One of our philosophies is to design by plant community. This takes advantage of the natural companionship that occurs when the right plants are placed together. This
first image is a hillside in Poway (north of San Diego), and the California native plant community is Coastal Sage Scrub. A few of the plants, namely the Coyote brush and
the buckwheat, are native to the site. The rest were planted by us. If you look carefully, you’ll see there are citrus mixed in as well! They are actually the only plants in the
group receiving any water, and it turns out, they get along fine with the rest of the community. You might also find it interesting that we had to use jackhammers to get into
the decomposed granite slope. That’s right, jackhammers. And forget any soil amendments. We love to landscape a clean, scraped site. There’s no contamination from
organic matter, fertilizer, pathogens, or weeds.
Zoning becomes second nature when one designs by plant community. Grouping plants ecologically ensures that their water needs are met and shared by surrounding
companions. In this backyard, the lawn, vegetable garden, and roses are centrally located, and share a high demand for moisture. The lawn is kept fairly minimal in size
and close to the back patio. Next to the lawn is a small riparian area with dogwoods and yerba buena. Outward of these areas, the chaparral and coastal sage plants
require much less water and become self-supporting with time. Although the garden was only four months old when this photo was taken, the ceanothus ground cover on
the upper slopes is already 4-6 feet across. I understand that now, roughly a year later, it has almost completely filled in.
Quick Color but Long-term Structure
When we design new landscapes, we like to double plant the evergreen foundational shrubs with colorful native perennials. Not only does this emulate natural ecological
succession, but it provides quick fill and brilliant color while the evergreens are getting established. Typically, the perennial color spots just move around to fill up holes by
seeding themselves in. Shown in this photo, bright purple penstemons and yellow monkey flowers really put on a show, while the toyons and ceanothus will fill in later as
the garden matures. This landscape is located near Valley Center, north of Escondido.
Using Foliage to Create Beauty and a Strong Foundation
Flower color can be overrated at the expense of foliar contrast and massing. Note here that the blue-gray leaves of the hummingbird fuschia contrast dramatically with the
different shades of green behind, as well as the textural contrast with the native bunch grasses (giant wild rye). Not to mention the fact that the fuschias become balls of
red in summer/fall. The hummingbirds chirp wildly from all directions when we venture into this landscape (sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock movie). This garden also
combines nicely with the north slope chaparral on the right, which we pruned up to form a private park from impenetrable scrub. He has a natural seasonal creek bed
which we ran paths down to, along with high boulder overlooks that he now has access to. We didn’t remove any shrubs-just cleaned them up. If you are blessed to
have natural chaparral on your property, why not let us carve out a mature native landscape (park, preserve?) with paths that give access and double as firebreaks? Why
destroy beautiful natural habitat that thrives on no supplemental water and very little maintenance? Guess you can’t wait to spend tens of thousands of dollars ripping out
native vegetation to replace it with irrigation systems and non-native vegetation. When was the last time you saw a dog-face butterfly? Or something more common, like a
monarch? Maybe a horned lizard?
Here is another picture taken out of blooming season. This illustrates that massing plants of similar characteristics against others with contrasting distinctiveness can be an
effective design element. Using lots of evergreens ensures that the garden doesn't end up looking like tumbleweeds during the summer. This garden still looks good, seen
in late summer. There is virtually no maintenance in this landscape, and most of this lady’s 5 acres is non-irrigated. She is also blessed with native coastal sage scrub on
her property, and it is re-establishing in all areas kept free of weeds.
Designing for Fire Safety
Fire also becomes a major concern, especially in the back country. In this photo, the beautiful ranch house is surrounded by a well watered courtyard with sycamores in
the middle. Outside of this 75-100 foot ring are natives that have relatively high water content. Notice the dark green Baccharis pilularis "Pigeon Point" (coyote brush).
This is a great ground cover and has fairly good fire resistance, being on most fire department safe lists. We surrounded this landscaping with a 10’ wide road which
completely circles the house. Not only does it have the look of a pretty country lane, but it’s practical purpose is to create a fire break and give access to trucks and
equipment. In a fast moving inferno, they could set back fires along the outside perimeter of the access road. The fact that virtually all weeds have been removed also
makes this a much safer landscape.
Additionally, we have created an 8’ wide decomposed granite apron around the house, again to help separate the eves of the house from the rest of the landscape.
Although we were concerned at first, the apron has not proven to be unsightly. Low growing materials are used near to the structure. They serve to soften the edge of the
apron. Irrigated plants in pots could be used to grow up the support poles under the eves. Native wild grape would be excellent for this.
Zoning becomes second nature when one designs by plant community. Grouping plants ecologically ensures that their water needs are met and shared by surrounding
companions. In this backyard, the lawn, vegetable garden, and roses are centrally located, and share a high demand for moisture. The lawn is kept fairly minimal in size
and close to the back patio. Next to the lawn is a small riparian area with dogwoods and yerba buena. Outward of these areas, the chaparral and coastal sage plants
require much less water and become self-supporting with time. Although the garden was only four months old when this photo was taken, the ceanothus ground cover on
the upper slopes is already 4-6 feet across. I understand that now, roughly a year later, it has almost completely filled in.
When we design new landscapes, we like to double plant the evergreen foundational shrubs with colorful native perennials. Not only does this emulate natural ecological
succession, but it provides quick fill and brilliant color while the evergreens are getting established. Typically, the perennial color spots just move around to fill up holes by
seeding themselves in. Shown in this photo, bright purple penstemons and yellow monkey flowers really put on a show, while the toyons and ceanothus will fill in later as
the garden matures. This landscape is located near Valley Center, north of Escondido.
Here is another picture taken out of blooming season. This illustrates that massing plants of similar characteristics against others with contrasting distinctiveness can be an
effective design element. Using lots of evergreens ensures that the garden doesn't end up looking like tumbleweeds during the summer. This garden still looks good, seen
in late summer. There is virtually no maintenance in this landscape, and most of this lady’s 5 acres is non-irrigated. She is also blessed with native coastal sage scrub on
her property, and it is re-establishing in all areas kept free of weeds.
Fire also becomes a major concern, especially in the back country. In this photo, the beautiful ranch house is surrounded by a well watered courtyard with sycamores in
the middle. Outside of this 75-100 foot ring are natives that have relatively high water content. Notice the dark green Baccharis pilularis "Pigeon Point" (coyote brush).
This is a great ground cover and has fairly good fire resistance, being on most fire department safe lists. We surrounded this landscaping with a 10’ wide road which
completely circles the house. Not only does it have the look of a pretty country lane, but it’s practical purpose is to create a fire break and give access to trucks and
equipment. In a fast moving inferno, they could set back fires along the outside perimeter of the access road. The fact that virtually all weeds have been removed also
makes this a much safer landscape. 
Additionally, we have created an 8’ wide decomposed granite apron around the house, again to help separate the eves of the house from the rest of the landscape.
Although we were concerned at first, the apron has not proven to be unsightly. Low growing materials are used near to the structure. They serve to soften the edge of the
apron. Irrigated plants in pots could be used to grow up the support poles under the eves. Native wild grape would be excellent for this.