Hello and welcome back to the rockin’ retirement blog! Well, that’s a bit of a lame name – I’m still workshopping it. Anywho, it’s been a while!
Since the last update, I’ve gone on yet another home renovation spree, this time targeting the backyard of my little La Jolla rental property. The home doesn’t have a ton of room, which means it’s perfect for a little tropical-themed getaway where the cityscape can disappear after entering the yard.
I know from experience it’s really easy to go too far with a jungle theme, so I enlisted the help of a landscaping company with some experience in creating similar arrangements. Here in La Jolla, the best company around for this kind of work by a fair mile is Torrey Pines Landscape Company.
At this point, TPLC should need no introduction – I’ve mentioned them on the blog before, and they have won many awards for their work here in San Diego. Their designs aren’t all that’s top-notch – the team has some insane customer service skills as well, as evidenced by their customer reviews. Here, check out a couple:
We had Torrey Pines Landscape completely renovate our “tired” little backyard into an “outdoor paradise” for us, with outdoor built-in grill area, fire pit, new sprinkler system complete with French drains, outdoor lighting, bushes, plants, etc. A few years later we had them put in a succulent garden in the front area of our home. Recently, we were working on our own backyard project and hit/broke a sprinkler line and called TPL for help with it.
Regarding the backyard project: We had a specific deadline as we were planning to use it for a wedding reception. Harry and his landscape professionals assisted GREATLY with plant selection and design. TPL went above and beyond by completing this major project on time, and were friendly, professional, and respectful at all times. Regarding the succulent garden: It turned out beautiful and we have been very happy with it. Regarding the sprinkle line repair: We called TPL for a reference or to see if they would be able to schedule a repair. They sent Ian out within 3 days, who repaired it within an hour and they did not charge us for the repair. WOW. We were not expecting that, but this is the kind of company TPL is. They truly care about their customers. We would highly recommend them to anyone wanting a quality landscape project managed by a very professional crew.
I can’t wait to see what they can do with the limited space available in my rental property – no doubt they’re going to blow my mind yet again. If your La Jolla property needs a landscape redesign, do yourself a favor and get in touch with Torrey Pines Landscape Company:
Hey, everyone! Just wanted to give y’all a quick update on what I’ve been up to as of late. I know it’s been a while since I posted here, but I’m retired and enjoying myself, OK? You get this stuff for free, so stop complaining!
Anyway, you all know how I get sudden flashes of inspiration when I find new things to throw myself into headlong. Not so long ago it was sailing, and while I still enjoy going out on the boat, the lady muse is a fickle creature and has turned my attention to something else.
That something else is…a little strange, admittedly. I was recently walking through the local botanical gardens and it just so happened to coincide with the opening of their newest exhibit: the Japanese stone garden, or karesansui.
When I happened upon the garden, I was utterly captivated. I watched the caretaker make flowing paths in the rock, creating a perfectly level design that seemed to emulate the ebb and flow of life.
I had to have it.
Problem was, my yard was already filled with stuff! Hardscapes and landscaping would need to be removed or altered completely in order to accommodate the new zen garden I would be adding, and I simply did not have the tools to do it myself.
Luckily, my friends over at Torrey Pines Landscaping are world famous for their wide-ranging portfolio for landscape construction in San Diego, so I gave them a quick call and explained the situation to them. Bemused but accommodating, they agreed to help me clear the yard in preparation for the new and unusual addition.
Torrey Pines Landscaping, one of the finest local firms I have the pleasure of working with, is well known for their thoroughness, professionalism, and quality of work. If you don’t believe me, just scope out a couple of their reviews:
Torrey Pines Landscape Company Was highly recommended to us.
If you want the best this is the company to use.
When we met the owner Harry, we immediately felt very comfortable working with him and his team.
He is extremely knowledgeable, many years of experience, passionate and has a great personality. We had a lot of fun working with him. His team is top-notch. Lei, his Architectural designer and John, his Supervisor were excellent.
Always available, very professional, and dedicated.
It was impressive to watch how hard and efficient his crews worked. They were always accommodating and helpful.
Harry and his team have high standards and want the customer to be happy.
We at all times were welcome to share in choices and decisions. So ultimately, we now love our new courtyard, hardscape, landscape and driveway.
We enjoyed the journey and are thrilled with the results. It filled our expectations and more. – Melane L.
We had a fantastic experience working with Torrey Pines Landscaping. Harry and his entire crew were wonderful to work with. They designed a beautiful and functional front yard for our family that fit our lifestyle and compliments our home. They really went above and beyond with every detail and the quality of their work. Our yard stands out now and truly beautifies our home. – Christine B.
In preparation for the work to be done, I have already begun practicing my stone gardening by buying a bonsai tree featuring a mini stone landscape. While I’m not especially good at it yet, hours fly by without me even noticing.
If you’re like me and need to make some major changes in your yard, don’t hesitate getting in contact with Torrey Pines Landscaping – they’ll transform your yard into something unrecognizably beautiful.
I’ve got so much pent up energy and nowhere to go. Unfortunately, backyard concerts are out of the question as we all maintain social distancing to stay safe from the pandemic. I decided that it would best to focus my energy on doing something productive that would allow me to get outside but still stay in a safe space.
A wide range of homeowners are building sheds, personal gyms, or home offices within their backyard. People around the world need to abide by work from home protocol and are now ready to set up a well-designed home office in their premises. In addition, people are looking for personal gyms in their backyards in order to maintain social distancing without compromising their health. Detached and self-contained spaces provide a practical and affordable solution. Companies that sell different backyard services and products started gaining more popularity in the United States.
The modern shed suppliers are even ready to design premium arrangements depending upon the unique needs of the buyers. You can find a variety of materials to design these structures. Price ranges vary with size and other options.
That said, I haven’t been thinking about building an office or gym in my backyard. What I have really wanted was a landscape overhaul. If you’ve got the same idea on your mind, I highly recommend this resource on landscaping mistakes and solutions. Composting is one of the most important and nourishing practices you can do to maintain a beautiful and healthy backyard. When it comes to adding plants, consider the climate of where you live, and give yourself a realistic estimate of how much time you can spend on a weekly basis to maintain. Many people don’t understand how much goes into the architecture of outdoor living spaces. It doesn’t just happen overnight, and you can’t simply dig a hole, fit it with a plant, and leave it there. It needs to be fertilized, watered and nourished on a regular basis.
Now I’m more of a breaker than a builder. I’d rather tear things down than design and build something new. That’s why I did my research and found a Coronado company that offers professional landscape design and build services. Torrey Pines Landscape Company has been around for decades. If you check out their portfolio on their website, you will be blown away like I was. The company takes a site from any old backyard and transforms it into an oasis. They have the most innovative and creative designs—it’s pretty spectacular.
If you’re like me, I would leave a landscaping overhaul to the professionals. They have decades of craftsmanship and expertise in designing and bringing their clients’ dreams into the perfect Del Mar Landscape. The entire process requires a ton of communication, and the landscapers with the best reputations will be the ones who are always keeping their clients in the loop. They will also need to check out the site to take measurements and photographs so as to plan and design accordingly. Masonry, planting, hardscape, and softscape are just a few of the different facets of one entire landscaping project.
As I travelled the world as a young man, the one thing that
always really got to me was the feeling that America was…lacking something that
almost every other country had. A rock-solid connection to a shared history,
perhaps you could call it.
In other words, a culture! Hah!
It’s a pretty common observation, I know, but whenever you’d
walk out into a city like Budapest or Prague, you could see thousands of years
of history built straight into the very essence of the town around you. With
each block came structures that were built hundreds of years ago by people who
knew that they’d never get to use them, but knew that future generations would.
There’s something to that concept that got lost in
translation as people packed their bags and moved here. It may be because we
got all the poor buggers of Europe moving over here in the early days whose
idea of adequate shelter is a thatched roof on a pile of rotten logs, but
whatever the case may be, I feel we got short-shifted in the exchange. Their
houses and the landscaping surrounding their dwellings captured a feeling, a
spirit, a people! Ours are…pragmatic. The frontier spirit, I guess.
Since our first tours out to Europe and then my own personal
travels to places like North Africa, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Japan, I’ve
been determined to grab a little of that time-transcendent energy and put it
into a home
that my family can use for generations to come. If you’ve read this blog
for any length of time, you know the family aspect of my life can definitely
use some work, but I do believe I have the house and its landscaping worked out
perfectly.
The perfect generational house has to have the permanent, opulent
yard to match, and for that I found an incredible company to help me get my
plans worked out just to my liking, Torrey
Pines Landscaping in La Jolla. Those guys have made some genuinely
incredible landscapes over the years, and they’ve helped me on more than one
occasion work up some landscaping plans that would be fit for a minor Asiatic prince,
harem and all.
For the real major jobs, the company provides a full CAD
(computer aided design) mockup of what the yard is going to look like, and as
changes are made or requested, you get real time updates on how those changes
are going to affect your landscaping without the need to just visualize it in
your head. This leads to you being less stressed during construction and makes
it way easier for everyone since you’re way more likely to fall in love with
the design instead of making last minute adjustments.
So, if you’re looking to reclaim a little of that Old World
spirit in your abode to pass on to future generations through some landscaping in your La Jolla home,
I can’t recommend Torrey Pines Landscaping enough.
I don’t mean to brag, but I throw the best parties. My daughter keeps telling me that I’m trying to relive the old glory days and feel young again, but I tell her that I’m just young soul trapped in an old body who can never have too much fun!
I can always count on my best friends to turn on the good times and tear it up. Unfortunately, they also tear up my lawn. Every time we’re finished partying, it looks like a storm passed through and ripped the ground up from underneath! What a nightmare. I have to pay someone to come in every time and fix my lawn after every party because of how bad it looks. It’s been a massive chore to deal with and I’m starting to dread waking up in the morning after to see the damage. It isn’t pretty.
My daughter keeps telling me to stop drinking, dancing, and stomping around with friends at our house, but we all know that I’m not slowing down any time soon. Especially not when I throw the best parties in town – even the paparazzi take note!
I figured that if I wasn’t going to be taking my parties down a notch, that I’d have to take my grass up a notch. Sounds weird, I know. What I mean by that is I needed tougher grass. That’s basically what an artificial lawn is; the look and feel of grass, but tougher and more durable.
I started thinking about how great my life would be if I could preserve the beauty of my backyard with artificial turf. But I still wasn’t entirely sure about it after thinking about it. I had a hard time figuring out if the artificial grass would even look good. After all, I didn’t spend all the time and money on a gorgeous backyard patio and hood just to ruin the scenery with some ugly looking grass!
I pulled out my laptop and typed into Google: artificial grass installation Orange County. I came across NoMow Turf. “Interesting!” I thought to myself. The company name made a good point I hadn’t even thought about before. Artificial turf isn’t just longer lasting, it also doesn’t require time and money to be mowed!
Anyways, right away I see photos on their site. I’m thinking “This is cool. This looks pretty good.” Then I’m thinking “This is pretty impressive.”
I called them and ask for a quote. They were very professional at answering my questions and setting up an appointment.
Once the new lawn was installed, I couldn’t believe how amazing it looked! Even my daughter said, “Dad, you made the right choice. This was a good call.”
The very next weekend we had the gang over to tear it up again. However, this time they didn’t tear up my lawn! For the first time in many parties, my backyard didn’t look like the aftermath of a disaster. Boy, was I relieved! Also, the backyard looks better than ever.
If you’re tired of your beat up old lawn, give NoMow Turf a call and see what they can do for you.
NoMow Turf 26774 Vista Terrace, Lake Forest, CA 92630, USA
Now he understood what his ex-wife was talking about. Ex-wives, he thought. The old rock star stood in his robe on the back porch. He had a small patio back there, but otherwise, it was just a plain, perfectly manicured lawn. A home is a lot more than a show house, or a party house, or even a rocking recording room. He had all of those, of course, in all of his beautiful mansions spread across several properties. But, he felt like they were all missing something.
Holding his steaming coffee close to his chest, he stepped outside and sat down.
Despite being a rock star at heart, and a wandering soul to boot, he’s getting older and he knew it. Staying behind the curtain in his older age meant he was spending more time at home. He knew something that was missing in all of them: a place to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. To live at the home, not just to sleep. Especially now that he could have grandchildren soon.
He closed his eyes and imagined strumming along to the tempo of the ocean.
One of his favorite homes is in La Jolla, nestled into the rugged coastline of southern California. The rocky cliffs and clear water were refreshing. Whenever he’s there, he just wants to be close to the ocean and quietly play his guitar. Of course, he needs an enjoyable place to sit outside and remain anonymous. The last thing he wanted was some journalist knowing he wanted to sit outside and enjoy the sound of the ocean. It’d kill his rock star vibe. Actually, the more he thought about it, he realized he wanted to revamp all his houses. Why not?
Later that day, he reached out to a friend who got him in touch with a landscaping company. They would come and redo his entire front, back, and side yard. Landscaping in La Jolla was a bit of a challenge, but they were up to it. They incorporated a gorgeous bare brick and outdoor BBQ theme. The BBQ grill was featured as the centerpiece, with a small stage on one side. Beautiful, yet functional. He didn’t know how much cooking he’d get done on the grill, but from his younger days, he knew at least he could make a mean s’mores. La Jolla was home away from home.
The next personal project was a Rancho Santa Fe landscape design. Rancho Santa Fe was where the other famous people go to relax. It was hard to think of himself as famous and a celebrity in that sense. After all, rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t scream caviar, but he couldn’t help but enjoy the perks. There, he had the team design an elegant outdoor setting, complete with a pool and an entertainment system. It’d be a nice place to go swimming and watch movies. The landscape team outdid themselves.
He saved the most complicated home for last: his mansion in San Diego, a high-end landscape project. He wanted to go all out here. The backyard wouldn’t be complete without a swimming pool, grilling and eating area, and a small stage for his own personal rock concerts. You can take the man out of the concert, but you can’t take the concert out of the man.
After the last brick was laid and the final check stroked, he called his daughter.
“Hey hun,” he said. He leaned back in his adirondack chair.
“What’s up?” his daughter asked.
“Nothing much,” he said. “Why don’t you bring the husband over? I got a new pool.”
They did a great job. It was worth it. If you need a good landscaper, be sure to check out:
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