Verdance Landscape Architecture exists to inspire life in every landscape — sumptuous meals enjoyed with friends, afternoon parties for the young at heart, delightful visits from butterflies and hummingbirds.
We help Silicon Valley home owners achieve landscapes that are low-water, low-maintenance, breathtakingly gorgeous, and brilliant in both design and execution.
While our plans always honor the needs and wishes of the home owner, Verdance also designs solutions that replenish groundwater… support pollinators and other beneficial wildlife… enrich the soil food web… and not only tolerate drought but actually thrive in the Bay Area’s Mediterranean climate.
“Verdance anticipated our needs, designed and counseled us relative to them, worked within our budget and delivered a yard that we are bragging about and joyful to see every day.”
Our work, and the people who do it, are guided by seven core values. Perhaps they resonate with you as well:
Integrity
We begin with the end in mind and imbue our work with a sense of purpose and intention. We uphold our explicit and implicit commitments, and seek and embody truth, respect, and kindness.
Humility
We are open to knowledge, change and correction, without fear or shame. We cultivate a beginner's mindset to continually expand our awareness. We respond appropriately to feedback and own the consequences of our actions and inaction.
Creativity
We encourage curiosity, imagination, exploration, and play to inspire ourselves and others. We believe in our — and others' — innate potential for unique expression.
Stewardship
We take responsibility for enriching our environment, and advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. We seek to conserve natural resources, and champion efficiency. This year we will donate 10% of our profits to environmentally-focused organizations.
Balance
We work in harmony with others, including natural forces. We know what matters most and differentiate between “urgent” and “important." We believe a healthy environment fosters our own wellness and the achievement of our potential.
Quality
We enjoy creating fine experiences and products for our clients and ourselves. We surround ourselves with extraordinary people and materials, and distinguish our firm by delivering superior service, insightful solutions, and exceptional execution.
Joy
We are enlivened by our work, and our product and process delight our clients. We solve problems with humor and grace. We seek light and lightness in our work, our relationships, and within ourselves. We exemplify positivity to others and our world.
“The design was to the tee, every detail was clearly addressed. The Verdance team were meticulous in details, punctual and accessible.”
With a thorough and methodical process, we deliver each client a beautiful, uniquely personal landscape that is a source of joy and inspiration.
The phases of our work are:
Design Consultation & Proposal
Our work begins with a consultation at your home to discuss your needs, identify your site’s challenges and opportunities, consider design directions, and provide resources and define strategies to help you move forward. The consultation is billed hourly, with most lasting about two hours. After the scope of work has been defined, we can send you a proposal detailing our services and fees. Please note that while the consultation does not oblige you to continue with Verdance, in consideration of your time and money we generally only schedule consultations for projects that align closely with our strengths. To determine whether a landscape design consultation is the right first step for you, please read about who achieves the best results working with Verdance.
Predesign & Site Analysis
In the all-important Predesign phase, we build on the information taken in during the consultation, refining your design program, developing "idea books,” and researching town ordinances and requirements that will apply to your project. We will work with a surveyor to accurately measure and map your site, and analyze your adjacent and environmental conditions against your intended uses. Ultimately we'll draft a base plan of the existing landscape, which will serve as the foundation for our conceptual exploration.
Schematic Design Concepts
Especially if we’re creating new outdoor living spaces for you, we will want to sketch several concepts that explore how the spaces can best relate to each other and to your home. These schematic diagrams will show the primary features we propose, including circulation patterns and lines of sight. With your feedback, we’ll either develop additional schemes or identify one direction to evolve into the Preliminary Design.
Preliminary Design
The Preliminary Design embodies our overall vision for your landscape. Drawn to scale, it shows all the major hardscape and landscape elements, including primary features and types of plants. Along with additional drawings or images to help convey the look and feel we envision, you’ll get a clear picture of our design intent, with enough information for a landscape contractor to estimate installation costs.
Design Development
With your approval of the Preliminary Design, Verdance will develop the specifics of the plan and help you find landscape contractors with the appropriate expertise. Based on preliminary cost estimates, we’ll update the Preliminary Design as needed and identify the materials that best suit your tastes and budget — from paving and plantings to fixtures, furnishings, lighting effects, and other details.
Drawings & Specifications
Verdance will prepare detailed installation drawings for you to submit for permit and/or bid with one or more landscape contractors. These typically include a layout plan including locations and finishes of the built features; a planting plan including the locations, names, and quantities of all new plants, with an irrigation plan if necessary to satisfy your local WELO (water efficient landscape ordinance) requirement; a landscape lighting plan; and any other information such as furnishings, containers, or other accessories that will complete the design.
Installation Support
Throughout installation, Verdance remains on hand to coordinate the project, answer questions, adjust our plans, and provide any other guidance to ensure your new landscape thoroughly delights you.
Post-Installation
Even when your contractor’s work is done, ours isn’t: we can find you a great maintenance gardener, purchase additional plants or accessories, or help you understand how your garden will perform over time.
If your project would benefit from this level of attention and detail, please send us a New Project Inquiry and we will follow up with you right away to continue the conversation.
“My wife and I really enjoyed working with John and appreciate the results every time we look out our windows. John was always cool and easy going while being decisive and committed to the quality of his work. For anyone thinking of hiring Verdance for landscape design… do it now.”
Our people are the heart and soul of every landscape we design, and devoted to making each project exceptional from start to finish.
John Black, RLA, CPLD
Principal
A California native and Palo Alto homeowner, John established Verdance in 2002 to bring more beautiful, healthy, well-designed landscapes to the Bay Area and beyond. He is a licensed Landscape Architect (CA #6506), certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). He has served the Bay Area District of APLD as Treasurer and President, and is active on both the district and national committees on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. John graduated with distinction from the Landscape Architecture program at UC Berkeley Extension, and earned his graduate and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University. He has been an instructor in Foothill College's Environmental Horticulture and Design department, where he also has served on the Advisory Board since 2013.
Kaitlin Hammersley
Operations Manager
Kaitlin loves working to bring imaginative, inspiring and functional landscapes to life for Verdance’s clients. While serving as an Agroforestry Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa, she was drawn to pursue a career in landscape design as a way to combine her passions for art, science and the outdoor built environment. A member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), Kaitlin joined Verdance in 2016 as a Landscape Design Intern while enrolled in Foothill College’s Environmental Horticulture and Design program. She earned her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College in Maine, with a coordinate major in Environmental Studies and Visual Art, and a Biology minor.
RAN RAN
Landscape Architect
In keeping with the Taoist tradition, Ran believes in the power of nature to nurture, inspire, and transform. This idea, coupled with a love of sketching and painting since childhood, led her to pursue a Bachelors Degree in Landscape Architecture at Southwest University in China, a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture at Auburn University, and ultimately her Landscape Architect license (CA #6697). Ran appreciates the design process and loves creating functional landscapes that honor the principles of landscape design in both the overall vision and the details. She believes successful landscapes inspire people to find grace, peace, and harmony.
Project Consultants
Verdance collaborates with surveyors, contractors, engineers, architects, designers, and other specialists to ensure that every project receives the expertise it deserves.
If you’re the best at what you do, please contact us to be considered as a consultant for future projects.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Verdance believes exceptional places welcome everyone… and we’re no exception.
Our best work emerges from diverse perspectives, experiences, and approaches; so our employment opportunities recognize and reward individual talent regardless of age, country of origin, ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion, physical ability, or socioeconomic class.
If Verdance Landscape Architecture sounds like a place you could do your best work, please look into our career opportunities.
Professional Affiliations
