One of the San Francisco Bay Area's most sought-after landscape designers, Ahmed Hassan has spent over 20 years mastering the business of landscaping and home improvement. His forte is residential design, where he leans heavily on his experience and knowledge of plant identification and soils, as well as irrigation and maintenance.

Ahmed Hassan has a unique quality – he has the privilege of sharing his Life's Work with thousands of TV viewers. On screen, Ahmed shares his valuable expertise as host on three DIY Network series: Yard Crashers (now in its 4th season), Blog Cabin, and the newly developed Turf Wars (currently in production of the 1st season). Off screen, Ahmed runs Ahmad Hassan Landscaping Services, a complete landscape design and installation company offering seasonal maintenance, improvements and garden consultation services.

The one thing Ahmed loves as much as landscaping, if not more, is roller-skating. "Spiritually speaking, landscaping allows me to create and connect with the earth while roller skating frees me and allows me to fly (or rather roll). Most folks enjoy dancing, I just prefer to do it on wheels."

Ahmed, which means Praiseworthy One, was born into a family of independent thinking entrepreneurs who laid out a clear path for how to reach his destiny: choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

As a young boy, Ahmed lived in rural areas of California, working alongside his father and other role models who used their hands to earn their living. He entered the world of gardening at the age of 15, primarily focusing on landscaping maintenance. In 1992, Ahmed started his first gardening and maintenance business, Hassan Gardening.

Ahmed is a licensed landscape contractor and considers himself a "career student". In 2010, expect to see more of Ahmed in the classroom: teaching classes at local colleges and learning centers, Guest Speaker at home and garden shows throughout the country and facilitating community garden projects with students of all ages. He firmly believes in giving as a way of receiving, and willingly offers his consultation services to other gardeners and landscapers

His clients are everyday people who enjoy warm and inviting spaces. Ahmed feels the key to his success is that gardening is his first love, and he's remained true to his first love throughout the years. Ahmed currently lives in Northern California with his wife and three children.

The company focus is still on interior type projects and can include entire house remodels. Many of D & J's clients remember the personal service they received from Darius and John. Rest assured this service has not changed from our growth. You will receive the same personal service from a qualified D & J team member. Today, D & J Kitchens and Baths has completed over 300 remodeling projects in the Sacramento area and has received 17 Coty awards. (Contractor of the Year)

He has 35 years experience in both the commercial and the residential sectors of architecture and construction. Barnett has also designed dozens of homes and commercial buildings from the coast to the Sierras. Jim is Principal Architect with SMUD and manages the photovoltaic programs supporting customer sited renewable generation. He also acts as part of a team to promote sustainable design and has extensive experience in daylighting and common sense design practices. Jim also teaches, coordinates, and facilitates many of the building science classes with SMUD's Energy and Technology Center.

With over 30 years experience as a floor plan specialist, Teri brings a surprising combination of formal training and common sense to Home design. This years Seminar, "How to Grade Floor Plans" will illustrate that practicality as she focuses on cost effective design. Minimizing costs by identifying and solving problems before they occur is her forte. Her "Fresh Eyes, Fresh Ideas" approach centers on saving money by eliminating/reusing wasted or barely-functional square footage and comparing "overkill" design elements to missing amenities.

Teri's passion, as a consultant, is to help consumers see possibilities and problems during the planning stage of their home before the expense of construction documents. Her mantra is "always fine-tune your plan during concept design stage" long before the expense of ordering "permit-ready" plans. Hopefully this will avoid possible re-drafts or construction change orders. Having a plan "proof read" at concept stage by an objective professional designer can be a huge money and headache saver.

Confident in her training and experience, she Guarantees all Plan Reviews and Consultations. If the client doesn't see the value "enough to be excited writing the check" as she says, there is no charge. More: www.plancraft.net

Joining Debbie Davis will be Roland Benson, Sr. Mortgage Loan Officer, Bank of America

DreamBuilders is the only design-build firm that has its own showroom and is set up to deliver the one stop ease and convenience of a planning, product selection, and construction services all under one roof. For more information, visit www.ourdreambuilder.com.

Eventually he returned to residential construction and started his own design/build firm. Over the years he and his amazing staff have built a firm based on experience, skill and most of all passion. Together, they have won numerous Contractor of the Year awards and in 2009 were named one of the Top 500 remodel firms in the nation (out of 530,200 companies) by both Remodeling magazine and Qualified Remodeler magazine.

He serves as President of the Northern California Japanese Maple Society and regularly conducts classes as "The Maple Guy" teaching about gardening with Japanese Maples, the care and pruning of the Japanese maples as well as discussing the four seasons of the Japanese Maples. Being an expert on Japanese Maples, including the care, planting and pruning, Barry has been on Radio, TV and does regular appearances at local Garden Clubs, Home and Garden Shows, Landscape and Garden Shows, and Nurseries throughout the western states.

The water garden industry exploded in popularity in 2001, and Marco and his wife, Wendy, relocated their operation to their current 5-acre water garden center. Since that time, Marco has been on numerous television shows, radio shows and the like, teaching others how to create incredible water features in their own yards. In addition to running the day-to-day business, Marco continues to collaborate with top landscape designers and homeowners throughout California creating unforgettable water features for commercial and residential properties.

Topics include: What to look for in a contractor, cheap vs cost-effective remodeling, plus other relevant issues. Educated consumers make better choices, giving quality contractors more opportunities to serve them, thereby helping the industry as a whole.

One of her great joys is sharing her passion and experience with others. Examples of her work and a detailed description of her landscaping philosophy can be found at her Web site, www.robertawalker.com.

Kati is a licensed C-27 landscape contractor and a member of APLD. She was a designer for All Seasons Landscape Designs, Design Connections, Green Acres Nursery in Roseville and now with her own company, Buds 2 Branches Landscape Designs. Her designs have been chosen for the Home & Garden Showcases in 2006 and again in 2008.