Landscape Design in Pacific Palisades
Rebuilding gardens that are beautiful, resilient, and made for the coast
Pacific Palisades is rebuilding, and the landscape is part of that. The 2025 fire changed what a Palisades garden needs to be: still lush and lived-in, but planned around embers, defensible space, and the reality that the hills will burn again. Orchard designs and builds landscapes across the Palisades, for new homes rising on cleared lots and for existing gardens that need to be brought up to a fire-aware standard.
We work with the Riviera, Huntington Palisades, the Alphabet Streets, Marquez Knolls, the Highlands, and Castellammare, coordinating with architects and builders so the garden is ready when the house is.
Neighborhoods we serve in Pacific Palisades
The Riviera, Huntington Palisades, The Alphabet Streets, Marquez Knolls, Palisades Highlands, Castellammare, Rustic Canyon, Sunset Mesa
Designing for Pacific Palisades
Fire-resilient by design
A fire-resilient garden does not have to look like a firebreak. We plan in zones: the first five feet from the structure kept free of combustible plants and mulch, finished instead with stone, gravel, or paving that doubles as terrace and path. Beyond that, well-spaced, irrigated, lower-fuel planting, and canopy trees limbed up and set away from the roofline. The palette leans on coastal natives and Mediterranean species with high moisture content and low litter.
For rebuilds we coordinate with the architect on Chapter 7A construction details at the house edge, so the landscape and the building envelope work as one defense.
Coastal exposure and hillside sites
Palisades gardens face salt air, onshore wind, and, in Castellammare and the Highlands, real slopes. We choose salt-tolerant plants for bluff-facing sites, use windbreak planting where terraces need shelter, and design retaining, drainage, and slope planting together on hillside lots. Properties in the coastal zone may require California Coastal Commission or city coastal review, which we manage as part of permitting.
Rebuild coordination
Rebuilding a home and garden at once is a sequencing problem. We bring landscape into the process early so grading, utilities, drainage, and irrigation sleeves are set before hardscape goes down, and so the garden is planted as the house finishes rather than a year later. We can also phase the work: fire-safe hardscape and structure first, full planting as the site settles.
Pacific Palisades FAQ
Can you design a garden that meets fire-safety requirements and still looks lush?
Yes. The approach is zoned: an ember-resistant zone right at the house, then spaced, irrigated, lower-fuel planting, then managed canopy. Done well it reads as a finished coastal garden, not a buffer.
Do you work on Palisades rebuild projects?
Rebuilds are a large part of our current Palisades work. We coordinate with the architect and builder from early in the process so the landscape is sequenced with construction.
What is the ember-resistant zone?
It is the first five feet around the structure. California guidance calls for no combustible plants, mulch, or fences in that zone. We finish it with stone, gravel, or paving and design it to function as terrace and circulation.
Does the Coastal Commission review landscape work in the Palisades?
Some properties in the coastal zone require coastal development review for grading, walls, or significant changes. We identify that early and manage the submittal.
Can the garden be built in phases?
Yes. Many rebuilds start with grading, drainage, hardscape, and the ember-resistant zone, then add full planting and lighting as the house completes.
Do you provide ongoing care?
Yes, and it matters more here. Defensible space is maintained, not just installed. Our care program keeps planting spaced, pruned, and irrigated to the fire-aware standard it was designed to.