Tomi Kobara

Tomi Kobara is a seasoned landscape architect based in Oakland, California, with a license to practice in the state of California since 1994. With over two decades of experience in the field, Tomi specializes in designing and planning residential and community garden projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her portfolio includes an extensive range of projects that cater to various needs, from compact pocket gardens to large-scale residential and community spaces.

At the heart of Tomi's work lies her deep-seated passion for environmental sustainability and well-being. This passion has led her to create edible gardens, food forest projects, and community garden spaces for refugees living in Oakland. Tomi approaches each project as a unique opportunity to create a harmonious blend of functionality and aesthetics, keeping in mind the specific site conditions, context, and natural systems.

Tomi's expertise extends beyond designing beautiful and sustainable garden environments. She also excels in creating a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing for an integrated flow between the home/built environment and the garden. Her designs are a testament to her life-long interest in visual arts, horticulture, ecology, and sustainability.

Working closely with each client, Tomi understands and addresses their unique needs, preferences, and requirements. She has built a solid reputation for delivering exceptional results and nurturing long-lasting relationships with her clients.

Partnership With Talented Landscape Contractors

Tomi has had the pleasure of collaborating with an accomplished landscape contractor for over a decade. This partnership has resulted in the successful implementation of numerous inviting and diverse garden environments. Together, they bring a wealth of experience, passion, and expertise necessary for the construction and maintenance of Tomi's designs.

Sample Testimonials From Delighted Clients

• "We first hired Tomi to design our back yard and she did such a great job, we hired her again to do our front yard the next year! Tomi has a wonderful eye and is very sensitive to her clients' needs (entertaining, drought tolerance, deer resistance, etc.). Our back yard now integrates a lovely, well-lit deck and stone patio for cooking and eating while enjoying the flora and fauna. Tomi also did a fantastic job coordinating with the landscape contractor who installed her design and made sure we knew how to maintain our new plants. Every day my husband and I enjoy looking at the wildlife attracted by the plantings and fountains and monitoring the never-ending stream of pups from our succulents. I truly did not anticipate how much pleasure we would get out of our landscaping, and highly recommend Tomi and her team for all your landscaping needs." - Monica Chew (Oakland)

• "I highly recommend Tomi Kobara, landscape architect, for your project. We just finished a large project with her for a backyard and deck redesign. She helped us work through the design issues for new rock walls (which had to match ones already there), a new garden path and new plants. She also helped us redo our deck with tile flooring and an iron railing. Tomi was great to work with. She had good ideas and helped us pick out materials and produce detailed specs that her contractor built. Tomi was calm and understanding when we were overwhelmed with all the choices. We are so pleased with the results." - Karin Bliman (Kensington)

• "Tomi did a masterful job taking our vision for the backyard and making it a reality. She was very easy to work with and communicated throughout the process on budget, possible plant options and new ideas. Tomi and her team worked with difficult sloping in our San Francisco yard and were able to re- use concrete we were removing to build a retaining wall. The final product has beautiful terracing with lots of functional space, fabulous succulent walls, amazing vegetable garden beds and a great gas fire-pit. We are thrilled with our new back yard and could not more highly recommend her." - Aubrey Kendall (San Francisco)