Planting & Softscape in Sausalito, CA
Novara brings landscapes to life with planting and softscape design in Sausalito, CA, from drought-tolerant native gardens to lush ornamental planting. Designed for the coastal climate and backed by a plant health guarantee.
A Recent Novara Planting and Softscape Project in Sausalito
All Novara Services in Sausalito, CA
Every Novara service is built to work together. Browse our full range in Sausalito and combine what fits your property.
Full Outdoor Builds
Complete property transformations from 3D design through final installation.
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Patios
Natural stone, paver, and flagstone patios built on a proper base.
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Retaining Walls
Engineered retaining walls in stone, block, and timber for sloped lots.
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Driveways
Paver, concrete, and stamped driveways with proper drainage and grading.
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Concrete
Concrete walkways, slabs, and foundations finished clean.
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Planting and Softscape
Native and ornamental planting, lawn installation, and softscape design.
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Wood Hardscapes
Pergolas, fences, decks, and custom wood structures built to last.
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Gardening
Ongoing garden care, seasonal planting, and property maintenance.
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Irrigation and Lighting
Smart irrigation systems and low-voltage landscape lighting design.
Learn More →Real Reviews from Marin and Sonoma County Homeowners
Every Mill Valley project we build comes with a story. Here is what our clients say in their own words.
What Are the Best Drought-Tolerant Plants for a Sausalito Landscape?
The best drought-tolerant plants for a Sausalito landscape are California natives and Mediterranean species that thrive in the coastal climate, such as manzanita, ceanothus, salvia, lavender, rosemary, and ornamental grasses. They handle dry summers, need little water once established, and suit the bay's mild, foggy conditions.
California natives are the backbone. Manzanita gives you sculptural form and that unmistakable red bark year round. Ceanothus, the California lilac, delivers a blue bloom in spring that nothing else matches and asks for almost nothing in return. Coffeeberry fills space reliably in part shade, and native salvias bring in hummingbirds without any effort on your part.
Mediterranean plants belong here because the climate is essentially the same. Lavender, rosemary, and santolina want exactly what Sausalito already provides, which is dry summers and mild winters. They also happen to be plants deer walk past, which on a Marin property is not a small consideration.
Ornamental grasses do the work of softening everything around them. Deer grass and Stipa move in the wind, catch afternoon light, and hold their shape through the dry months when a lot of the garden goes quiet.
Succulents and agave supply the structure. When you want a form that reads clearly against hardscape and needs essentially no water, this is the category.
Those are regional examples, not a plan. The plan comes from your specific lot.
Which is where Sausalito stops behaving like anywhere else. This is a coastal microclimate of its own, defined by cool bay fog, mild year-round temperatures, genuinely dry summers, and salt air that gets stronger the closer you sit to the water. Plants that flourish twenty miles inland can sulk here, and plants adapted to the coast will outperform every expectation. It is common for two Sausalito properties on different sides of a ridge to want noticeably different plant lists.
On a hillside lot, planting also does structural work. Deep-rooted natives hold soil, slow runoff, and reduce erosion on the slope above and below a terrace. It is the reason planting and engineered retaining walls are so often designed together here, with the wall holding the grade and the planting holding the surface.
Water-wise planting is also just the reality of landscaping in California now. A garden built around natives and Mediterranean species uses a fraction of what a conventional landscape drinks, and pairing it with smart irrigation means water goes only where it is needed and only when the plants ask for it.
We design each garden around the microclimate the property actually sits in, then install with our own crew as part of the complete build, so the softscape is planned alongside the hardscape rather than dropped in around it once everything else is finished. That distinction is visible in the result. On a full outdoor build, the planting is what makes the stonework look like it belongs there.
And we stand behind what goes in the ground. Every install carries a plant health guarantee, and we come back at 30 days to check on establishment, adjust irrigation, and catch anything that needs attention while it is still easy to fix. Keeping it thriving after that is what ongoing garden care is for.
The right plants for Sausalito are the ones suited to this coastal microclimate and to your particular slope, soil, and exposure, chosen and installed by people who have worked this terrain for thirty years. California C-27 license number 1134876, fully insured, and a free design consultation to start.
How Novara Installs Planting and Softscape in Sausalito
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Site Survey and Plant Plan
We walk your property, study sun exposure, soil, salt air, and grade, then design the planting in 3D so you see the mature landscape first.
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Soil Prep and Amendment
Bay Area soil varies block to block. Most properties need compost, drainage material, or imported topsoil before anything goes in the ground.
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Planting Installation
Trees, shrubs, perennials, ground cover, and lawn set at proper depth and spacing, with irrigation tied in so plants get water from day one.
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Mulch and 30-Day Check-In
Mulched to hold moisture and suppress weeds, aftercare explained, then we return at 30 days to check establishment and adjust.
Why Sausalito Homeowners Trust Novara for Planting and Softscape
30 Years
Planting since 1998
Microclimate-Smart
Plants that thrive here
Licensed C-27
#1134876 California
Plant Guarantee
With 30-day check-in
Marin is microclimates inside microclimates. Coastal fog rolls in over Mount Tamalpais, oak woodlands give way to redwoods, and a property a few miles inland gets different sun and water exposure than one sitting above Richardson Bay. In Sausalito specifically, salt air and near-constant marine moisture add a variable most plant lists ignore. Plants that thrive in one neighborhood can struggle three miles away on a hillside facing the wrong direction. Novara has spent thirty years learning which natives, ornamentals, and lawn types actually perform here, founded in 1998 by Esteban Garcia and run today by his son Steven Garcia Ochoa. Every plant plan we install is matched to the real sun, soil, salt, and slope conditions of your specific lot, and every install carries a plant health guarantee with a 30-day check-in. The 3D design lets you see the mature landscape, not just plants in the ground.
Serving Sausalito and Marin County
Novara designs and builds across Sausalito and the surrounding Marin County communities. See everything we offer in your area.
View Sausalito Services →Sausalito Planting and Softscape FAQ
How long have you designed gardens in Marin?
Thirty years. Novara was founded in 1998 by Esteban Garcia and is run today by his son, Steven Garcia Ochoa. These microclimates are what we have planted in the entire time.
Do you know the local coastal plants?
Yes. Sausalito sits in a cool, foggy, salt-influenced pocket, and we design around it. Manzanita, ceanothus, coffeeberry, native salvias, lavender, rosemary, and ornamental grasses all perform well here.
Do you design drought-tolerant and native gardens?
That is most of what we design now. A native and Mediterranean planting uses a fraction of the water a conventional landscape does, and it looks better through a dry Sausalito summer.
Do you install lawns too?
Yes. Cool-season blends, warm-season grasses, synthetic turf for shaded or sloped areas, and low-water alternatives like creeping thyme or no-mow native grasses.
Is the design consultation free?
Yes. We come to your Sausalito property, walk the land, talk through native and ornamental options, and follow up with a 3D design preview and a written estimate.
Do you guarantee the plants?
Yes. Every install carries a plant health guarantee, and we return at 30 days to check establishment, adjust the irrigation, and address anything that needs attention.
What is your plant guarantee?
Plant material is covered for one year against death caused by installation issues. Workmanship, including planting depth, staking, and irrigation tie-in, carries our two-year warranty.
What if a plant does not survive?
Tell us and we come look. If it failed for a reason tied to the install, we replace it. Losses from neglect, deer, or animal damage fall outside the guarantee, which is why the 30-day check-in matters.