design | installation | maintenance

HARDSCAPE (natural and recycled alternatives)

Living Driveway - Living driveways are built from cement or hard plastic beehive-type cells. Within the cells are planted numerous plants that bring the driveway of any house alive with flowers and sweet aromas. A living driveway has greater porosity than a concrete or asphalt driveway, therefore improving the drainage of the site

Living Roofs/Steps - Living roof technology is the urban center dream. It incorporates native grasses, succulents, and even edible plants to a roof design, increasing efficient heating and cooling. A living roof may serve as a means for feeding a household with fresh produce grown locally maximizing garden space. Living steps use the same technology as the living driveway increasing porosity and beauty

Patios and Pathways - Terra Novas patios and pathways are made of natural and recycled materials, minimizing the use of nonrenewable resources. Our patios are set without the use of concrete leaving planting pockets available between each stone.

Permeable Driveway - Permeable driveways utilize a technology that allows homeowners to have a concrete driveway without high amounts of runoff during rains. The concrete is porous and allows water to filter slowly through it, keep water onsite and help recharge the groundwater tables.

Water Features

Ponds/Waterfalls /Flow Form - Our ponds reflect the patterns of nature and will enhance the beauty of any landscape. Terra Novas ponds use natural filtration systems and greatly reduce the need for chemical water treatments. They help increase the landscapes vitality by creating habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Waterfalls and Flowforms are water features usually incorporated into our pond designs to create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere while helping the pond naturally oxygenate and clean itself. The inclusion of water features in a landscape play a large part in completing a functional system.

Fences

Living/Constructed - Living fences are a natural way of creating visual and physical boundaries for your landscape. Our living fences may include espaliered apples and pears, roses, vines, nopales, or whatever else you may imagine. Our constructed fences are built from bamboo, recycled or salvaged redwood materials.

Drainage Management

Dry Creek Bed - Dry creek beds composed of river cobbles of various sizes are used to add dimension or artistic flow to a landscape. The creek beds are also designed to help channel intermittent water flow from sources such as gutters for better dispersion and percolation of water within the landscape.

French Drains/ Burms - Drainage is a concern in many landscapes throughout the Central Coast due to its potential for winter inundations. Due to proximity of houses to each other and radical slopes between them, as well as different soil types and ground water levels, drainage management is always a main focus in our landscape design efforts. Terra Novas drainage management installations including French drains, swales, burms, roof water and grey water branched drainage may be designed to collect and redirect house and storm water into the landscape reducing erosion, your water bill and irrigation needs. Terra Nova also installs Sump pumps used to redirect mismanaged runoff and unwanted pooling under house foundations or in yards

Grey water - The water that leaves via sink, shower, and laundry drain, contaminated by a few drops of soap is Grey water. Reusing grey water in the garden reduces pollution and the strain on sewage and septic systems while saving money and energy on irrigation systems. Garden plants and soil organisms gratefully accept the watery part of grey water, and eagerly consume the solid and dissolved contents as food. Routing grey water through a landscape is the best way of completing the homes energy cycle.

SOFTSCAPE (Plantings, etc.)

Native Plantings - Use of indigenous plants that are regionally specific, grown by native plant nurseries to

Erosion Control - Techniques are used to bind loose soils to prevent sediment loss. Grasses are installed in conjunction with erosion control fabrics such as coconut fiber, jute netting, mulching, and silt fences for controlling run-off

Edible Landscapes (Food Forest - Terra Novas food forest installations are designed to increase the owner's independence and interaction with their garden. Food forests not only are ascetically wonderful but useful as well incorporating beauty and function. We use perennial and annual vegetables, vines and fruit trees mixed with native and exotic flowers.

Flower/Herb Lawn - A revolutionary concept enhancing the beauty and fragrance of your lawn area while decreasing the need for irrigation and maintenance. There are a variety of plants used for lawns that may also be harvested for culinary and medicinal uses.

Swales - An ecological designed garden is one that captures, holds, and recycles rainwater functioning as a completely closed system feeding the landscape without wasting well or city water. One of the ways Terra Nova achieves this is by creating swales, which are shallow trenches laid out level along the land's contours.

Medicinal Herb Gardens - Medicine gardens designed for your specific herbal needs that are grown in your own yard and are prescribed by licensed herbalist and acupuncturists. We teach you how to make medicinal tinctures and salves to prepare in your house.

Irrigation

Drip, Lawn - Terra Nova uses water-conserving techniques. Our systems are fully self-operating and can be utilized throughout any landscape. Terra Nova focuses on the installation of easily maintained surface drip irrigation systems.

Compost

Compost Bins/Worm Bins - Every garden must have a compost heap. This is the ideal way to return as much organic matter as possible to the soil, following nature's example. A compost bin is designed to contain the organic matter in a consolidated place within a garden. The constructed compost bin helps to facilitate the stacking of material that needs to take place for successful heating and decomposition of the organic matter. The compost bins may be constructed of many different salvaged or recycled materials. Worm bins are constructed from similar materials as the compost bins. Worm bins are also built to hold organic garden matter, but are designed to create an environment for the worms that are added to the bins to help expedite the decomposition process.

Mulch, Chai Mulch

Chai/Mini Fir Bark - Mulch is the organic material placed over the soil that serves various functions. It may reduce evaporation of moisture from the soil, reduce or prevent weed growth, insulate soil from extreme or rapid changes of temperature, protect falling fruit from injury, or simply make a garden bed or yard look tidy. At Terra Nova we specialize in the application of mulch made from organically-grown and produced chai. This mulch not only serves the above listed functions but also has a rich Aroma and varies in color from blond to reddish-brown. Terra Nova acquires the Chai Mulch from local Chai producers to reduce waste and stack functions. The Chai mulch is low in caffeine and contains, ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, licorice root, orange peel and black tea. We also apply mulch derived from Fir bark and mulch of Composted horse manure. The Composted manure is used as a top dressing to the soil and also mixed with the soil when planting because of its richness in necessary plant nutrients.

Ecological Terracing - The features managing hillsides to transform unused slope areas into useful and productive planting areas, terracing, preventing erosion and increasing useable space. Using urbanite or fieldstones, we dry stack the stones to minimize material consumption.

Integrated Pest Management

Vermicompost Tea - Tea brewed from worm castings is sprayed either as a foliar spray or ground soak to increase fruit production, soil, plant and lawn health, and disease prevention.

Functional Garden Art

Birdbaths - By adding functional garden art such as birdbaths to your garden, you can also increase fertilization and help naturally control the pests.

Cob Ovens - Ovens built out of earthen materials cook pizza, bread, and other foods. Kids love the ovens and they are a party highlight.

Garden Benches (Living, Cob, Recycled) - Garden benches are not only functional but also can add artistic beauty and a focal point to a landscape. Terra Nova builds garden benches from recycled material such as Urbanite, Brick, or a combination of similar materials that may be built freestanding or into the land contours. We also build benches using cob and living benches out of live Willow stakes.

Herb Spiral - Three dimensional spiraling garden bed designed to maximize space and water usage to create microclimates. Herb Spirals may consist of culinary, medicinal, or other combinations of herbs. The design of Herb Spirals facilitates easy harvesting and well placed can be an extension of the kitchen. They are fun for kids and also educational.

Living Willow Furniture & Play - The garden art that keeps on growing. Willow stakes can be continuously shaped to grow and form many different sturdy structures.

Mushroom Logs - Old logs placed in shaded areas of a garden can be inoculated with mycelium from various types of exotic and deliciously edible mushrooms. With a little time and space we can all grow our own Shitakes.

Outdoor Garden Shower - Terra Nova incorporates functional artwork within every garden and landscape we design. Terra Nova installs outdoor showers built from bamboo, fieldstones and other interesting materials.

Raised Beds - Terra Nova incorporates the use of sustainable building materials such as salvaged redwood, trex and other recycled materials in our raised beds with gopher wire netting and drip irrigation for low maintenance, no worries gardening.

Trellis - Edible, native and ornamental vines, as well as espaliered fruit trees require trellises to help support their growth. Using vertical space trellises allow climbing vines and flowers to provide privacy, shade, and dimensionality to your garden. Trellises are made from materials such as bamboo, other wood materials and recycled metals.