Temecula landscaping
Your COMPLETE Landscape Contractor in Temecula
Temecula incorporated in 1989 and had 110,003 residents by 2020. Almost all of it was built as master planned communities, formal city Specific Plans: Paloma del Sol, Vail Ranch, Roripaugh Ranch, Wolf Creek and Harveston. Redhawk is a roughly 1,275 acre Specific Plan area annexed in 2005.
That is why a Temecula yard is rarely a free for all. There is usually a plan area, often an association, and a standard your front yard is expected to meet. Paul Cortenbach has held a California contractor license since 2004 and does the whole job: turf, sod, sprinklers, drip, drainage and planting.
Specific Plans, associations and front yard standards
Harveston Community Association covers 1,771 units, built in 2004 around a 17 acre park and lake. Paloma del Sol, Vail Ranch, Wolf Creek, Roripaugh Ranch and Redhawk each have their own plan area character, but the same expectation: the front yard is part of a bigger picture.
Homeowners have more room than they think. California Civil Code 4735 voids any rule that prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, low water plants or artificial turf. So the real question is not whether you are allowed. It is whether the finished yard is built well enough that nobody wants to argue about it.
What we handle here
What we do most in Temecula
Landscape Renovation
We lay the whole yard out before we dig, which is what a Specific Plan community and an association both want, so most jobs here start as landscape renovation.
Artificial Turf Installation
Turf installation is a strong answer for a small front lawn on heavy clay, with live planting kept in the design.
Shrub Planting
Low water shrub and bed planting earns the rebate here, and plant choice changes between the clay side and the granite side of town.
Landscape Drainage Solutions
Expansive clay holds water instead of taking it, so it needs drainage and grading rather than watering harder.
Why Temecula calls us
Two soils and the Rainbow Gap
Temecula is two landscaping jobs inside one city limit. The city's Public Safety Element reports expansive clay layers within the Pauba Formation, which swell wet and shrink dry, taking water slowly, so a long sprinkler run mostly runs off. On the wine country side the ground is decomposed granite, which drains easily.
Then there is the wind. The Rainbow Gap in the coastal mountains pulls cool ocean air into the valley around 10 to 11 a.m. and reverses at night, with same day swings from 98 F down to 50 F on record. That dries leaves and soil fast, which is why drip on beds and deep mulch make more sense here than spray. Temecula sits in USDA zones 9b, 10a and 10b, with a July mean daily high around 96.7 F and about 13.05 inches of rain a year.
Old Town, the plan areas and the wine country side
Drive east out of the newer plan areas and the ground changes under you, from clay toward the decomposed granite of wine country. In between sit Harveston, Paloma del Sol, Vail Ranch, Wolf Creek, Roripaugh Ranch, Redhawk, and Old Town near the creek. We run down from Menifee and work the whole valley, residential and commercial, free estimates.
Where we work
Working across Temecula
We cover the city top to bottom, including Harveston, Paloma del Sol, Vail Ranch, Wolf Creek, Roripaugh Ranch and Redhawk, plus the wine country properties where the ground changes. We service the Inland Valley Region, along the 15 and 215 freeways, out of the City of Menifee. Temecula is the southern end of that run, with the Murrieta service area directly north and landscaping in Wildomar on the same run.
Ask the contractor
Straight answers to landscaping questions
What hours can I water in Temecula?
Rancho California Water District is at Stage 2, and its live rules say to irrigate only between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., with weather based controllers exempt. There is no day of week limit at this stage. You also cannot water during rain or for 48 hours after measurable rain, and irrigation water is not allowed to leave the landscaped area.
Why does my soil hold water in one part of town and drain in another?
Because Temecula has two very different grounds. The city's Public Safety Element reports expansive clay layers within the Pauba Formation, and clay takes water slowly and swells when wet. The wine country side is decomposed granite, which allows water to drain easily. The plant list and the irrigation plan should be different on each side, and often they are not.
Will my Specific Plan community or HOA approve artificial turf?
It cannot ban it. Civil Code 4735 makes any provision of the governing documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines void and unenforceable if it prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass. Communities like Harveston, Wolf Creek or Redhawk can still apply rules about the finished look, as long as those rules do not add up to a ban. Submit the plan and build it properly.
Does turf qualify for a rebate in Temecula?
No. "No synthetic turf is allowed" is the program's own wording, and the project cannot include any live turf or turf looking grasses. Rancho California has no district adder published, so the rebate here is the $2.00 per square foot Metropolitan base, and only for live low water planting. We can do both parts of the yard in one project.
Does the afternoon wind really affect my yard?
Yes. The Rainbow Gap draws ocean air into the valley from over 30 miles away starting around 10 to 11 a.m. and reverses at night, and same day temperature swings from 98 F down to 50 F are on record. Moving air dries leaves and soil faster, and it pushes sprinkler spray off target. Drip on beds and a good mulch layer are worth more here than a longer watering run.
Are you licensed and insured to work in Temecula?
Yes. California contractor license 840163, issued 06/07/2004, classification C-27 Landscaping, bonded with Western Surety for $25,000, workers comp active. Look it up at cslb.ca.gov. Residential and commercial, and estimates are free.