Landscape Design & Outdoor Living Services in San Diego

Doug, Ramon and their crew have almost completed my backyard renovation. The team is all very professional, friendly and easy to work with. I look forward to seeing them each day. Communication is good so you know what’s going on every step of the way. Doug and Ramon had great ideas and their expertise was appreciate. I would definitely recommend this company.

We selected Del Mar Landscapes after reviewing three other project bids and felt the Doug provided us a better scope of work and competitive pricing. Big thanks to the project foreman, Ramone, and the boys at Del Mar Landscapes for the beautiful install of pavers, 30ft retaining wall, 1000 sq/ft of turf, and a stunning front entryway and patio. These guys crushed it in 5 weeks, which included two weeks of rain! Outstanding crew! Thank you so much!!

Just completed a backyard project with Del Mar Landscapes. Worked with Ramon, Jason, Bob, and others to put in drains, concrete, turf, pavers, etc. The guys worked incredibly hard and did great work. They were very collaborative and offered ideas and alternative design solutions based on the lay of the land. Really enjoyed working with them.

Doug, Ramon, & Junior did an awesome job installing my exterior landscape lighting system at my house in Pacific Beach. Quick response, quality work, good price. 5 STARS

We are extremely pleased with the high-quality hardscape and landscaping work done by Del Mar Landscapes, owned by Doug Kepner. We were looking to do a low maintenance front yard makeover including pavers. We got four quotes and Doug’s was the most reasonable. We were skeptical given his competitive pricing but given his reviews and photos we decided to proceed with Del Mar Landscapes. It was easy to communicate with Doug despite our busy work schedules and we appreciated his suggestions with the design given his expertise. He remained flexible with last minute questions or changes. Even during the weekend we received prompt replies from Doug. His crew was also great especially Ramon and Jason. Doug and crew communicated daily with us, were on time, organized and left our home in a tidy condition every day. Doug stuck to his word with everything and did not go over the quoted price like other contractors do. We’d highly recommend considering Del Mar Landscapes for your future project and if we decide to do more with our backyard would call Doug first! -Erica Patel

My husband and I are extremely pleased with the high-quality hardscape and landscaping work done by Del Mar Landscapes, owned by Doug Kepner. We felt we received solid value for the price, especially in comparison to what other companies offered in their bids. I don't write many online reviews, but I feel compelled to give a shout-out to our wonderful crew of Jason, ​Jaime, Junior, Jesse, ​and Aviv, under the leadership of the many-talented Ramón. We had sought four bids on this complicated front and back yard project, which involved multiple dumpsters' worth of demo, new concrete, a retaining wall, drainage​ alterations, irrigation, and planting, while also accommodating tricky slopes and ​some existing hardscape areas​ we wanted to keep. Del Mar Landscapes won our business for three reasons. First, although owner Doug Kepner's cost estimate was lower than the other bids, he assured us that he wouldn't be cutting corners quality-wise, employment-wise, or insurance-wise. (He attracts and retains excellent workers by paying and insuring them properly, and in his words, "These guys don't know how to do a half-assed job.") Del Mar Landscapes' cost savings were due to two facts: ​Doug was willing to offer us many of the materials and ​rental items like dumpsters at his own cost, and he has no office staff or rendering staff to add to the costs of the actual construction. ​T​he larger landscaping companies we consulted had professional-looking packets and offered 3D computer renderings to help us visualize the project. While these perks were appealing, the competing bids also came with significant markups​ on every line item, presumably to pay for the additional overhead. Working with Del Mar Landscaping means having a more direct relationship between what you pay and the construction work you get. The downsides of this are that you don't get pretty pictures to look at, and you may need to refer to your own written notes when double-checking changes and additions agreed on orally after the initial contract is signed. The second thing that won us over was ​our confidence in Del Mar Landscapes' ability to be flexible and change things on the fly in response to terrain challenges, or simply to things we changed our minds about. Doug, Ramón, and the team were able to draw on their expertise and present us with options in response to actual site conditions, which included a few surprises along the way​. (For example, during demo, some buried drains and sewer access points were discovered in inconvenient spots, and the slopes of the existing hardscape made the transitions we had originally envisioned to new concrete areas impossible without some clever adjustments they recommended.) Third, Doug's pride in his top-notch crew was obvious, and ​that pride ​convinced us that we would be very happy with their work. This proved to be the case. They showed up promptly and cheerfully during the two hottest weeks of the year, kept the worksite immaculately clean and organized, and everything they touched looked fabulous. I was struck by the fact that everyone on the worksite seemed to enjoy each other's company, and when overhearing my compliments for a teammate's work, others would often chime in to brag about each other's particular talents. I still remember the​ serene enjoyment on Jaime's face as he stuccoed our beautiful new retaining wall like the master craftsman he is. Ramón did a stellar job of accommodating our last-minute changes and additions gracefully, with transparency about what the half-day of extra labor would cost us. Our neighbors are very happy with the transformation of our front yard, and we look forward to inviting them to enjoy our new backyard, too. Before, during, and after photos of the backyard attached. (In case they load in a different order, the one with patio furniture in it is the after!) Julie Ann Sih

We love our finished product. The crew were amazing. Here on time and working hard every day. Del Mar Landscapes provided a dry creek, pathways, plants, mulch gardens and the whole works. We have a backyard oasis thanks to Doug and his team.

Bottom line is that we received a timely and quality landscape project at a competitive price. We enjoyed working with Doug (owner), Jose (supervisor) and their team, who were timely, courteous and very hard working. Doug was straight forward and focused from first quote to project completion. He was on the jobsite every day, and did a good job with Jose in overseeing the work of his team. The project was completed as originally communicated and scheduled. Work continued every day until completion. Daily and final cleanup was excellent. We were very pleased with the final results. It was exactly how we had hoped that the project would be run.

Doug will go above and beyond to make sure you get what you want! Loved working with Del Mar Landscapes, highly recommend

Del Mar Landscapes did a wonderful job on our project. Doug stopped by our home on the day we contacted him and had an estimate for our project two days later. Doug, along with crew supervisor Jason, continually worked on making the parts of our project that we knew exactly what we wanted come to life, while giving us ideas and guidance on parts we weren’t sure about. Jason communicated with us on a daily basis, answered every question we had and made the overall experience great.