Landscape design · Petaluma
Respect the architecture. Open the house to the garden.
Petaluma combines historic homes, working landscapes, wind, broad skies, and newer neighborhoods—each with a different design language.
Photography by Emma Kruch
Read the place
The garden should feel like part of the property’s history.
We take cues from the house, existing trees, neighborhood scale, exposure, and the way rooms meet the outdoors. New work can be contemporary or traditional, but the transitions, proportions, and material choices need to make sense together.
Connect architecture, planting, and daily movement.
- Site reading
- Sun, soil, grade, drainage, existing trees, views, privacy, and daily movement shape the first decisions.
- A clear plan
- Planting, hardscape, irrigation, lighting, and outdoor use are resolved together rather than added piecemeal.
- Buildable detail
- Materials, dimensions, plant selections, and construction intent are documented for a smoother path into installation.
Before you begin
Design for the way the air moves through the garden.
Test a proposed dining or sitting area in the afternoon, not only on a calm morning. At an exposed Petaluma site, a comfortable outdoor room may depend as much on placement and shelter as on its size. Screening should also consider light, views, neighboring properties, and the eventual scale of the planting.
Where an older garden is being renewed, decide which established elements give the property character before planning removal. A useful brief records trees to retain, awkward level changes, drainage concerns, and the materials worth reusing. Match new planting to the conditions actually observed, and leave access for the care it will need.
Plan a welcoming front garden ↗We can help turn a collection of outdoor areas into one landscape with a clear point of view.
