Karen Aitken and Associates

We had the pleasure of collaborating with Karen and the team at KAA on a build project several years ago. Seeing how they worked on the initial consultation to the final walk-through, their expertise, professionalism, and commitment to client satisfaction were evident every step of the way.

Karen drew a plan for my yard earlier this year, and I could not be happier with the results. She listened to what I wanted and was very responsive. She had extremely good ideas and adjustments to make the final product exactly what I wanted. She is very creative and easy to work with. Her follow up and listening skills are first class. It was a complete pleasure to work with her, and she worked extremely well with the landscape installer that did my yard.

Karen was our designer for a very large, full redesign of our Los Gatos, California garden. She carefully listened to our wishes and designed them into her detailed plan. One example is that in her plant choices, she created a beautiful butterfly/hummingbird area right down to selecting the specific color schemes we requested. She did all of this while at the same time creating an open and sunlit but private sanctuary. In addition, Karen was always available to come to the job site when we asked to answer questions and make in-the-field modifications. Most importantly, Karen is a lovely, polite, and calm person and is extremely easy to work with.

I've been working with Karen for over 10 years now! And I have to say every project has been an extreme pleasure to work with her and her team! We are a general contracting company that does various projects from schools, to churches to private residences. Karen has always been my go to landscape designer and I could not recommend anyone better than her! She is able to meet with the client, understand their needs and produce a design that meets or exceeds their expectations. I can tell you that the plans she produces are very detailed, easy to read and understand. Karen and her team are extremely responsive when changes come up, is able to problem solve and has a lot of valuable resources. I've done over 10 projects with her now and have been thoroughly impressed with the results. I think her versatility to work with both general contractors at a fast pace, and take the time and effort to work with the end client on a much slower and through pace makes her different than most architects that I've worked with in the past. I really don't think you'll be able to find a better team that Karen Aitken and Associates.

Karen designed a beautiful landscape for my home in Hollister. My house is a newish build on a small lot. There was builder-installed landscaping in the front yard and nothing in the back. I had some ideas about what I wanted and asked Karen to design something for the entire lot (front, back, and side yards). On her site visit she walked around the lot, looked at the cartoon I'd drawn and my magazine clippings, and (most importantly) listened to what I said about my background and what I wanted to see in the garden. She came up with a plan that wasn't exactly what I expected but incorporated everything I'd asked for. I could tell that it would be beautiful when implemented. We made a few adjustments and additions. She had some recommendations for a landscape contractor and I went with one of them. The project was completed recently and is absolutely beautiful. My family, friends, and I will enjoy the yard for years to come.

We forgot to write a review a while back on the landscape design that Karen did for us. We truly love how the yard is filling in giving it that cozy European respite feeling we wanted. She has a wonderful eye for design for sure! Looking forward to working with her on future projects!

As a real estate professional, it's crucial for me to work with reliable, knowledgeable and customer-friendly partners. Karen and her team has worked with my clients, as well as my own home, and across all types of wants and needs - from specific, small projects, to full scale landscape construction. From Palo Alto yards to acre properties, from plantings, hardscape, pools, etc. I've been very happy with Karen's diverse knowledge and can-do attitude! You're welcome to reach out if you'd like additional information

Karen was involved with me on a few High end Custom Home projects in Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto and Los Altos area. She is simply the BEST. She has the vision as soon as she walks the Project and Spot-on. I truly believe homes sell more because of Karen's design and creativity. Dan A. Los Altos, CA

I feel grateful to have had Karen serve as the landscape architect for our new build. Karen and team were well versed in dealing with the city and were able to help us get our plans approved smoothly. Although I came into the process unable to articulate what I wanted from our front and back yards, Karen was able to create a design that was much better than what I would ever have envisioned. Her deep experience and expertise is so evident when working with her, and she is truly talented in the vision she is able to create over a blank slate. I was impressed to see her consider things like what the focal point from our family room window would be, or that we might enjoy a sitting area that overlooked the pretty back view of our house. Karen was also very helpful with questions and things that popped up during the actual implementation of our landscaping.

Karen is a fantastic designer! She and her team iterated with us to turn our blank slate of a back yard into a classic, elegant escape. Karen was a joy to work with, and really listened to what we were after. She turned those thoughts and ideas into a design that utilized the space well, both functionally and aesthetically. Karen also has a deep knowledge of plants, and was easily able to translate the colors and look we were going for into plants that would thrive in our climate. We liked Karen's work for our backyard so much, that we just used her again to redo our front yard. Karen is an absolute top notch landscape architect and designer, and I couldn't recommend her more highly!

I have been working with Karen for at least 25 years. My main hobby is gardening, so I think I know a few things about plants, BUT as to design I'm pathetic. Karen has a lot of great design ideas, in addition to plants that may have not occurred to me. Also, infrastructure: should I use a path of pavers? Flagstone? Gravel? The list goes on and on. My most recent project with Karen was redoing a portion of my yard as a result of a major remodel, with a lot of contractors driving over everything and digging lines everywhere. Karen helped with some specific problem areas: what plant can be used to soften a "rude" house corner right by the driveway entry? Is there a way to fit in a bigger deck? How can I use hardscape to direct visitors to the entry door, instead of the kitchen? I'd add some photos, but it's winter now and the little plants don't look that impressive...yet.

Karen is great to work with. She walked the 1/2 acre property with me to best understand what I was looking for in a landscape plan. Karen provided great suggestions based on experience and whats best based on the layout of my property. This included plant positioning based on sunlight for a vegetable and floral garden, grapevines and fruit trees. The architecture turned out amazing! Highly recommend Karen Aitken and Associates. Warm Regards. Greg