Answers for Homeowners and Estate Managers Considering Orchard Keepers
Home Orchard & Edible Landscape FAQs for Santa Cruz and the Greater South Bay
Letting someone new onto your land is not a small decision, and you likely have real questions before you ever pick up the phone. Orchard Keepers has been designing, installing, and maintaining edible and ecological landscapes across Santa Cruz and the greater South Bay since 2004, and this page gathers what we hear most, answered plainly and without a sales pitch. If your question isn't here, our team is glad to answer it directly.
Who We Are, and Who We're For
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Orchard Keepers provides edible landscape design, installation, and ongoing horticultural care for home orchards, kitchen gardens, and ecological landscapes. Our work spans four areas: landscape and hardscape design, design-build installation, ongoing landscape maintenance, and specialized fruit tree and orchard care. Every service traces back to the same goal, helping a property grow food and support the ecology around it well.
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Orchard Keepers works best with homeowners and estate managers who want a landscape that produces food, supports pollinators and wildlife, and reflects real ecological stewardship. Many of our clients are busy professionals or property managers who want the expertise without doing the work themselves, from private chefs sourcing from a client's kitchen garden to families who simply want fruit trees that thrive. If growing food and caring for the land matter to you, this is where we do our best work.
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Orchard Keepers serves properties throughout Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Portola Valley, Atherton, and the greater South Bay. Twenty years in these towns has taught our team the microclimates, soil conditions, and growing patterns specific to each one. If your property falls outside this footprint, reach out anyway; service areas expand, and we're happy to let you know where things stand.
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General lawn maintenance and conventional "mow and blow" landscaping fall outside our focus. We also don't take on full estate landscaping unrelated to edible or ecological systems, or large hardscape-only projects like driveways and pool decks. Our expertise is specifically in edible, ecological, and food-producing landscapes, and we're upfront when a project doesn't match that focus so you can find the right fit elsewhere.
Home Orchard & Fruit Tree Care
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Home orchard care includes seasonal pruning, feeding, fruit thinning, and pest and disease management, each timed to a fruit tree's yearly rhythm. Winter pruning shapes structure and sets the year's growth, while late-summer pruning calms an overly vigorous tree. Fruit tree maintenance is our most popular monthly service, and it's the work the company was originally founded on in 2004.
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Most fruit trees take four to six years to reach meaningful production, and proper variety selection and pruning significantly shape that timeline. Adding cane berries and blueberries alongside young trees can put fruit in the bowl by year two while the orchard matures. Our orchard maintenance plans account for this timeline from the very first planting.
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Fruit tree pruning is one of our core specialties, practiced through both winter structural work and late-summer maintenance pruning. Our team works organically, favoring prevention and OMRI-approved materials when treatment is needed. This is the craft the company was named for, and it remains central to our home orchard care today.
Edible Landscape Design & Installation
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As an edible landscape design company, most of our projects begin with a design phase, because it's how we learn a property and set clear expectations before any construction begins. Smaller enhancements may need only a plant list, while complete renovations call for full digital design, priced according to the scope of the property. Design work protects the investment that follows by making sure the plan fits the site before a single tree goes in the ground.
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Edible landscape installation can include fruit trees, berries, vegetable beds, native and ornamental plantings, irrigation systems, hardscape and pathways, and protective structures like berry houses. Each project brings these elements together into one plan shaped by the site and how the property will be used. As an edible landscape installation company, we build the whole system rather than isolated parts.
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Food production is central to our philosophy, but it isn't the only thing we design and install. As a drought-tolerant landscape company offering native plantings installation, we also create ecological systems that support pollinators, conserve water, and restore habitat. Many properties combine edible and ecological plantings in a single cohesive design.
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Garden structures and hardscape are part of many of our installations, including decomposed granite pathway installation, flagstone walkway and patio contracting, natural stone walkway and patio contracting, and concrete walkway and patio contracting, alongside arbors and trellises. As a garden patio company rooted in horticulture, we build these elements to serve the plantings around them rather than as standalone construction. A pathway might route foot traffic toward the harvest, or a trellis might be sized specifically to carry next season's berries, so the structure earns its place by what it supports, not just how it looks. We don't take on large hardscape-only projects like driveways or pool decks, since our focus stays on the living landscape.
Kitchen Gardens & Ongoing Maintenance
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Kitchen garden services include raised bed maintenance, seasonal vegetable and herb planting, harvest support, soil amendments, irrigation monitoring, and pest and disease management. This is one of our most requested ongoing services, often run on a weekly schedule for households and private chefs who want fresh, reliable harvests without managing the garden themselves. Vegetable garden services like these are priced around the property's scope and how often the team visits.
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Maintenance visits run monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly depending on the property and the season's demands. Most home orchards do well on a monthly rhythm, while kitchen gardens and estates with plantings in active production often call for more frequent attention. Your care plan is set during the discovery visit based on what your specific landscape needs.
Process & Communication
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We start with a conversation to understand your property, your goals, and any challenges you're experiencing. Many projects benefit from a follow-up site visit so we can evaluate growing conditions, plant health, and irrigation in person. From there, we recommend the best next step, whether that's ongoing care, design support, installation work, or another path forward.
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Clear, timely communication is one of our core commitments, and clients consistently tell us it's what they value most about working with us. You'll hear from us before treatments are applied, after every maintenance visit, and throughout any installation project, so you always know what's been done and what's next. Our crews are trained to answer questions directly on-site, not just refer you elsewhere.
Pricing & Getting Started
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Pricing depends on the scope of the property and the services involved, from a single fruit tree consultation to a complete landscape transformation. Design work for full renovations is priced according to the scope of the property, while ongoing care is priced around visit frequency and property size. We're upfront about ranges early in the conversation so you can decide what makes sense before committing to a site visit.
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Getting started begins with a conversation about your property and what you're hoping to achieve. We'll ask questions about your site, your goals, and your timeline, then recommend whether design, installation, or maintenance care is the right starting point. From there, scheduling a site visit is the natural next step for most properties.
Designed with Nature in Mind
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Designed with Nature in Mind ◆
Trusted by Homeowners Who Care Deeply About Their Land
A quote was provided based on some short videos I sent of the trees. Liam arrived at the scheduled time, confirmed what was to be accomplished, and set to it. He worked wonders with our trees, answered my questions, and helped to educate me on how to care for the trees going forward.
A follow-up email detailing the service, findings, and recommendations for future care arrived a day or two later. So happy to find local experts that provide excellent service at a reasonable price.
John L., Google Review
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Edible & Ecological Landscape Services
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Edible & Ecological Landscape Services ◆
Twenty Years of Answers, One Conversation Away
Orchard Keepers has been designing, installing, and caring for edible and ecological landscapes across Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Portola Valley, Atherton, and the greater South Bay since 2004. Whatever question brought you here, our team is glad to talk through your specific property and help you find the right next step.