Not sure what your garden needs?
Garden Consultation
A focused, on-site consultation to assess your space, answer questions, and outline clear next steps.
Consultation DetailsNature Sense Design
A Beautiful Garden Starts With the Right Plan
Not sure what to plant, what to keep, or how to bring your outdoor space together? Nature Sense Design creates thoughtful, realistic garden designs tailored to your property, lifestyle, and budget. I work with homeowners throughout New Jersey, including Bergen, Essex, Passaic, and Hudson counties, as well as nearby Rockland County.
Design with purpose
See What’s Possible
This property started as a blank slate. The goal was to create defined areas for dining, gathering and relaxing, while connecting the architecture of the home to the landscape.
The design brought together the patio layout, pergola, furnishings, lighting and planting so the finished yard feels intentional rather than pieced together.
A successful garden considers sunlight, scale, mature plant size, maintenance, privacy, existing architecture, how you use the property, and how the space will change over time.
Choose The Right Level of Support Your Garden Needs
Want a complete plan for your property?
In-Person Garden Design
A custom garden plan with digital renderings, plant selections, and guidance you can implement yourself or with your landscaper.
View Design Process
Don’t live nearby?
Design From Anywhere
A complete virtual design service using your photos and measurements, available wherever you live.
Design From AnywhereFrom the people we’ve helped
What clients are saying
A thoughtful plan should make the next step feel possible. Here’s what homeowners have shared about working with Nature Sense Design.
Erica Kaser
Yael is very knowledgeable and offered a quick phone consult regarding some questions I had with an overgrown bush. She gave multiple suggestions and helped me think through the design. I highly recommend her for any landscape designs you need!
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Michele Moskowitz
After exploring several landscapers for our front and backyard design we found Nature Sense and could not have been happier with the designs. Yael made the process simple, came up with ideas we love that we never would have thought of on our own, and offered suggestions that work within our budget.
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Cate Hoffman
Easy to work with. Wonderful budget minded ideas
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Leyat Mafouda
This consult is a game changer!! Yael came to my home and assessed each area of my yard. Her suggestions took my interests of privacy landscaping, DIY friendly, and affordability and created a comprehensive plan to follow! She gave specific instructions for the type of plants, where to plant, and even where to buy that would give me the best price! She also created a plan to ensure that I could effectively water all the areas of my yard so I can see this investment thrive from year to year. She sent me a 9 page overview with everything written because obviously I’m not going to remember or know what to do without a written reference! Thank you Yael!! Time to go get some plants!
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Gabrielle Altman
Loved working with Nature Sense Design! Yael is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of landscaping design. Her knowledge of my existing landscaping and wonderful advice regarding how to make changes to improve the health, appearance and longevity of my landscaping was excellent, on target, cost efficient, and professional. Highly recommend Nature Sense Design for all your landscaping design needs.
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Dhevi Natarajan
I highly recommend Nature Sense Design for anyone feeling overwhelmed by a landscaping project. Yael has been invaluable for bringing together cost, location, and maintenance needs into a cohesive, budget-friendly plan that was specific to us. Her willingness to provide quick, ongoing support and answer questions is invaluable to me as a beginner. She offers a level of personal care and expertise that is hard to find!
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Carol Berlin
Yael came over and walked us through our yard with a discerning thoughtful eye. She pointed out small, simple changes we could do right away to make an instant difference, and then went on to bigger improvements to add color, depth, and privacy to the yard. Yael understood our style and I knew I was in good hands. Yael’s sense of design, space, and color are impressive,. The task of improving our yard felt overwhelming.. Yael made the improvement process feel exciting and doable. I would definitely recommend Yael to anyone looking to improve their outdoor space!
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Sharon L.
Nature Sense Design is wonderful! We didn't want or need a full overhaul to our garden and Yael listened to what we wanted. She provided actionable, simple suggestions for us to implement, and then followed up with detailed notes and all plants and materials and timeframes discussed so we would know exactly what to do (including lots of pruning). Nature Sense fills a gap in landscape design for this area. Highly recommended!
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Paula P
Nature Sense Design provided exactly the services I needed and wanted. I had a relatively small planted area that had potential but had random and not cohesive plantings. Yael came and looked at the area and provided a renderings of a design scheme with new plantings based on my preferences and her expertise-at a very reasonable cost. We are very excited for the next step which is to implement her recommendations and enjoy the results.
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rishavg
Super responsive and easy to work with, but most of all beautiful designs!
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Jennifer
Nature Sense Design is an amazing landscape designer. My house needed color, depth and beauty, and Nature Sense Design provided this and more. The owner was a pleasure to work with. She listened, and was so patient and detail-oriented. She also answered my many questions! I can’t wait to bring her designs to life this Spring.
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Reuven Sherman
Called yael today to get advice on a design for my corner lot property and she went above and beyond! Her knowledge and expertise was superb. Highly recommend using Nature Sense Design!
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Donna Cioffi
We reached out to Nature Sense Design after discovering their work online and are glad we did! Yael came up with truly spectacular and creative designs for a planting next to the house and a privacy berm for our corner property along the street (pictured). Her communication was prompt and friendly and she understood exactly what we were looking for. The process exceed all our expectations and we can't wait for the landscaping to start in the spring.
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Tamar S.
Very responsive, knowledgeable and patient. Love the rendering we received! Can’t wait to upgrade our landscaping in the spring!
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Prat Dasari
Very prompt and knowledgeable! Yael customized our property line demarcation with a beautiful flower bed. She listened to our concerns and came up with a design that not only complements the overall property but is also pollinator friendly. She walked us through the final design and how to get started. She is passionate about nature and gardens and is willing to share her theoretical as well as experiential knowledge with everyone! Really glad I found her.
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Joe Zakon
As a pond contractor working with nature sense designs was and is a real true pleasure, they make everything a smooth process for myself and the clients. I highly recommend them. Super professional, great understanding of design!
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Marissa Malone
All the reviews I read for Nature Sense Design were accurate. What I was drawn to was that there are multiple levels they offer depending on your needs. When we moved into our home seven years ago the previous owners had just had landscaping done. Fast forward to today and we have flowers and bushes growing in every direction and into one another. I knew I didn’t need a whole new landscape design but rather wanted help to make what we already had better. We opted for the one hour consultation and it far exceeded our expectations. The enthusiasm Ya’el brought was contagious. She had many ideas on how to make our garden beds look better with options for us to either DIY or outsource depending on our budget. It was exactly what we needed to take our maturing landscaping to make it visually more interesting and give it more curb appeal. I am so excited I took a chance on Nature Sense Design. Included in our consultation was a detailed list of plant suggestions, their placement, and sourcing info as well as some preferred landscapers. Ya’el’s upbeat attitude, gentle approach and her vast knowledge of plants and bushes was refreshing. She also offered us the ability to ask any follow-up questions. I highly recommend Nature Sense Design to help with the design of your landscaping, whether it is for a brand new garden or an existing one.
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Carley Peven
A pleasure to work with. Makes landscaping, feel easy!
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Julie Hamon
We needed some landscape design help for the front of our house. I called landscaping companies and they wouldn't give us the time of day because it wasn't a large-scale project and the garden centers wouldn't come to the house to see the property to make recommendations. Then I found Nature Sense Design and Yael! She was very responsive and came to our home within a few days of our initial call. She listened to our thoughts and asked great questions and made terrific suggestions. She wrote down all our wants and dislikes and then went to work! She gave us several designs to review and then, with a few text exchanges, gave us a final design that incorporated everything we were looking for. Yael offers a unique service for the DIY-er who needs some guidance, advice and cohesive ideas. I highly recommend!
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Julisa Salas
Working with Nature Sense Design was a breath of fresh air! She was able to provide budget friendly suggestions to make my home an outdoor oasis. Thank you!
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Dana Small
Yael was great and easy to work with. She was very responsive and created a beautiful design for our front landscaping. Definitely recommend Nature Sense Designs!
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Ashley Misir
Her designs are modern, straightforward and gorgeous. She is super easy and friendly to communicate with and keeps things very honest! We’ve already started implementing her plan and are very excited about the way everything is turning out.
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Daniela Guttman
Yael is a gem. After interviewing a few different landscape designers, Yael was a breath of fresh air. She is sincere and knows her craft. She gave me different options and they were all stunning. The before and after picture really helps to visualize what to expect. What I appreciate a lot is that she created a design that I will actually be able to afford for our home. She makes it easy for any landscaper to implement the plans. She also tells you where to buy the plants/trees which avoids a huge markup. I'm very grateful.
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Kelly Sawatsky
Nature Sense Design is wonderful to work with - thoughtful, aesthetic design that takes your ideas and needs into consideration.
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Nancy Doyle
Our backyard needs help big time. Arranged a meeting with Yael of NSD. Yael is a great listener, enjoys creating possibilities for turning unattractive land into enjoyable functional property. In my case the goal is to transform empty lawn into a bee friendly beautiful “English” garden. When landscaping complete I will share the finished project with you.
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Ashira Loike
Great to work with! Really smooth and easy process from start to finish!
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Denise Teuber
I wanted to update the landscape around my home and Nature Sense Designs (NSD) made the process of developing an updated look effortless as well as inexpensive. They provide multiple renderings for you to choose from and will make adjustments as you work through the process. I highly recommend working with NSD if you’re planning on updating your landscape.
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Matthew Root
Nicest people in the world. Listened to what we are looking for and provided enough beautiful options to fit that we had a hard time choosing. You won't be disappointed. Highly recommend this business.
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Beth Taubes
Yael was wonderful to work with. She took one look at my yard and created something beautiful and different. I was able to view what the area would look like before and after. She gave me the lists of plants to buy and recommended a landscaper.
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Sophie Buchbinder
Very detail-oriented, offered multiple options and helped us maximize the functional space and aesthetics of the yard to our needs. Highly recommend!
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Jennifer Hoffer
Yael was a pleasure to work with! She is knowledgeable and professional and her designs were beautiful. I highly recommend working with Nature Sense Design.
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Sarah Dauber
We had a wonderful experience working with Yael on landscape design for our backyard. She really knows her stuff! She is also extremely quick and reliable, and open to answering questions and making revisions until you get to a design that you love. I highly recommend!
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Sheri Stanchfield
I had been struggling for years trying to get someone to help me design my front yard. It was so hard to get companies to return your call and if they did they wanted to plant what I selected. I didn't know what I was doing! I saw several people on FB recommend Nature Sense Design. Yael responded immediately and was at my house in 2 days. Within 2 weeks I had pictures of my house with several options of designs. She helped me switch out flowers until my husband and I were happy with the overall look. I now have my list to buy at the garden center with out having to worry about what it will look like.
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Vanessa & Jimmy Cepeda
Ya’el was amazing to work with. She is very knowledgeable and friendly. Her designs were exactly what we had in mind and can’t wait to bring it to life! Would highly recommend!
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Maureen Gavigan
Easy to work with ! Answered all of our questions abs ish iced different photo options for us to view!
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Laura Ruben
Yael from Nature Sense Design is such a pleasure to work with. She is so creative and attentive. Her designs are beautiful and she is so supportive and available to her customers. I highly recommend her to anyone who is interested in improving the beauty of their home.
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Chana Angster
Yael's eye toward color and detail was amazing! We loved how she worked with our landscape and her design was excellent! Highly recommend!!
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Pauline Hacken
Ya'el was an absolute pleasure to work with! Her design ideas really brought our home to the next level. She was attentive to our requests, extremely knowledgeable about all plants and thoughtful about design. Ya'el was also always available. Whenever we had a question (ie when the gardeners were there and we were unsure about a plant placement) she swung by on a moments notice, and was hands on in helping ensure we were going to be thrilled with the final product. I highly recommend working with Ya'el for anyone who's home can use a facelift.
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Bryan Hacken
Our new home now has curb appeal I never thought was possible!! My wife and I couldn't be happier with our Nature Sense Design experience. Yael is THE BEST. Her approach to landscaping is unique and an overall amazing experience. She has an understanding and love for plants that I've never come across before. She worked WITH us through different variations and never pushed back on our ideas. Her calm approach to creating is a breath of fresh air and you can see that she's driven by her passion, the paycheck is merely a bonus to her. Bottom Line: I wish we had another house so we could work with her again soon.
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True Shine Services
Yael is super talented, creative and has good hands to transform the environment with harmony, in specially gardens. Responsible and reliable.
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Eli Feldblum
Yael has an incredible eye for design. She looked our construction-ravaged yard and saw a two-level, verdant oasis that I can't wait to relax in. She helped us visualize what our yard could look like and really took our tastes and preferences into account to plan the perfect yard for us. We couldn't be happier.
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Michal Ambrose
So lucky to have found nature sense design! They were so flexible, friendly, creative and worked to get me a gorgeous space on budget. They really showed me the potential my yard had and how to make it a part of my living space. Highly recommend to anyone looking to update their yard.
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Elianna Essrog
Ya’el at Nature Sense Design was so AMAZING. Gardening is not my strong suit and I had no idea what I wanted but I knew I needed curb appeal desperately. She quickly put together a comprehensive list of plants, quantities and locations to hand over to a list of recommended local landscapers. Thank you Nature Sense Design we can’t wait for our maturing garden to become more luscious in time!
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About Us
A Clear, Collaborative Process
You don’t need to know exactly what your garden needs before you contact me.
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Designed for Your Actual Property
Every plan considers your property, sunlight, existing features, lifestyle, budget, and maintenance preferences.
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A Plan You Can Actually Use
Depending on your project, your design may include renderings, plant selections, sourcing recommendations, and clear next steps.
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