An old piece of conventional wisdom is that first impressions can make or break a person by permanently coloring an outside viewer’s perception of them. This first impression can open up a realm of possibilities, or close the door on them just as easily.
This concept applies just as easily to homes – we’ve all pulled up to a house that’s recently been put up for sale and immediately thought, ‘Yikes, this is going to take some work.’ While some may find that idea exciting, many prospective buyers are going to be turned away by this lack of curbside appeal.
Just as proper grooming and cleanliness has a big impact on first impressions with other people, a well maintained and designed landscape is the biggest initial sign of a home’s level of upkeep. A lawn that’s not much more than a dirt patch with some weeds is going to give off a very different impression than one whose front yard is filled with lively and beautiful greenery.
Before ever purchasing the property, the current homeowner always found the yard to be a missed opportunity. Its uniform hedgerows bordering the property felt drab and uninviting – but he knew the ¾ acre property had tremendous potential. This unfulfilled potential inspired the owner to purchase the home and re-imagine the gardens.
Cleaning House
Hedges provide a number of different uses, chief among them being a sense of privacy and a psychological and physical barrier between the property and the viewer. For the modern property owner, a hedgerow can provide some well-needed privacy, but it comes at a cost: the land appears far less open to neighbors and the local community, creating a sense of isolation.
For the homeowner, this sense of isolation was just not going to work; he wanted a property that felt open and inviting for guests and viewers that would emphasize the home’s structural strengths and allow his family to enjoy the space provided by an unusually large lot size for the San Diego metro area. To turn this isolated space into an outdoor wonderland, he enlisted the help of Torrey Pines Landscape Company.
“We used to live at The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe; and we noticed the most beautiful landscaping at one house,” Ryan recalls “It had won an award, so there was a sign saying it was done by Torrey Pines Landscape Company. From then on, we aspired to one day having them do a full design for us.”
An Environmentally Friendly Transformation
One of the major goals for the landscaping project was to make the yard more environmentally friendly – hedges are very water-intensive and make for highly inefficient additions to a landscape in an otherwise arid environment. Careful adjustments were made to the soil in preparation for the project once the hedges were removed, making sure that proper drainage procedures were followed so that the desert-adapted plants would not rot during wetter months and the home’s foundation would not be affected during the rainy season.
Once the soil was properly adjusted, Torrey Pines Landscape replaced the hedgerows with a colorful assortment of desert-adjusted foliage, including red carpet roses, purple statice, and Mexican sage, complimented by hardscape features such as rubble wall, and decomposed granite paths that stretch from the driveway to a side-yard gate.
Perhaps the single most picturesque transformation occurred in the courtyard entryway in front of the house. A strangely geometric, disconnected and plain concrete walkway bordered by beds of wood chips populated by some sparse hedges gave way to a new tiled path encircling a small bed featuring some geraniums and a young citrus tree as a centerpiece. Bordering the sand-colored walkway are darker colored tiles providing an outline and flowerbeds now filled with a layered mix of geraniums, local flora, and newly installed trellises.
A dreary, uniform green was replaced with an assortment of reds, oranges, and yellows, complete with water and hardscape features that the family could enjoy as they played bocce ball in the backyard. Best of all, the water usage of the property was lowered, leading to a more sustainable and beautiful natural environment.
Backyard Entertaining In San Diego
The new yard is not just for creating a more elegant and inviting curbside appeal – the family entertains guests and provides a fruitful environment for their children to grow up in. A number of beds and pots provide space for garden vegetables, berry bushes, and citrus for sustenance for both the residents of the home and passing pollinators like butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
Guests invited to summer cookouts are invited to ‘just come around back’, passing through a walled side yard that leads to the meticulously manicured flower garden and a raised lawn that houses the pool and spa. A wrought iron fence is all that separates the property from a nearby golf course, providing guests with the additional entertainment of watching golfers enjoy the southern California sun while they sip cocktails in a gorgeous, newly-open yard space surrounded by local flora.
If you are the new owner of a property that is in need of a landscape redesign like this in Rancho Santa Fe or are looking to revitalize your yard space, get in contact with Torrey Pines Landscape Company today:
Torrey Pines Landscape Company
+18584541433