On the Boards: Atascadero Oasis

On the Boards: Atascadero Oasis

Designed to succeed in the Atascadero climate, this Mediterranean-style oasis provides ample space for play, multi-functional entertainment features, and the tropical airs of the lush plant selections. The 7,000 SF design-build project is shaping up to be an inviting retreat for family and friends.

Its multi-purpose entertainment spaces include a pool, fire feature, outdoor kitchen, and reduced-footprint lawn that transitions to a patio. The custom kiva fireplace wall is built to warm colder nights and cozy up the recessed seating area just past the pool and mountable movie projector screen. The outdoor kitchen and bar seating make for picture-perfect socializing and party hosting.

Chock-full of fun elements and smooth transitions, this thoughtful and cohesive landscape is sure to be a delightful retreat for both family and guests.

Interested in talking to us about your landscape design? Contact our team at [email protected] or (805) 466-6263.

On the Boards: Elegant Central Coast Retreat 

On the Boards: Elegant Central Coast Retreat 

Set in the rolling Atascadero hills, this 2.5-acre property is undergoing significant architectural renovations and a landscape transformation to achieve a family-oriented space for fun and relaxation. Planned as a family vacation home on the Central Coast, the new guest quarters, pool, and significant landscape improvements maximize the space near the house and infuse an elegant Mediterranean character to enhance the refreshed architectural style.

Using a colorful central planting palette and strong native transitions, Madrone designed a bold and beautiful setting. Features include a fruit orchard, a fire pit nestled into the front slope, redwood veggie beds, all new irrigation, a central pool deck and patio layout, planting throughout, stone walls, two water fountains, various seating areas, a bocce court, and semi-formal pathways through undisturbed zones.

Madrone has coordinated phased landscape improvements with the architectural firm, Isaman design, to transform large portions of the parcel. Phase 1 installation is already underway, where we are installing a dozen fruit trees near the rear of the property and a native plant screen at the front.

Interested in talking to us about your landscape design? Contact our team at [email protected] or (805) 466-6263.

Meet the Team: Cory Meyer, Certified Arborist

Meet the Team: Cory Meyer, Certified Arborist

How long have you worked at Madrone?
Since 2014. I met Rick when we were both volunteering for the Atascadero Native Tree Association (ANTA) circa 1990. I was working in parks for the City of Atascadero, and when I retired in 2013 Rick asked if I’d be interested in doing work for Madrone.

What is your favorite thing about working at Madrone?
It’s a great company to work with. The employees are committed to quality, and they care about the environment.

Over the years, Cory has stepped in for Santa Claus at Madrone holiday parties.

What do you enjoy most about your job/specialization?
I started getting into plants when I was about 21 years old. I grew to be interested in trees when I moved to Atascadero in 1985 because of the oaks around. Once I started volunteering with ANTA, I became really interested in preserving trees around the area. I really enjoy being able to preserve our oak woods in the area. Also, watching tree planting projects I’ve been involved with and seeing the growth of the trees I’ve planted over the years is very satisfying.

What is your favorite Madrone project and why?
I don’t know about a favorite. They are all interesting to me. I might be consulting on how a design or construction can least impact the existing trees in the area, troubleshooting trees that don’t look healthy and providing a diagnosis, or working around the oak trees. I love it all.

What is your favorite, or least favorite, plant and why?
Valley Oak are my favorite oak trees – they’re the largest growing oak tree in North America and they can last for several hundred years. My least favorite is the Ailanthus – the tree of heaven. It’s not a native and it’s extremely invasive.

What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of work?
I play a game called pétanque. It’s like bocce only it’s a French version involving tossing rather than rolling. Also, pétanque can be played on different terrains. I also like to volunteer with Atascadero Land Preservation Society (ALPS).

Give us a fun fact about you!
I have four desert tortoises as pets. The way that they can exist and hibernate through the winter without food or water is very interesting to me. They are very low maintenance and can live 80-100 years if property taken care of.

Our arborist services are available at any phase of your project – in design, during construction, or with maintenance. For more details, contact us at [email protected] or (805) 466-6263.

Meet the Team: Tyler Ellison, Landscape Designer

Meet the Team: Tyler Ellison, Landscape Designer

Madrone extends a warm welcome to Tyler Ellison, who recently joined our landscape design team. With his functional and pragmatic approach, he fits right in! He is detailed yet practical in his designs, ensuring his fresh ideas are both buildable and unique. He loves meeting new friends, listening to their needs and experiences, and working alongside them to create a space they can enjoy and call their own. We look forward to tasting his homemade mac & cheese!

How did you end up at Madrone?
After finishing both the Landscape Architecture and MBA programs at Cal Poly SLO, I was looking to join a Central Coast landscape design company. I worked for around two years for a landscape architecture firm in San Luis Obispo. I have always been a designer and “maker” – so I jumped at the opportunity to work for a design/build company.

What is your favorite thing about working at Madrone?
My favorite thing about working for Madrone is people—both in and out of the office—and the diversity of opportunities it brings me as a young designer.

Sometimes I use Sketchup to help visualize design features and the feel of a space.

What do you enjoy most about your team/department?
I enjoy the unique strengths of each individual, and the various perspectives they lend to design and installation. Their feedback and crititique is a welcome challenge and completely necessary for any young creative.

What do you enjoy most about being a landscape designer?
I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their dreams for a space, and collaborating with them to design a space that is functional, unique, and beautiful.

I enjoy the sketching process starting out any new design.

I love the bold statement of a gold Bougainvillea, but also the softness of a variegated thyme along a path. I would consider Platinum Beauty Lomandra to be my favorite and most versatile landscape planting element. I unambiguously dislike Bradford Pear trees—massively overplanted, messy, susceptible to disease, and structurally weak, to name a few characteristics.

Photo of Platinum Beauty Lomandra from a favorite breakfast spot in Yountville, California.

What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of work?
Since my first art show in early 2020, I have continued to paint and sell art through an online portfolio, ellisondesigns.com. I love people, plants of all types, exploring new places, live jazz, brewing craft ginger beer, and developing a line of custom reclaimed wood furniture.

Give us a fun fact about you!
If landscape design doesn’t work out, you will find me opening a food truck that serves made-to-order macaroni and cheese and a variety of crunchy and savory toppings.

Ready for a landscape design and want to talk to a professional? Contact our landscape designers at [email protected] or (805) 466-6263.

People Love Us on Yelp!

People Love Us on Yelp!

Madrone Awarded Yelp! 2021 Honor

And that’s the amazing thing—we’ve won dozens of incredible awards from officials, regions, and authorities which identify our skills on a specialized level, but Yelp! ratings aren’t professional reviews. They’re the opinions of average folks like us and like you, and that’s what makes this so special.

Our community is deeply important to us at Madrone, so having the approval and support of our clients and neighbors is an honor, and we’re excited to display something so small as the “People Love Us on Yelp!” window cling that we received this year. We earned this award through having a significant enough number of positive reviews that we were singled out as a business of genuine quality, and we treasure every review that got us here.

This honor is for 2021, and we’ll be working hard to make our community proud every year to come. Thank you, everyone, for your support.