Landscape Design Services

Sweetgrass Gardens provides artisan ecological landscape design for homeowners throughout South Orange County, including Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna beach, Trabuco, Laguna Niguel and surrounding areas.

Our services provide guidance, artistry, and confidence from initial consultation through design installation.

Get it done right the first time.

Services

Starting at $3,000

A comprehensive, highly detailed design prepared for professional installation and long-term success.

Includes:

  • Complete scaled landscape design plan blueprint style and 3D views.

  • Detailed plant list with quantities and sizes.

  • Individual plant data sheets plus bloom chart, season of interest, water needs.

  • Lighting design layout with 3D visual of nighttime and fixture guidance.

  • Hardscape & water features

  • Accessories; Furniture, boulders, pottery and lighting.

  • Water-saving planting strategy with Irrigation planning recommendations

  • Soil amendment recommendations for individual site and plant health.

  • After care packet with guidance for the first year and pruning for best long-term health.

This service ensures full technical clarity and supports accurate contractor execution. For new builds and refreshing older landscapes in need of a new look and and materials.

Full Landscape Design Plan

Conceptual Landscape Design

Starting at $1,500

A ready-to-plant conceptual design that provides clear structure and guidance for implementation.

Includes:

  • Scaled layout plan blueprint style.

  • Ready-to-plant design framework.

  • Simple plant shopping list with quantities

  • Plant data suitable for HOA approval

  • Documentation suitable for water district lawn removal rebates

  • Water-saving planting strategy, swales, rain gardens.

  • After care packet with guidance for the first year and pruning for best long-term health.

This service is ideal for homeowners seeking professional design clarity for approvals. Filling in and refreshing older landscapes.

*For smaller projects contact for a quote

Artistic Integrity Management

Add-on service

Available as an addition to any design plan.

Includes:

  • Contractor coordination and design guidance.

  • Professional plant sourcing.

  • On-site plant placement direction and problem solving.

  • Installation oversight to preserve design intent

This service ensures the finished landscape reflects the original artistic vision and ecological strategy.

custom garden design, plant help

Consultations

  • During your onsite consultation we will walk your property while I interview you to determine your goals and vision for the garden. As needed, I will be taking notes, photos, or measurements to bring back to the studio for a conceptual design.

    I will asses each planting area needing improvement, existing plant problems and design flaws, looking for ways to make the garden work for your family and style. This is where my horticultural training comes in to decipher which plants will thrive in each microclimate.

    The site visit allows us to evaluate your family's use of space, your ascetics, and the views from each area the family spends time in. Do we want to frame a view or block out something undesirable? I will look at what kind of plants are thriving and what are not. We will plan to save anything that can be incorporated into the new design.

    If you have an architectural drawing of the property, inspiration photos, materials you love, bring these to our consultation, or email them with the design questionnaire ahead of time.

    The consultation allows us to determine the scope of work needed.

    We will send you an quote for the design work in the following days.

  • Consultations for custom design plans, or fill in projects are $150

    $75 will be applied to the design fee.

    Horticultural Consultations for tree/plant issues or diagnosis are $99

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Landscape design orange county california

Custom Landscape Design

  • A custom landscape design can include:

    • Planting design

    • Hardscape & water features

    • Accessories; Furniture, boulders, pottery and lighting.

    • Sustainability and water-saving features

    The scope of the project will be determined from our conversations at the consultation. A design fee quote will be sent after the consultation.

    Phase 1: Visual Design

    For Full landscape designs you will receive for approval…

    • Plant palettes of each area with photos and descriptions of each selection.

    • May include a visual photographic collage of a focal point. Helpful when combining new plants and established ones, to give a feel of how the mature garden will look.

    Phase 2: Drafting

    • You will receive beautiful top-down view, scaled, conceptual drawings.

    • Your accompanying plant list includes: Botanical names used by nurseries, common names, quantities and notes.

    • An experienced contractor will be able to quote the job from these documents.

    Phase 3: Sourcing & Installation

    • Plants & materials, sourcing, and Artistic Integrity Management are not included in the design fee.

    • These can be determined and added after the design is completed.

    • I can connect you with one of my trusted contractors to handle installation, irrigation, and hardscape.

    The design process requires great communication between designer and client.

    Feel free to send preliminary mood boards, inspiration photos, and materials to convey your vision. I will use these to create the best outdoor rooms for you.

    To get started, book a consultation or phone call today.

Front porch with potted flowers and plants, black door, bay window, white fence and grass.

Additional services

  • Sourcing and project management:

    Sourcing of plants and materials can be tough on your own. I often get plants from 3 different sources for an install.

    Let the experts handle the details. I will coordinate with the contractor to get all the materials to the site and keep on top of the changing scope.

    Hand-picked plants and custom soil preparation set the garden up for success.

    Artistic Integrity Management

    This means I will come to the site on the day of install and compete an artistic layout of the design and garden elements to make sure the integrity of the design is upheld, and plants are placed appropriately.

    There is often problem solving needed on the day of planting. Services to be charged at a daily rate.

    Small Projects/Studio Design

    For fill in/refresh projects a visual collage showing new plants and established ones will be presented with a plant list to give a feel of how the mature garden will look refreshed. This is instead of an architectural draft.

    Following the initial consultation an estimate will be sent and agreed upon by both designer and client to produce a conceptual design in studio.

    Project management can be added to supervise planting at an hourly rate of $75

    For quick turnaround. We can design on the fly at the nursery. After the initial consultation we can meet to pick out plants, pottery, materials, and garden elements in a scheduled trip to an appropriate nursery for the project.

  • Customizable service, an estimate will be submitted for each project.

Book a call
A front yard garden with a gravel pathway bordered by various plants and rocks, adjacent to a blacktop street and residential houses with light-colored walls and dark roofs in the background.
A landscaped yard with a rock garden and various plants, including white flowers in the foreground. In the background, there is a modern house with a two-story structure and a streetlamp.
Outdoor living space with drought tolerant landscaping in Orange County
Balcony with outdoor furniture and potted succulents overlooking a vast ocean and cloudy sky.
Close-up of a large concrete bowl filled with various colorful succulents, placed outdoors on a white stone surface.
A view from inside a hot tub or pool looking out over a rooftop terrace with three potted cacti and a glass barrier. In the background, there are bushy green plants and a clear sky with some clouds.
A garden scene with a large, blue ceramic fountain on a circular stone base, surrounded by plants and flowers. There is a large tree with dense foliage and a black fence in the background.
A backyard garden with greenery, trees, a wooden arbor, a palm, plants, and a flagstone pathway.
Aerial view of a gravel garden in a Mediterranean style surrounded by landscaped gardens with various plants and trees.
Modern Mediterranean landscape design for Southern California homes
Mediterranean style landscape design with low water plants in Orange County A garden with a stone fountain in the foreground, flowers and plants along a white fence, and a hummingbird flying near the fountain.
Front view of a house with a garden, including colorful flowers and green grass, with a sidewalk in the foreground.
A modern backyard with a gravel landscape, large rocks, and drought-tolerant plants like agave and a tree. There is a pebble pathway, small illuminated pathway lights, and black outdoor chairs near a dark house.
A lush food forest garden with various flowering plants, shrubs, and trees. There are raised garden beds with plants, a decorative white and yellow pot, and a trellis.
A landscaped garden with colorful flowers and plants around three tall trees, bordered by a stone wall, with a suburban house and street in the background.
Large gray planter with lush green plants placed on a brick step outside a house with white walls, black window frames, black railing, and a black ceiling light fixture.
front yard landscape with swale, rain catchment, water company rebate landscape designer, A backyard with a curved concrete pathway, a large palm tree, desert plants, and rocks, with a white fence and houses in the background.
A dry landscape garden with colorful succulents, small rocks, and a tall cactus in a large pot, next to a white fence.