping because we had seen many positive reviews of their work. They helped us with a complete backyard re-​do including changing part of our driveway and the whole thing exceeded our expectations. Not only were they easy to work with but they did everything they said they would — they kept up with us every step of the way, kept us informed, their crew was prompt, thorough and professional. They consulted us when the inevitable issues arouse, and made sure we were partners in the project. Whenever we had an issue on a plant location or type of grill or location of sprinkler etc, that Sam and Johnna were both always extremely reasonable in working it through with us and helping us make a good informed decision. If we ever need work again we will use them. They ain’t cheap — great work rarely is.

We worked with Johnna on the conceptual design of our front yard landscaping and took into account the special needs/​constraints that existed. (huge pine trees in the front that shades the yard and drops needles/​sap) Johnna let me peruse a number of plant books (native California plants, low maintenance plants) that helped us both identify preferable plantings for the yard. We discussed textures and heights and colors to improve the curbside appeal of the home and «welcome» people visiting the home. The project from design to completion took around 6 weeks. Sam, the owner, was also very involved in the project, and the work crew and Johnna’s assistant checked on the yard post-​planting a few times a week. A few plants have died off due to the heat and will be replaced. We are really happy with the results and our neighbors are too.

Samscaping is an excellent, award-​winning landscaping company. We got to fondly know their team as they worked on our backyard remodeling project. Their designer, Johnna, created a beautiful concept hand-​drawn sketch after our first consultation that we instantly liked. She really listened and included all our desires. We had talked with several landscapers prior to this and even went as far as paying for designs, but none of them seemed to capture what we were asking for. We knew we’d be happy working with Samscaping with their professionalism and straight-​forward approach to designing based on our budget.
Johnna put the sketch into a CAD program and provided us with a large drawing, list of materials and estimated labor cost breakdown. We worked back and forth a few times to fine tune the plan. Throughout this process, Sam (the owner) and Johnna were very encouraging and helpful, willing to take the time to explain details to us. We achieved a mutual comfort level on the design, process and cost.
Sam has a great, hard-​working crew. Their team are professionals, know their stuff, and arrive on-​time as scheduled. They answered our questions easily and encouraged us to participate and make decisions as we went along. If something wasn’t up to Sam’s high expectations, he would re-​do the work and replace plants at no cost to us. Sam, Johnna, or Peter (field engineer) were on-​site every day during the construction process making sure that every detail was taken care of. We enjoyed our interactions with them and always looked forward to seeing them.
The project proceeded in phases:
— Removal of our existing bricks and plants
— Trench and install irrigation and electrical
— Laying of hardscape elements including Connecticut bluestone flagstone, decomposed granite, concrete underlay for a flagstone patio
— Building a pondless waterfall by Peter (he did beautiful work). Picking and placing just the right stones.
— Building a redwood arbor
— Building a seat wall with custom cut bluestone top
— Low-​voltage lighting placement
— Soil amendment and planting
Throughout the process Sam, Johnna, and Peter asked us for input and reviewed the work being done daily. They would gladly redo anything that wasn’t up to their high standards (or ours). Compare that to other contractors who would come to your home and implement something that you’re stuck with it. We were very lucky to find Samscaping.
Our yard is beautiful and we are very pleased with the work they did. We highly recommend Samscaping for your landscaping project. Check out their extensive portfolio at