Jul 12, 2021
Learn how to make your landscape defensible during fire season
At Madrone Landscape, we have dealt with properties in high fire danger areas for decades. There are many ways to enhance a property’s defensibility, whether through plant selection and design or irrigation and water system strategies.
Visitors to the 2021 Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles will be able to see for themselves some of these best practices at the Fire Safe Demonstration House for view from July 21st to August 1st. The model property will show strategies for living in fire-prone areas around the Central Coast, especially appropriate as fire season comes upon us.
The multi-phased project will be developed over the next couple of years, and Phase One is getting ready for this year’s Fair. After re-grading, tearing out old plants, and doing a weed abatement, Madrone transformed the space into a simple gravel landscape (one of the best options for fire safety). The open gravel area will accommodate shaded seating, a proposed “Hydration Station,” and educational messaging to help people visualize how they can keep their properties fire-safe. A future phase will feature a mobile multi-media educational exhibit, and the occasional visit by a fire truck.
This community education exhibit was created by the Fire Safe Council, spearheaded by Turko Semmes with Madrone Landscape lending assistance. Semmes and Company built the structure, demonstrating closed eaves and partial straw bale, the latter being three times more fire-resistant than the average material. Also contributing to the fire safe landscaping message is the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden (SLOBG), whose Fire Safe Demonstration Garden can be viewed daily at the SLOBG grounds off Hwy 1 in San Luis Obipso, near Cuesta College.
Come visit the Demonstration House, a welcome respite from the hot Paso Robles temperatures, featuring shaded seating areas and the only hydration station at the Fair. Bring your water bottle and swing by for a fill-up!
Jul 8, 2021
Rich History and Old-Stock Mission Vines in Our Backyard
Located on 86 acres of the former Milpitas unit of the Hearst Ranch, the Mission San Antonio de Padua features a large church, a museum, and a gift shop. In 2020, as part of the Mission’s ongoing restoration project, we joined the team to complete a renovation of the Mission’s courtyard garden. Working together with Joan Steele, administrator, we were able to create a beautiful garden designed to showcase the many native plants used by the Salinan Tribe. Although the garden is new, these grounds are rich in history (this year marks its 250th anniversary!), and we asked Joan to highlight one of the few original features remaining in the courtyard garden: its original grape stock.
Heritage grape stock cutting purchased through the Mission San Antonio gift shop.
“The cuttings would have been brought either from Mallorca, Spain, in the 1700s and/or from the area around what is now Mexico City,” explains Joan.
The Franciscans knew they would need to plant a vineyard in the New World to have wine for daily Mass. Following construction of the first irrigation system (aqueduct) in California, the Franciscans and the Native Salinan Tribal Members planted the first vineyard on the Central Coast.
They built an adobe wall around the vineyard to keep the animals out and built a house for the “vineyardist” within the vineyard. As the vines flourished, the Franciscans built two large wine vats and a wine cellar (one of the vats and the wine cellar are still visible today as part of the Mission museum). By 1841 there were 4,000 vines in the vineyard.
The Mexican government secularized the Mission in 1834. It was temporarily abandoned in 1844 and the vineyard continued to decline. Prior to his death in 1882, it is believed Fr. Dorothea Ambris moved some of the vines from the declining vineyard and replanted them inside the Mission courtyard and out in front of the Mission to better care for them.
Joan shares that in 2011 the Mission sent samples of these vines to UC Davis for DNA testing. It was discovered that the grapes are “Mission” grapes – also known as Criolla Chica in South America and Pais in France. While this varietal is no longer available in Spain, this type of grape stock is still used widely in Central and South America to produce the local table wines.
“We are very proud of our historic vines, still producing wonderful annual harvests,” Joan notes. “It is one of our long-range goals to reestablish the vineyard at the Mission, using cuttings from the original vines. We hope to engage the cooperation of local university students to rebuild the adobe walls around the vineyard and grow the historic vines for many years to come.”
Currently, the Mission has some cuttings available through the gift shop when it is open on the weekends. Visit www.missionsanantonio.net to keep abreast of the changing schedule due to COVID restrictions and staffing requirements.
May 5, 2021
Robert Rojas, the owner of Rojas Enterprise, is a licensed contractor with over 20 years of experience. Primarily offering concrete and masonry services, Rojas assists Madrone Landscape with hardscaping. He and his team can be relied upon to enhance projects with everything from decorative patios and walkways to custom project features, outdoor fireplaces, and sound structural retaining walls. By incorporating stains, polishes, and decorative stamps, Rojas’ work is much more than just concrete and masonry.
The Rojas team has been working with Madrone Landscape for over 15 years, where they have completed over 200 projects together. The longevity of the partnership can be mainly attributed to both companies’ dedication to client satisfaction and integrity of their workmanship. “The most important thing to me is making sure the client is happy with the final product,” explained Rojas. He also credited the long working relationship to Madrone’s professionalism. “The team at Madrone is easy to work with, not only because they are good people, but because they provide clear direction with their procedures and schedules.”
Out of all of the projects that the Rojas/Madrone teams have collaborated on, Rojas is particularly proud of a project where they created a stamped, circular pad for a fireplace. Its compass feature was skillfully cut into the concrete and stained to enhance the features.
Aug 10, 2018
At Madrone Landscape, our partnerships with the community, our clients, and subcontractors are a priority. One of the partnerships we highly value is with subcontractor Porter Construction, Inc. For the past five years, Lucas Porter and his team have played a critical role in a variety of commercial and residential projects. As a small locally-owned business, they provide full-service general engineering contracting – including grading, excavation, and underground utilities – in addition to being masters of concrete craftsmanship.
To illustrate how the two companies work together Lucas describes, “To begin with, we do the mass grading and basically make the site look like a bomb went off,” he says with a smile. “We then put in curbing and parking lots, followed by soil in the planters and landscape areas. This is when Madrone comes in with their finesse to make the project look pristine and polished.”
Porter Construction shares a common value with Madrone – building partnerships. “We’re a small company and we work on repeat clientele business. Madrone is one of the larger landscape companies in our area, but they hold small company values,” explains Lucas. “A lot of guys in my trade, they don’t really want to have a relationship. They want to get in, get out, and get their work done. But, early on, I realized the value of truly partnering and creating working relationships.”
By having strong working relationships between contractor and subcontractor, Porter Construction and Madrone Landscape have been successful in bidding and completing several large commercial projects. A few of these projects have been Central Coast winery and tasting rooms; however, when you ask Lucas what his favorite project has been to date, he says it’s the Cold Canyon Landfill. This was an eco-system project, consisting of wetland remediation and drainage channel cleaning. Porter graded it and removed debris, and then Madrone came in to plant. “We did very well on that project, in part due to Madrone’s organization. They were good support, asked me what I needed and didn’t start their work until we were done,” says Lucas. “That was a unique project, pretty fun.”
In addition to the commercial and winery landscaping projects, Porter Construction works with Madrone on residential landscapes. Often, they come in to construct custom concrete elements such as: radius retaining walls, decorative concrete flatwork, colored and stamped driveways and walkways, seat walls, and benches within Madrone-landscaped patios and gardens.
Lucas continues by sharing what he appreciates most about working with Madrone. “From top to bottom, they are good people to work with. Everyone is fair. It’s like a family atmosphere. It’s a team – I want to do my best to make sure they are well represented and they do that for me as well.” Here’s to working together and looking out for one another – a true business partnership. We appreciate Porter Construction and look forward to working together on many more projects in the future!
Jul 25, 2018
To wrap up this month, we at Madrone are celebrating our long-standing relationships. As we think back over our time in business, we are grateful for our many San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County business associations with whom we have created strong connections and shared common ideals, principals, and philosophies. One of these is Semmes & Co. Builders, a Central Coast contractor with whom we have had the honor of working with on several projects.
Just over four decades ago, Rick Mathews started hosting jazz programs at the local radio station KCBX; some of you might know him as the host of the weekly show Freedom Jazz Dance. At that time, Turko Semmes was the host of an evening blues program. In our small community, they quickly realized their shared interests extended beyond music, and included their day jobs: the design and build profession. Rick was starting Madrone Landscape; Turko was founding Semmes & Co. Builders. “I found a kindred spirit in Turko,” says Rick, “With our similar values of quality, integrity, and sustainability, coupled with our similar experiences starting businesses, we became extended family to one another.”
Fast forward a couple of decades, and we have a generational transition taking place. Daniel Mazawa, Madrone’s General Manager, and Jessica Steely, Semmes’ General Manager, joined the companies at roughly the same time, and have formed a great working relationship. “The history is there,” states Rick, “Jessica and Daniel ‘grew up’ together, with many of the same core values.”
Madrone has worked on several projects with Semmes over the years, typically sustainable homes in San Luis Obispo county. The residences include rammed earth elements and zero net energy homes. “When we work with Semmes,” states Daniel, “we know the project will be highly customized; it won’t be like anything else.”
We look forward to our continued working relationship with Semmes & Co. Builders in the years to come!
