"Carl was introduced to us as someone who has a unique combination of development experience and love of landscape, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture. Our projects needed all of that as well as a lot of patience with the stop-start timelines and budgets common for public / community projects- plus Covid! Carl took time to listen and engage with our diverse client team, Council staff and stakeholders, responding with creativity combined with practical, long-term solutions. He was always prepared to get alongside people to seek to understand, including Iwi Kaitiaki. He has always been open to ideas, including participating in field trips and hui. He met deadlines, delivered within budget and produced high-quality work that is fit for purpose. Often that included going above and beyond to suggest better value approaches, or designs that would be better integrated with other elements onsite, such as buildings, native plant nursery or adjacent walkways. Throughout the years (and we have yet to complete some projects), Carl has respected all contributions while maintaining great communication and bringing expertise and experience to ensure the longevity of the finished product. Carl would add value to any project and project team."

"Carl came highly recommended as a practical and friendly landscape architect who could help transform our much-unloved garden. He has not disappointed! From the outset, Carl has carefully listened to our requirements and thoughtfully presented us with a plan that far exceeded our expectations of what was possible on our property. We found Carl to be highly professional, responsive and innovative, sympathetically matching his design ideas to the property as a whole and our needs as a family. We would recommend Carl without hesitation and look forward to enjoying our newly landscaped home for many years to come."

"We approached Carl to provide a vision for our 10 acre lifestyle block that would incorporate Permaculture principles whilst having an architectural backbone. To our amazement and excitement he far surpassed our expectations with his vision. He totally nailed the concept and managed to develop a plan that both was genuine to Eco and Permaculture principals and had a strong architectural visual base. We come from a design background and so had very high standards and expectations on Carl. To his credit he well surpassed these in a very short time. We found Carl related to us extremely well. Providing vision when needed and always listening to our wants and desires. Nothing was ever a problem and the communication was always clear and professional. The whole process was seamless and effortless. Carl always listened and was able to at times do what would seem the impossible. From general concept to detailed drawings and specification he was totally professional and inspirational. He has earn't our complete trust and respect through the whole process. I have no hesitation in recommending him in the knowledge he will greatly enhance the end result. Richard Evans, Director, Benchmark Homes."

"We employed Carl Pickens as our landscape architect for our building project and we have been extremely happy with the work he has done for us. Our project had two aspects. It was a completely blank canvas on just over an acre of land and we were bound by the requirements of council who required a very detailed plan and report for resource consent. From the very early planning stages of the project, Carl was extremely helpful and provided us with detailed plans and plant information. In a combined effort we were able to finalise a hard landscaping plan and planting plan that suits the site perfectly. On site visits we were able to take advantage of his expertise when we were finalising the orientation of the house and moving the large amounts of fill around the site in accordance with the landscaping plan. Carl is also very hands on. He arranged for the purchase of the plants for the first stage of planting and along with two others came and spent a week helping us plant. We were so grateful for this assistance. It certainly got the project underway and gave us the confidence to carry on! Carl has remained interested in our project and we are in contact as it progresses. Carl’s knowledge in all aspects of landscaping, plants and gardening methods is vast and we could not have done this project without him. We would not hesitate recommending him to other potential clients."