Landscape Design & Installation — Southern California
Landscape Design & Installation in the Inland Empire, California
A plan for the whole yard, then one crew to grade it, plant it, pipe the water and wire the lights — so the pieces fit instead of fighting each other.
What This Covers
The work inside landscape design & installation
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Site assessment and measured base plan
Sun and shade tracked through the day, existing trees and utilities located, drainage falls shot with a level, soil checked for how it drains and how it reads on pH.
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Planting design and plant palette
Species chosen for inland heat, alkaline soil and the water budget — grouped into hydrozones so the drip controller can water a fern bed and a rosemary hedge on different schedules.
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Grading and soil preparation
Rough grade set to move water away from the house, then beds tilled and amended with compost because native inland soil runs low on organic matter.
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Hardscape coordination
Paths, patios, mow strips and boulders set before planting, with sleeves run under any paving so irrigation and low-voltage wire never mean cutting concrete later.
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Irrigation and low-voltage lighting
Drip to the shrub and perennial beds, a weather-based controller, and path or uplighting on a transformer sized with headroom for a few more fixtures.
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Mulch, clean-up and a plant-establishment window
Beds topped with three inches of mulch, the site swept, and the controller left on a heavier establishment schedule you dial back over the first summer.
How The Job Goes
From first call to done
- 01
First visit and brief
We walk the property with you, talk through how you want to use each part of it, take photos and rough measurements, and flag anything structural — grade, drainage, a failing retaining wall — that has to be solved first.
- 02
Design and plant plan
You get a layout with the beds, paths, tree positions and a plant list, plus the irrigation zoning. This is where a permitted project is checked against California’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance for plant factor and irrigation efficiency.
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Proposal and scheduling
A written scope by phase — demo, grading, hardscape, irrigation, planting, lighting — so you can see what each part carries and stage it if you want to.
- 04
Demolition and grading
Old turf and concrete out, DigAlert (811) marked before any trenching, rough grade cut so finished soil sits two percent below hardscape and slopes away from the foundation.
- 05
Irrigation rough-in and hardscape
Mainline, valves and sleeves go in while the ground is open; paths and patios are built on a compacted base before soil prep so planting beds aren’t driven over.
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Planting, mulch and lighting
Trees first, then shrubs and perennials, watered in as we go. Emitters are matched to each plant’s size, mulch is spread, fixtures are aimed after dark.
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Walk-through and establishment plan
We run every zone with you, hand over the controller schedule, and set a date to come back and taper the water once roots have taken.
What Decides The Price
Where a quote for this lands
A whole-yard install runs from a modest planting refresh to a multi-phase build, so the spread on this one is wide. The things that decide where you land:
How much has to come out first
A bare builder lot is cheaper to start than a yard with mature turf, old concrete, tree stumps or an irrigation system that has to be capped and removed.
Grade and drainage work
If water currently sits against the house or the lot is close to flat, the earthwork and drainage to fix it is real labor before a single plant goes in.
Plant size at install
Fifteen-gallon shrubs and 24-inch box trees read as finished on day one and cost more; the same design in one- and five-gallon stock is a fraction of the price and looks full in two seasons.
Hardscape and lighting scope
Paths, patios, walls and a lighting system are each their own trade — the more of them in the plan, the larger the project.
Irrigation complexity
Number of zones, a smart controller, and whether an existing backflow assembly can be reused all move the irrigation line.
Free Estimate
Get a Real Number for Your Design & Installation
We look at the actual site, talk through what it needs, and price it in writing. The visit is free and there is no obligation.
Signs You Need This
You’re probably here because
- The builder left bare dirt or a lawn and nothing else, and you want a real yard
- Every part of the yard was done at a different time and none of it connects
- Water pools against the house or runs off toward a neighbor when it rains
- The plants that are there are always half-dead by August
- You want lower water bills but not a gravel lot
- You are selling or refinancing and the front yard is hurting the number
Across the Inland Empire
What inland Southern California does to a new landscape
Inland heat and long dry spells set the plant list before taste does — a design that leans on Mediterranean and California-native material with a small accent zone of thirstier plants near the entry survives the summer and passes ordinance review. Alkaline, low-organic soil means real bed prep, not a bag of topsoil. On permitted projects the city checks the plan against the state water ordinance for irrigated area, plant factor and controller type, and a landscape lighting transformer on a new circuit is an electrical permit. Any trenching is called into DigAlert two working days ahead.
Questions Homeowners Ask
Before you call
Do I need a permit to redo my landscape?
A straight planting-and-irrigation refresh usually does not. You cross into permit territory with a retaining wall over four feet, grading above the city’s cubic-yard threshold, new electrical circuits, or work in the parkway strip between the sidewalk and the curb. Larger permitted projects also trigger a water-ordinance plan check.
Can you work from a design I already have?
Yes. If you have a plan from an architect or designer we can build to it, or price it and tell you where the drawing and the site disagree before we start.
How long before it looks finished?
With larger nursery stock it can read as complete the week we plant. With smaller stock the bones are there immediately and the beds fill in over one to two growing seasons, which in this climate is quick.
What happens to the plants after you leave?
We hand over a controller schedule built for establishment and come back to step it down once roots are in. After that it is normal seasonal care — which we can do or hand off to you.
Related Work
Often part of the same project
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