Landscape Design in Sacramento, CA
Courtyards, front yards and gardens designed for Sacramento's historic neighborhoods, big shade trees and long, hot summers.
Designing for Sacramento's neighborhoods
Sacramento asks for a different kind of design in every neighborhood. In East Sacramento, Land Park and Midtown, older homes sit on narrow lots under some of the oldest street trees in the city. In Natomas and the newer suburbs, lots are open, sunny and often on busy corners.
Our Roseville studio designs across the city, and the brief is always the same: start with how you want to move through and live in the space, then make it beautiful.
Heat, shade and clay come first
Sacramento summers regularly pass 100 degrees, and much of the city sits on heavy clay that drains slowly in winter. We grade for where water wants to go, keep beds and walks pitched away from the house, and use river rock and mulch to hold moisture in the soil.
The City of Trees also means a lot of shade. Under mature canopy we design shade gardens with Japanese maples, ferns, heuchera and other woodland plants, and save tough, water-wise Mediterranean plants for the open sun.
An East Sacramento courtyard for evenings outside
This East Sacramento backyard was small and boxed in by fences. We turned it into a courtyard with real rooms: a stone paver patio under a pergola for dining, a lounge area beside it, and a stone veneer seat wall that runs the length of the space.
Three laser-cut metal screens on the fence give the courtyard a focal wall, Japanese maples soften every corner, and shade planting in river rock beds lines a stone path down the side yard.
A Natomas corner lot with real curb appeal
In Natomas, this corner-lot front yard faces a busy intersection. We curved a flagstone path around the mature tree out front and shaped a single panel of artificial turf to follow it, so the yard stays green year round without the water.
A low cedar and wire fence wraps the corner and frames the turf, river rock beds hold water-wise shrubs and accent pots, and a new scored concrete driveway and cedar side gates finish the front of the house.
Courtyards that glow after dark
Lighting is what makes the East Sacramento courtyard. Lights set at the base of each metal screen make its leaf pattern glow against the fence, lights tucked under the seat wall cap wash the stone paving, and uplighting in the Japanese maples brings the canopy into the room.
We lay out every fixture with the plan and keep the light warm and low, so the space feels intimate rather than floodlit, and the neighbors see a soft glow instead of glare.
See it before it is built
Small spaces leave little room for guesswork. Before anything is built, we walk you through the design in 3D, so you can see how the pergola, the screens and the planting fit together and how the space feels from the back door.
The 3D model and full plan set also give your contractors a clear picture of the finished garden, which keeps bids accurate and the build on track.
City trees, protected trees and Sacramento rules
In the City of Sacramento, any tree in the planter strip or public right-of-way is a City tree, and work on it requires a permit from Urban Forestry. On private property, native oaks, California sycamores and buckeyes 12 inches or more in diameter are protected, along with any tree 32 inches or larger on a single-family or duplex lot.
Older Sacramento lots often sit right next to these trees. We map them first, keep paving and trenching clear of their roots, and plan the permit work so it does not hold up construction.
Questions we hear in Sacramento
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No. Palmatum is a design studio. We produce the complete plan set, with hardscape, planting, lighting and irrigation notes, so you can bid it to the contractor of your choice and compare bids on equal terms. If you would like a recommendation, we are happy to point you to Sacramento installers we trust.
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Usually, yes. In the City of Sacramento, trees in the planter strip or public right-of-way are City trees, and regulated work on them requires a permit from Urban Forestry. We design around these trees and flag any work that will need a permit early.
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Native oaks, California sycamores and buckeyes 12 inches or more in diameter are protected, along with any tree 32 inches or larger on a single-family or duplex lot. If your yard has a tree like this, we plan the design to protect its roots and canopy.
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Yes. On narrow city lots we design in rooms, with a place to dine, a place to lounge and a path that pulls you through the space. Vertical elements like screens and small trees, plus good lighting, make a small yard feel layered and much larger than it is.
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An initial 60-minute consultation is $200 to $400 depending on property size and scope. We walk the property together, talk through how you want to live in the space, and start sketching ideas on the spot.
Start your Sacramento garden
Tell us about your yard and how you want to use it. We will walk the property with you, talk through what works and what does not, and start shaping the plan from there. We also design throughout West Sacramento, Carmichael, Fair Oaks and the greater Sacramento region.