Foliosa Fine Gardens is the vehicle for owner Emil Friend’s lifelong pursuit of plant play. For us, the name evokes a grounded yet dynamic elegance. Elegance that is aware of the past yet striding confidently into the future.
Foliosa is a small, tightly-knit team. We pride ourselves on horticultural knowledge, design sensibility, and the high level of care given to any task. Team members are cross-trained and able to collaborate on everything from technical fixes to aesthetic judgments.
We enjoy getting to know each garden, and finding the special opportunities to help it uniquely shine. We also prioritize great customer service and client communication, including visit reminders and detailed invoicing.
Emil grew up in rural Pennsylvania and was drawn to ornamental horticulture at an early age–tearing out lawn to make room for ferns and flowers from the local woods and fields in spring and summer, and poring over nursery catalogs all winter. He has been gardening in California since 2005, and designing and caring for gardens professionally in San Francisco and the East Bay since 2011. His passions and experience range from classic flowerbeds to tropical explosions of color to muted California native habitats. The Bay Area is a horticultural wonderland where so much is possible–working here is really a dream come true.
emil friend
he / him
Foliosa’s boutique garden and landscape management services are tailored to the quirks of each client and property. (You know you’re quirky. It’s what we love about you.) We’re experienced with tracking complex systems on intensively-developed properties, and organized enough to resolve issues promptly. Our left eye tracks technical issues, plant care needs, and task prioritization. Our right eye chooses just the right plants, shapes shrubs and small trees to bring out their essential characters, and ensures that a garden evolves according to the intended aesthetic.
our philosophy
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Our operations are focused in the San Francisco East Bay from Richmond to San Leandro.
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