What does design-build mean for a Coronado landscape project?
Design-build in Coronado means one crew draws the plan and installs it. Samuel Fortes walks the lot, reads sun and salt exposure, hand-draws the planting and hardscape plan, then sets irrigation, builds hardscape, and plants it. Nothing gets handed to a sub with a sketch. A full front and back runs several weeks.
Last updated: July 2026
A homeowner off 1st St called us after a rendering had been sitting in a drawer for eight months. Beautiful drawing. Nobody would build it for the number the designer had quoted, and the two contractors who looked at it wanted to change half the plant list.
That gap is the whole problem.
The split model versus design-build
The traditional route hires a designer, gets a plan, then bids that plan to contractors. It works fine on large projects with a project manager riding it. On a Coronado residential lot it usually just adds a translation layer.
| Designer, then separate contractor | Design-build (one crew) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the plant list | Designer draws it, contractor often substitutes | Same person picks it and plants it |
| Bid accuracy | Estimated from a drawing, revised on site | Priced by the person who measured the lot |
| Design review revisions | Back to the designer, then re-bid | Redrawn and re-priced together |
| Irrigation sequencing | Frequently specified after hardscape | Reset before anything gets paved over |
| Who answers when a bed fails | Split between two parties | One number to call |
Why the island makes the split model expensive
Coronado has rules that show up after the drawing. Many HOAs and design review boards have plant palette expectations, and street-facing hedge heights commonly cap around 42 inches. A plan that ignores that comes back rejected.
Under the split model, a rejection means going back to the designer, waiting for a revision, and re-bidding the change. Two invoices, one delay.
We draw to the board's rules before we price anything. Redoing a bed a design board rejected is the most expensive mistake on the island.
Access changes the number more than square footage does
On the older lots off B Ave, C Ave, and J Ave the side yards are tight enough that a wheelbarrow is the only way material reaches the back. Mature trees sit exactly where you would want to stage a pallet.
A designer working from a site plan cannot see that. We price demo and haul-out around it, because on a tight lot the material handling is a real line item and not a rounding error.
The order we actually work in
Water and structure first. Plants last.
Salt air corrodes irrigation faster here than anywhere inland in San Diego, so we set brass and stainless heads with pressure-rated PVC before hardscape goes down. Trenching a finished patio to chase a corroded line is the redo nobody wants to pay for.
Then hardscape. Then the beds, picked for the exposure we measured. A plant that reads fine in a shaded Mission Hills courtyard will scorch on a 1st St back yard taking full afternoon sun off the bay by August.
We phase the install so the street-facing beds go in first. You see the front of the house finished while the back is still staged.
How long and how much
A full front and back design and build usually runs several weeks from first sketch to first plant. Cost tracks the hardscape square footage and plant count more than the lot size does.
We have drawn and planted 11 verified properties on the island, including 667 Ocean Blvd, 545 Ocean Blvd, 609 1st St, 653 B Ave, and 745 J Ave, plus the commercial beds at Banc of California. Ecosystem Landscaping & Design has been open since January 2017 and holds CSLB License #1152146, bonded and insured.
Not every job needs a full design. A rehab of existing beds is a different conversation, and we will say so. But if you are moving hardscape and irrigation, having the person who drew it standing there when it goes in is worth more than the drawing.
See finished work on our Coronado portfolio, read what a Coronado backyard renovation really costs, or start with our landscape design service. If we designed and built your yard on the island, mention the street and the work in your Google review.