Aitken Associates

At Karen Aitken & Associates Landscape Architects, we have been creating California gardens for decades. Our business is not just a job; it's a passion. We take pride in designing beautiful gardens that are thoughtful, innovative, and environmentally conscious. Our reputation as a premier landscape architecture firm is built on our responsiveness to each client's unique project needs. We have experience designing gardens of all styles and sizes, from timeless to contemporary. Our goal is to help bring your dream garden to life.

Our Services

We specialize in designing drought-tolerant California native landscapes to attract native birds, bees, and butterflies to your garden space. We believe that making your corner of the world a better place for all of life's pollinators is essential. Our team of experienced landscape architects can help you create the garden of your dreams.

Expertise Meets Experience

Our founder, Karen Aitken, has always had a passion for designing outdoor spaces. She has made a career out of making spaces as functional, beautiful, and environmentally responsible as possible. Karen earned her California Landscape Architect License and established the firm of Karen Aitken and Associates as a young 24-year-old. Over the decades, Karen Aitken and Associates has offered landscape architecture services with a team of a dozen professionals.

Karen has crafted outdoor spaces for projects of all scales, from theme parks, wineries, resorts, and housing communities to formal estate gardens, haciendas, modern subdivisions, and even sustainable farms. Our firm believes that outdoor spaces should be beautiful, functional, and environmentally sustainable. We strive to create outdoor spaces that our clients and their families will enjoy for their whole lives while helping to improve the natural environment.

Specializing in Drought-Tolerant Native Gardens

Our landscape designs help reduce water use and save on maintenance time while working to preserve our natural ecosystem. We are very in tune with the local ecology and love to work within the different micro-climates around the Bay Area. Studying a property's ecology as well as client goals determines our design choices. Pairing the land use with the needs of our clients is what we do best.

Our Process & Timeline

Our process begins with an initial contact, which can be made through our new client form on our website. Once we know a bit about you, we can schedule an initial phone consultation with one of our associates. Prior to meeting at your property, we like to have a 15 - 30 minute phone conversation to learn about you and your project. We will follow up with a proposal for our services.

We will gladly schedule a meeting at your project site to study the site conditions, project parameters, and exchange ideas for use of the space. An initial master plan design will include suggestions for locations of the main ingredients for the outdoor space. Consideration is given to the preferred design aesthetic, planting palette, and efficient uses and circulation. As we evolve the master plan with our clients, we expect a few iterations of the plan. We offer 3D digital renderings to help you visualize the final product.

At Karen Aitken & Associates Landscape Architects, we are committed to providing the best possible service to our clients. Our team of experienced landscape architects is dedicated to creating thoughtful, innovative, and environmentally conscious landscapes that will serve our clients for years to come. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help bring your dream garden to life.