
What We Do
Earthly Delights, a design/build company, provides a range of landscaping services including ‘from scratch’ design and installation, garden renovation and maintenance of pocket gardens to large lots. We strive to satisfy each clients’ aesthetic preferences and practical needs with solutions that honor constraints of budget and time.
Grateful to be based in our enchanting Bay area, we are ever conscious of the realities of climate change, and we strive whenever possible to use drought tolerant plants and create water-efficient irrigation systems. We use sustainably resources materials whenever possible, and employ non-toxic pest/disease solutions.

Owner
Michael leads all of Earthly Delights’ work, with over 25 years in the landscaping business. Through Michael’s multi-faceted design experience and plant knowledge, he brings attention to detail to every garden and client relationship.
His passion and specialty is Aesthetic Pruning, the care and maintenance of trees and shrubs up to 25’, and appreciates the way the care of many trees or a single specimen impacts the feel of a garden.
Michael is also a fine artist, creating colored pencil still life and abstract illustrations as well as framed geometric paper sculptures.
Michael Hemes, has designed, adjusted and pruned my garden for over 30 years. Watching him prune is grace in motion and my trees and shrubs look amazing. His design background, experience and sensitivity to the visual and structural needs of plants makes his work exceptional. Because of Michael, my garden delights my eyes and gladdens my heart. – Client
I have used many gardeners over the last 40 years in San Francisco, and Earthly Delights is the absolute best. Michael and his excellent assistants transformed a yard of blackberries and weeds into a beautiful garden with some Japanese accents. Unusual plants and ornamental grasses blend to add texture and visual delight, while also attracting butterflies and hummingbirds They work hard to understand the client’s unique needs and provide very personalized maintenance. Thanks for the excellent work! – Earle Mills
‘Several years ago, I brought Michael in when the gardens surrounding my home were pretty much in chaos. Today, thanks to the incredible artistry and talent that Michael has brought, my yards are a thing of great beauty. Michael has an impeccable sense of landscape design and is a skilled arborist. He has turned my trees into sculptural works of art, and has thoughtfully replanted the garden to create a distinct sense of place and beauty. I am in awe of his work and deeply respectful of his many talents in the garden.’ -Howard Roffman