Hillside Terrace

in Pacifica

Our clients in Pacifica wanted a space to sit outside and enjoy the view of Pedro Point, while enveloped by a garden of colorful foliage and flowers that could handle the seasonal winds and salty sea air that our Northern California coast so generously provides.

Pedro Point is a special place, both geologically and ecologically. The peak of the headland stands around 600ft above sea level and the distinctive rock at the tip of the point reveals strata of sedimentary rock which have been dragged north along the San Andreas fault and upturned by tectonic forces over tens of millions of years. There’s no stopping these grand forces; however, we do have influence over the movement of the earth at the garden scale.

Versa-lok retaining walls are stable, easy to build, and will provide plenty of stability and level ground, so we chose them as the material to terrace out a garden patio for Leni and Ruthann on their northeast facing slope.

We opted for a mostly native palette of plants that not only thrive in seaside conditions, but provide additional slope stabilization, even in the clay-rich soils of the Point.

Native Artemisia californica and Giant Wild Rye (Elymus condensatus) provide silvery/green color and mix well with other drought-tolerant non-natives like Leucadendron and Adenanthos sericeus (Woolly bush).

Baccharis pilularis (coyote brush) and clinopodium douglasii (Yerba Buena) provide vibrant green ground cover while more showy flowering plants like Salvias and Grevilleas attract hummingbirds and other pollinators.

Through this eclectic and carefully selected blend of flora, the garden reflects and even bolsters the biodiversity of the surrounding ecosystem while providing functional and aesthetic value for the homeowners.

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