After the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012, many homeowners faced the difficult decision of whether to rebuild. Our clients decided to create a beautiful new home, an elegant cornerstone to the neighborhood.
Even with the devastation caused by the fire, some native trees remained. Given the chance to re-build, our clients had a good sense of the direction they wanted in their new home. One of them was to rely on drought tolerant and native plantings for most of the landscaping.
One of the challenges we faced was to create a functional outdoor living space on the lower living while effectively draining this area during heavy rain. Rather than keep this area open to the street by surface drainage, we decided to install several large pipes for drainage and fill in the area between the lower area and the street. This not only provided privacy from the street, but also gave the front presentation of the home a more stable and centered appearance.
The retaining walls were varied in material choice. We used mainly Siloam stone, as well as some natural boulders for a more relaxed appearance near the street. Our clients had a concrete wall poured in back to create an outdoor living space. This served the space constraints well and provided more screening.
Once the massive tasks of building retaining walls, stairs, and walkways were completed, we carefully placed native trees to grow, screen, and provide a sense of enclosure for the home. In the areas adjacent to the home, we placed drought tolerant plantings. Most of the surrounding land was then revegetated using a mixture of low-growing and drought tolerant grasses.
The result is a beautiful xeric landscape that blends in with the surroundings and meets our clients’ needs. We thoroughly enjoyed working with them and helping to restore a part of our community. If we can be of help with your home project, please feel free to contact us.