Christmas 2011

Hello and a Merry Holiday to you all. We wish everyone a healthy and happy Christmas season- Be Safe!

Speaking of holiday parties, this year our office staff, Gigi Golden-Smith, Leslie Cochran and myself, Debra Moore, attended the Boys and Girls Club Christmas Tree Lane fund raising event for about our 5th time in a row. Here's a photo of Gigi and Leslie sharing the holiday spirit with the host of the event, channel 8 news anchor/reporter Carlo Cecchetto. Santa brought one of Gigi and Leslie's presents early this year! We always greatly enjoy this annual fashion show/auction/ Christmas tree raffle held at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. We even have a past tree winner amongst our own!(ok it was me!)

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful year. We look forward to a peaceful and prosperous 2012 with all of you.

Always,
Debra Moore, Controller
Steven Smith Landscape, Inc.

Plant of the Month: November 2011

Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga 'Macrantha' or Cotyledon macrantha is a shrub-like succulent from the family Crassulaceae, with a height and width of approx. 2-3 ft. Round paddle shaped bright green leaves have red margins. Showy red flowers bloom on stalks above the foliage in winter/spring. Light shade to full sun with low water requirements.

 

To see more suggestions for drought tolerant and water wise landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: October 2011

Arbutus marina or Strawberry tree is a 25-40 ft. tree or four-season evergreen shrub, with cinnamon-colored bark and dark green and glossy leaves.  White or pink bell-shaped flowers appear October to December.  The edible fruit is a rough surfaced orange-red 3/4" berry.

Arbutus marina tolerates a wide variety of soil conditions. Requires part or full sun and is drought tolerant once established.  Can be trained as a single trunked tree, multi-trunked specimen, or grown as a screen or tall hedge.

To see more suggestions for drought tolerant and water wise landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: August 2011

Aeonium arboreum is a succulent in the family Crassulaceae with branched stems to 3 ft. tall and 6-8" rosettes of light green leaves. Yellow flowers are in long clusters.  This variety, atropurpureum,  is all the more striking with deep purple rosettes and is used both planted and in pots for contrast to lighter leaved plants.  Plant in full sun near the ocean and part shade inland.

To see more suggestions for drought tolerant and water wise landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: July 2011

Aloe bainesii or Aloe barberae is sometimes referred to as the "Dr. Suess tree".  The largest of the African aloes, A. bainesii can reach a height of 20-60 ft. and a width of 10-20 feet.  A great tree for a succulent garden or large containers.  Heavy forking trunk and branches with 2-3' rosettes. Late winter blooming with rose pink flowers in tubular clusters on stalks.Full sun, drought tolerant.

To see more suggestions for drought tolerant and water wise landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: June 2011

Bulbine frutescens, also known as Bulbinella is a native to South Africa; a flowering perennial with low water requirements. Succulent foliage with star-shaped yellow flowers in the summer, this plant is great for low maintenance borders and is tolerant of poor dry soil. 1-1/2 ft. tall and 2 ft. wide. To see more suggestions for drought tolerant and water wise landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Drought Tolerant Garden

A recently completed project for a drought tolerant garden including water features. To view more photos of this project, please visit our commercial installation gallery at stevensmithlandscape.com

Residential Estate, Rancho Bernardo

A recently completed backyard landscape for a residential estate in Rancho Bernardo.
For more photos, please visit our residential installation gallery at stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: May 2011

Cistus or Rockrose is an evergreen shrub with showy spring flowers, drought resistant and tolerant of poor dry soil.  Recommended for fire hazard area plantings.  Sun-loving and fast growing. This is C. purpureus, the Orchid Rockrose, approx. 4 ft. tall and wide, with 3" wide reddish purple flowers.

To see more suggestions for water wise and drought tolerant landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Paspalum Turf Installation & Maintenance: Municipal Park

Paspalum is a warm season turf grass that is durable, with low watering requirements and "self-healing" properties.It has been used traditionally for golf courses, but now is gaining a more prominent place in the turf grass industry.Steven Smith Landscape installed (and also currently maintains) one of the first largest paspalum turf projects in San Diego County, at Shadow Hill Park in Santee (pictured). We used SeaDwarf Paspalum with optimum mowing height at 1/2" to 3/4", a fine texture and excellent drought resistance.

To see more suggestions for water wise and drought tolerant landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: April 2011

The Red Carpet Rose, a member of the genus Rosa is a groundcover variety, with showy flowers attractive to butterflies.

Fast growing to 2 to 3 ft. tall, 3 ft. wide with dark green foliage and red blooms, spring through fall. Easy care, water wise and disease resistant and useful as a border, container, mass planting and erosion control. Likes full sun and moist but not soggy surface soil.

To see more suggestions for water wise and drought tolerant landscape plants, visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Planting Installation, Cote de Caza

Recently completed planting installation for a residence in Cote de Caza, Orange County. Featured in our residential installation gallery at stevensmithlandscape.com

Rancho Santa Fe Residence, tree installation

We recently installed a 60" box tree, a California Live Oak Quercus agrifolia at residence in Rancho Santa Fe. A mature California Live Oak can reach up to 70 feet high, with a maximum height at 20 years of 25 feet.
The photos show our crew offloading and positioning the tree for the installation.

To learn more about our landscape installation and maintenance services, please visit our website.  

Plant of the Month: March 2011

Echeveria lilacina or 'Ghost Echeveria' is from the family Crassulaceae which contains 1400 species,  commonly known as succulents that store water in their fleshy leaves.  E. lilacina is an attractive, slow growing species with pale-gray/green or whitish leaves forming rosettes up to 10" across and coral-colored flowers that appear on reddish stems in spring. Drought tolerant and good in rock gardens.

To see more suggestions for drought resistant landscape plants, 

visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Residential Installations, New Photos

Please visit our Installation Gallery and click on the Residential tab to see new photos showcasing our landscape installations for  La Jolla and  Rancho Santa Fe homes. Photos credits: Doug Livingston, Livingston Associates.

Plant of the Month: February 2011

Aloe arborescens, 'Tree aloe' or 'Torch aloe' is a drought tolerant densely growing succulent native to South Africa, size is approximately 10 ft. tall and 6 ft. wide. Gray-green spiny edged leaves with bright red or yellow winter flowers in long spiky clusters. A. arborescens shares similar medicinal properties with Aloe vera, for burn treatment etc. Attractive to birds, butterflies and bees.

To see more suggestions for drought resistant landscape plants, 

visit stevensmithlandscape.com

Plant of the Month: January 2011

 Senecio mandraliscae or Kleinia mandraliscae is a succulent species of the Senecio group related to daisies.  A shrubby perennial native to South Africa, S. mandraliscae grows 1 to 1-1/2 ft. high and 2 ft. wide with blue-gray pencil-like fleshy leaves and small white flowers in mid-summer.  Also known as 'Blue Finger' it is used as a drought tolerant groundcover where a blue-gray effect is desired.

To see more suggestions for drought resistant landscape plants, 

visit stevensmithlandscape.com