Jonathan Keep Landscape Design

We've worked with Jonathan twice on projects. Both were delightful experiences. We particularly appreciate Jonathan's design aesthetic and how he works with clients to successfully interpret their vision into a finished design and installation. We recommend very highly.

I have had the pleasure of working side by side with Jonathan on close to a dozen projects throughout New England. His unique designs, first-rate landscape contractor (Cleiton), and rapport with his clients and sub-contractors are what makes him a true, artistic professional.

At first, I wasn’t sure that i could work with Jonathan Keep. I’d been a full-time gardener for 25 years, had strong thoughts on landscape design and had a difficult and important historic modern garden restoration project to complete. I didn’t relate to the beautiful traditional work shown on his website. But he had been highly recommended by people that I trusted, and so I made the call. We’ve been working together for two years now, and his designs, experience and expertise have helped us to finally achieve our landscape goals - after 25 years of experiments, clipping endless magazine images and enjoining countless consultants. Jonathan is confident, talented, and has a strong background in landscape history. He helped us to achieve what we could not do on our own, and the results are both satisfying and spectacular. He helped us to increase not only the value of our home, but also our enjoyment of the new gardens and hardscape. His landscape crew is the best - professional, skillful, reliable and extremely hard working! I highly recommend both of them.

Jonathan brings a very clear and comprehensive vision of the potential of a landscape project. His layout includes all details from hardscape design and materials to lighting and plant choices. He brings matchless quality to every project and has a remarkable eye for beauty and project cohesion . He also has great follow through. He is easy to work with and has a great personality which balances guidance and humor. Working with him has been a wonderful experience on every level

Jonathan Keep is a talented landscape architect. He connects and celebrates the natural world in conjunction with our living spaces in timeless thoughtful designs. He had the amazing ability to start with a blank canvas and then conceptualize a design that achieved our goals for outdoor living while at the same time respecting the land on which it is built. Jonathan's manner and style is naturally calming. He is a patient listener, and he has a thoughtful lens through which he incorporated our needs and lifestyle into the design process. There are subtle brilliant nuances inherent in his designs that we didn't fully realize until seeing the finished product. We look forward to working with him again!

Jonathan is the best! He completely transformed our yard. We are now using every inch of our yard and every inch I stunning! We are thrilled and cannot wait to live and enjoy in our space for a very long time!

We sought out to create an exquisite backyard featuring a large bluestone patio surrounding our new pool. In a sea of mediocre options, Jonathan presented as a very different choice. From the start, his execution was delicate, deliberate, and divine. His knowledge, his vision, and his obsession with perfection is rare and was abundantly welcomed.

Jonathan led us confidently through a complete backyard transformation where we demolished an old inground pool and created a lovely, meditative space with undulating stonewalls and a blue stone patio fully accessible for our family’s needs. He brought a holistic approach and an understanding that the “devil is in the details”. Jonathan’s inspired vision and his choice of trees and perennials have made this a beautiful and engaging retreat for our family’s four-season enjoyment.

Jonathan Keep developed and delivered on a wonderful vision for our backyard in the city. The hardscape and plants work well together, and the lighting is great at night. Jonathan's choice of plants in particular stand out--he was able to layer color, height and blooming period throughout the garden, so it's constantly evolving throughout the year. We also have a corner of the garden where it been hard to grow plants, and Jonathan's choices are thriving. Jonathan can work through challenging problems with site conditions, and he is a pleasure to work with.

There are a few professionals in every field who simply soar above the rest, and Jonathan Keep is one of them. Jonathan designed a landscape to accompany our new home, a naturalized area bordering conservation land. He began by looking over the property and listening to our ideas, which he never lost track of as he created his own beautiful design. He clearly has a gift for combining elements of nature into an artful and organic landscape. The property now has a wonderful blend of native and hybrid plantings and stone walls that are works of art. These were achieved with contractors that he clearly relates well with and who are part of a team effort. He also chose subtle exterior lighting and railings that blended perfectly. Jonathan is also a nice person who gets along with both clients and subcontractors. I highly recommend him.

We are so pleased with the landscape transformation Jonathan designed and directed for us: when we moved in, our austere, modernist house in the woods had an impressive but overgrown allée of invasive ‘Bradford’ pears and a gravel entry courtyard with a front door so hidden from the road and driveway that visitors all used the back door. Jonathan’s design redefined the entryway, installing a new parking area and drawing visitors to the front door through a serene garden planted with native trees, plants and grasses; the courtyard is now so inviting -- we have gained an additional outdoor “living room” where we sit to have coffee, lunch, or a drink. Jonathan explored how we live and how we wanted to use our yard, then came up with a simple, elegant design both of us immediately liked. Our project, which took many weeks, required removal and reinstallation of hardscape and medium sized trees, patio renovation, drainage improvement, lawn renewal, and many new plantings. The landscaper Jonathan recommended was meticulous, and hewed to his high standards. It was a pleasure to work with Jonathan: he listened, had many suggestions, and was flexible. His knowledge of plant materials, from which spring ephemerals to plant to how to maintain a meadow, is extensive. He oversaw installation of the project, consulting frequently with us and the contractor; due to his excellent working relationship with the contractor, unplanned changes and scope creep, which extended the project, were not an issue. We highly recommend Jonathan Keep.

I worked with Jonathan on three different projects on our property over 14 years. All projects included landscape design, two of the projects included hardscaping, lighting, and water management. What impressed me about Jonathan from the beginning is his innate and immediate sense for how to develop an outdoor space, but time has further emphasized that because Jonathan anticipates how the space will look after several years of growth have matured the design. Everything has just become more and more beautiful each year. My whole family loves our yard and the experience of walking up to our door. Even my high school age daughter is so proud of the landscaping - not just because it looks nice (you can get that with the corporate-style annual re-plantings etc.) but because it is artful and elegant - she is proud to have her friends over to our house. Jonathan incorporated our objectives (and zoning/water requirements) and style, leveraged the best of our existing plantings, and created a beautiful, calming and welcoming space that evolves with each season and year. He has also been a good partner over the years in adjusting plantings that didn't perform exactly as hoped. Jonathan is also just a balanced and warm human being - great to work with.