Landscape design & build for San Diego

Designs in San Diego range from modern to traditional, but almost uniformly embrace the regional landscape identity in both planting and hardscape choices. Sandstone and other paving materials in warm, neutral colors feature heavily, echoing the nearby mountains and desert. Planting calls upon native and climate-adapted species, from coastal shrubs and perennials to sun-loving grasses and succulents.

Traditional features like stone paving and gracefully curving planting beds are common in residential communities like those of North County San Diego. Closer to the urban core, things can get more modern, with monolithic blocks of drought-tolerant grasses and sculptural succulent accents set within crisp hardscaping.

San Diego is primed for outdoor living, and landscape designs in San Diego jump at this opportunity by bringing traditionally indoor activities outside.

Outdoor kitchens, pizza ovens, and other cooking amenities are very popular, taking the fun of cooking and dining outside. Pergolas create shaded, breeze-cooled outdoor rooms suitable for a variety of uses, from entertaining to lounging.

Shade trees, water features and pools (big or small) are also popular to help beat the heat. Landscape lighting does its part to keep things cool, too, creating an enticing environment for folks looking to enjoy the cool of an evening outside.

Lawns were historically popular in San Diego’s residential areas, but due to their high water demand, they are increasingly being replaced by more water-wise landscape choices. Artificial turf is an increasingly popular lawn replacement, though take care to shade turf where you can – it gets hot in the sun.

For those looking to replace their lawn, San Diego offers a rebate program to support converting to more drought tolerant landscaping.

San Diego’s climate calls for plants that can tolerate dry conditions, not to mention heat and salt spray (when along the coast). Because they evolved to thrive in these conditions, plants native to the San Diego region are a great choice, and are most likely to thrive with minimal extra water or maintenance.

Native plants also go a step further, offering unbeatable habitat value. By including native plants in their landscape designs, homeowners can help in the broader effort to restore biodiversity. Yarrow, Ceanothus, manzanitas, monkeyflowers, lupines, and Canyon Prince wild rye are just a few of the many fabulous natives available for San Diego landscapes.

Climate-adapted plants from regions like Australia, South Africa, and the Mediterranean can also play an important role in a water-wise landscape. Lavender, rosemary, Leucophyllum, and olive trees are a few or the many climate-adapted species that perform beautifully in the San Diego area.

Looking to max out your bird and bee visitors? Include keystone native species like oak trees, California sagebrush, or wild strawberry groundcovers.

Water conservation and fire safety are both important considerations when designing a San Diego landscape – work with your designer to make sure your design features water-wise plants and incorporates defensible space around the home and other structures.

A good maintenance regime is also critical to fire safety – speak with your designer or look up local wildfire resources for guidance on fire safe landscape maintenance (the County of San Diego offers one excellent resource).

With such gorgeous natural beauty in the region, San Diego landscapes should capitalize on any views available from a property. At the same time, solar exposure should be accounted for – avoid blasting outdoor spaces with harsh late afternoon western light, unless shade trees or structures are being utilized.

We are happy to work with clients to develop designs that meet their level of comfort around fire safety. Choosing fire-resistant plant species and following best practices for fire safe landscape design are options that our designers are happy to employ at a client’s request.

While design can help reduce your risk of fire damage, it’s important to note, there are no fire-proof plants, and maintenance is the most important determinant of a landscape’s fire safety.

Now! Any time of year is great to begin work on a landscape project.

When possible, we suggest utilizing the winter to work through the design phase – this sets you up to get on contractors’ books early in the build season, so you can have your design installed and ready to enjoy in time for summer.

If winter has passed, don’t worry, it’s never too late in the year to begin work on a landscape design project.