New homeowners requested low-water use, easy care, and family- and dog- friendly design. Now, says the mother, "our kids are always outside playing safely in the natural environment!"
Highlights: Created welcoming front entry with new bluestone, complementing house color. Incorporated drought tolerant, sun loving, and slope stabilizing native plantings with seasonal hues. Old dry-stack retaining walls reworked with existing stone, newly augmented as needed. Permeable pebble pathways replaced large, high water-use backyard lawn creating sightlines to surrounding hills. Garden includes free-flowering meadow, additional planting beds, fire pit sitting area, and children's play area. Old lawn's perpetually moist section became dry creek bed running side length of property, culminating at natural rock outcropping and stone steps, showcasing heritage Coast Live Oak's canopy. Reworked back patio, stairs and large cutting flower planter boxes with bluestone, matching front entry. Tall trellis for colorful vine added on patio to mitigate imposing blank wall. Climbing native grape on trellis shades guest house; one bedroom opens to secret side patio garden; and, upper terrace has new planter boxes for organic edibles. Backyard's wooded area provides leaf drop mulch for use throughout the garden.
Irrigation: Subsurface inline drip.
Native plants of interest: Matilija Poppy, Giant Chain Fern, Fremontia.
Landscape Contractor (installation): Curtis Horticulture
Maintenance: Tao Landscaping
Title: Gallery 3
Project Details:
New homeowners requested low-water use, easy care, and family- and dog- friendly design. Now, says the mother, "our kids are always outside playing safely in the natural environment!"
Highlights: Created welcoming front entry with new bluestone, complementing house color. Incorporated drought tolerant, sun loving, and slope stabilizing native plantings with seasonal hues. Old dry-stack retaining walls reworked with existing stone, newly augmented as needed. Permeable pebble pathways replaced large, high water-use backyard lawn creating sightlines to surrounding hills. Garden includes free-flowering meadow, additional planting beds, fire pit sitting area, and children's play area. Old lawn's perpetually moist section became dry creek bed running side length of property, culminating at natural rock outcropping and stone steps, showcasing heritage Coast Live Oak's canopy. Reworked back patio, stairs and large cutting flower planter boxes with bluestone, matching front entry. Tall trellis for colorful vine added on patio to mitigate imposing blank wall. Climbing native grape on trellis shades guest house; one bedroom opens to secret side patio garden; and, upper terrace has new planter boxes for organic edibles. Backyard's wooded area provides leaf drop mulch for use throughout the garden.
Irrigation: Subsurface inline drip.
Native plants of interest: Matilija Poppy, Giant Chain Fern, Fremontia.
Landscape Contractor (installation): Curtis Horticulture
Maintenance: Tao Landscaping