Landscaping in Point Loma, CA

Last updated: 2026-07-22

Landscaping in Point Loma, CA

Landscaping in Point Loma means solving grade before planting. Lots below Sunset Cliffs shed water downhill, so drainage lines and retaining walls get planned first, then beds get drawn around the finished grade. Samuel Fortes walks each lot, draws the plan, plants it, and returns to prune. Design and build on a typical Point Loma front and back runs $18,000 to $60,000, and slope work sits at the top of that range.

Last updated: July 2026

Point Loma is not Coronado with a view. The flats on the island let us set an irrigation grid and move on. Here the water decides the plan.

We rebuilt a washed-out back yard on a street off Catalina Boulevard two winters ago where a season of rain took about 6 inches of soil out from under the plantings and stacked it against the back fence. We hauled off four truckloads of that soil before we could even see the grade. On jobs like that we cut the drain runs and set the walls before a single one-gallon shrub comes off the truck.

Why drainage comes before plants on a Point Loma slope

Grade is the first measurement we take. A lot dropping 8 to 12 feet from street to back fence moves water fast enough to strip mulch and undercut a new bed in one storm.

We plan for it with 4-inch area drains tied to solid SDR-35 pipe run at a 1 percent fall minimum, 12 inches of 3/4-inch clean gravel behind any wall, and terracing that gives roots something to hold. Perforated pipe in a gravel-wrapped trench behind a retaining wall is not optional out here. Hydrostatic pressure is what pushes a wall over, not the soil weight.

Retaining wall work on these slopes runs roughly $85 to $150 per face foot once footing depth, drainage and block are priced together, and the wall height drives that number more than the length does. Anything over 3 feet needs engineering and a permit, which adds $1,500 to $3,000 before we set a single block. We put the honest ranges in what a retaining wall costs on a Point Loma slope.

Salt air reaches these slopes too

The wind coming off the water below Sunset Cliffs carries the same salt that eats irrigation on the bayfront. We have pulled plated risers off a Ladera Street job at four years old that were pitted through. Brass and stainless heads and Schedule 40 PVC hold up; we run our mainlines at 60 to 65 PSI and set the pressure regulators to keep them there, because anything higher fogs the heads and drifts salt-laden mist straight onto the foliage.

We choose the plant palette for that exposure before anything gets ordered. A shrub that reads fine in a shaded Mission Hills courtyard will burn on a west-facing Point Loma slope by August, when we see 95 degrees on the block face while the air temp is in the mid 70s.

Wind matters as much as sun. On the exposed lots above Sunset Cliffs Boulevard we keep the taller material back 6 to 8 feet from the edge and let low, tough plantings take the front so the whole bed does not shred in a spring blow.

What we do in Point Loma

• Landscape design and construction, drawn by hand after we walk the lot
• Drainage planning, terracing and retaining walls
• Irrigation installation and sprinkler design built for salt exposure
• Drought-tolerant planting that stays green without leaning on metered water rates
• Hardscape: patios, pavers, walkways, fire pits
• Landscape lighting
• Residential and commercial maintenance, lawn care, cleanup and rehab

The streets and stretches we work

We work the blocks running down toward Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, the older streets around La Playa and Roseville where lots sit narrow and long, up along Catalina Boulevard, and out toward Ocean Beach where the grade flattens and sand shows up in the soil profile. Our crew comes over the bridge from Coronado, about 20 minutes door to door, so Point Loma and Ocean Beach are a short run for us, not an outlying job we squeeze in.

Access is the other thing nobody prices correctly. Several of these La Playa lots have a side yard 30 to 36 inches wide, tight enough that a wheelbarrow is the only way material reaches the back. On a paver patio that turns a two-day pour-and-set into five days of hauling, and we price the labor honestly instead of discovering it on day one.

How much does landscaping cost in Point Loma?

A full design and build on a front and back usually runs 3 to 6 weeks from first sketch to first plant and lands between $18,000 and $60,000. The cost tracks hardscape square footage and plant count more than lot size - pavers run $18 to $28 per square foot installed, and a drainage system on a sloped lot is $4,000 to $9,000 on its own. Slope work adds to that, because drainage and walls are structural, not decorative.

Maintenance on a finished Point Loma yard runs $180 to $400 a month depending on how much of it is planted and how often the coastal growth needs cutting back.

We quote after we walk it. Not before. A phone estimate on a sloped lot is a guess and it is usually wrong in the direction that costs you later.

Who does the work

Samuel Fortes runs every job site. He grew up on a farm in Brazil and spent his first decade of work in the US doing landscape jobs on Coronado and Point Loma, which is why we already know how these slopes behave in February. Ecosystem Landscaping & Design is CSLB License #1152146, bonded and insured. Manuela Rabelo handles scheduling and follow-up.

Most of our work comes from neighbors who watched Sam tend somebody else's yard for a few seasons. The Catalina Boulevard rebuild came from the house two doors down, and we have maintained both yards since.

More on the technical side in why drainage comes before plants on Point Loma slopes and what we learned rebuilding a washed-out yard above Sunset Cliffs. Finished work is on the portfolio, and the services list lives on our landscape design page.

If we built or maintained a yard for you in Point Loma, La Playa or above Sunset Cliffs, mention the street and the work in a Google review. Specifics help other neighbors more than a star rating does.

Call 619.243.9495 or email info@ecosystemlands.com to get on the walk-through schedule.