Saratoga Landscaping

lucky760

lucky760

New member
Wondering if any other Saratoga buyers have yet engaged any landscapers for a design and estimate.

I've dealt with about 6 thus far and it's been a pretty tedious experience.

One of the things I was unhappy to discover over the weekend in reading the HOA's design requirements is that it is absolutely forbidden to build a tall planter with a retaining wall. This is a real bummer because it's the one thing I was really hoping to have done in our sardine-can-sized patio.

Also we apparently won't be able to grow any fruit trees that will be able to survive because they all need lots of sun all day long and the tall prison walls around our tiny yard will block out the sun for much of the day.

Another issue we just can't work around is all our neighbors' windows are so close and facing right into our yard, so we'll never have any privacy there, which is very disappointing (especially for buying an almost-$800,000 home!).

It's hard to decide on what exactly we want to do that's nice but also affordable. So far our lowest bid is over $14k and our highest estimate (official design/bid not yet received) is "at least $20k."
 
How many square feet?

Also, what about using large decorative planters for the trees, kind of like you see at the larger shopping complexes? 

The rule for the retaining wall is likely because the privacy walls are porous and aren't braced for being retaining walls.  When people built earth filled planter walls 3 or 4 feet high against , the chronic seepage breaks may cause bloom and mold on the other side and depending on height, the saturation on the clay footing area will destabilize the wall.
 
Landscaping is somewhat in the back of our minds as we have a year to get it done.  I think we're just going to go with some tiles and maybe a small planter.  I do want some high vegetation to provide some additional privacy.
 
@nosuchreality

It's hard to have an exact estimate because there's also a California room with a concrete floor that may be ripped out or just covered, but it's on the order of about 800-1000 sqft I think.

If we were to have a raised planter installed, we'd have them put in a wall in front of the common wall so no soil would actually contact it.

We can't just use planters because the HOA requires that you have soil in the ground at least 2' around the back and side walls.

@irvinecommuter

I wouldn't mind waiting, but as my wife urges, we won't be able to have a housewarming party or let the kids run around out there until we have it done, thus it's a high priority for us.
 
lucky said:
@nosuchreality

It's hard to have an exact estimate because there's also a California room with a concrete floor that may be ripped out or just covered, but it's on the order of about 800-1000 sqft I think.

If we were to have a raised planter installed, we'd have them put in a wall in front of the common wall so no soil would actually contact it.

We can't just use planters because the HOA requires that you have soil in the ground at least 2' around the back and side walls.

@irvinecommuter

I wouldn't mind waiting, but as my wife urges, we won't be able to have a housewarming party or let the kids run around out there until we have it done, thus it's a high priority for us.
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I think we would love to get to it earlier but there were more pressing needs and the house is already tapping us out.
 
I wrote planter, but I'm thinking pots.  Like this...

mediterranean-landscape.jpg
 
i like that...and maybe put gravel on the ground cover instead of plants...make it a little easier for maintenance.
 
Is grass not an option?? I'm in the middle of reseeding my lawn myself right now with no help from a gardener. With time on your side, you can save lots of $$$$! You mentioned a lack of sunlight. Consider a fescue blend.
 
SoCal said:
Is grass not an option?? I'm in the middle of reseeding my lawn myself right now with no help from a gardener. With time on your side, you can save lots of $$$$! You mentioned a lack of sunlight. Consider a fescue blend.
Click to expand...

Backyards are closets.  You try to have as much patio space as possible.  putting a 3ft strip of grass along the wall just looks silly.  If you're wondering you're required to have 3ft of Green Space along your wall.
 
@broda - Actually, 2 feet is the minimum except wherever a large tree is planted, in which case it must be 3 feet minimum.

After much stressful contemplation we've finally made a decision. I ended up drawing my own [crude] design with mostly everything we wanted and negotiated the price with our landscaper (the only one who ever calls us back, but is also extremely friendly and experienced).

We are getting a stacked stone veneer 18" wall from end to end with a curved wall at the corners where we'll have fruit trees. Since we can't have a raised planter (aka. retaining wall), our wall will be just for aesthetics and secondarily for seating. This means our plants behind the wall must all be taller than 18" to be visible.

We will have a paver from Orco called Villa, which is has varying sizes from large to small squares.

Our California room floor will be flagstone and next to the California room will be a prefab fountain surrounded by plants.

Anyhow, without further ado, here's my design which is going to cost $18,000. What will help with the price is no deposit is due up front. We'll pay 1/3 when the work is started, 1/3 when all the stone materials are ordered, and the final 1/3 upon completion. It could take a while since the HOA has up to 45 days to approve or reject the plans. We'll let you know how it goes!

456vPUF.jpg
 
first looking at that drawing, i thought that the black part was going to be grass lawn.

then i realized this is irvine, and that is the footprint of the house!

$18k for 1000 sf of pavers?  ouch!

 
freedomcm said:
first looking at that drawing, i thought that the black part was going to be grass lawn.

then i realized this is irvine, and that is the footprint of the house!

$18k for 1000 sf of pavers?  ouch!
Click to expand...

Yeah, isn't it disgusting? : (

The breakdown for the high cost is along the lines of:
- $2200 flagstone California room
- $5000 pavers
- $4000 18" seat wall with stacked stone veneer
- $6800 grading, cleanup, irrigation, drainage, trees, plants, lighting, gravel, etc.
 
I too want to design my own landscaping since landscaping co are not interested in with my plan.  Where to get that sketch? 
 
stromung said:
I too want to design my own landscaping since landscaping co are not interested in with my plan.  Where to get that sketch?
Click to expand...

I had the site plan for my lot in my sales contract. I just drew on top of that in an image editing program like Photoshop. (It's open source software called The Gimp.)
 
stromung said:
Thanks Lucky,
So you are going to have the landscape company to draw it for you right?
Click to expand...

Oh, yes, absolutely; that's not even a consideration. The design has to be in a specific format for the HOA to review.

My drawing was just to illustrate to our contractor what we had in mind for discussion. It's harder than you'd think to describe without illustration landscaping details. ; )
 
Actually, we have never had any discussion at all about how our payments would be remitted, so I can't validly answer that question. Sorry!
 
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