BOUNTIFUL AND BEAUTIFUL

How Green Leaf Environmental Landscape Services transformed an unappealing turf-heavy backyard into a luscious vineyard oasis.

What do you get when you remove more than 300 yards of soil and clay to install a vineyard and orchard? An outdoor oasis that is both bountiful and beautiful.

That’s exactly what Green Leaf Environmental Landscape Services did for one of its high-end residential clients in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

“This was definitely a dream project because the client enjoyed the process and the design, which turned out just beautiful,” says Julia Lange, president and CFO of Green Leaf Environmental Landscape Services, which is based in San Diego, Calif.

In addition to reducing the water usage on his property and inputting a vineyard with a large fruit orchard, the client wanted to incorporate privacy by using large trees along the street and sides of the front yard.

To fulfill the client’s vision, crews first removed the entire front yard, including large hardwood trees and an old and dilapidated water feature.

“We removed all the vast lawns and had a clean slate,” Lange says. “We even found a large cantera stone fish at the bottom of the drained water feature that the client didn’t know was there.”

From there, the Green Leaf team built a sizable water feature with two pumps to control the spillways, using the latest technology for autofill and cleaning.

Lange designed the yard with vignettes of planting surrounded by decomposed granite with drought-tolerant specimens.

“The vineyard was designed with table grapes and had rows of blueberries and blackberries, too. We created a mesh system to cover the entire vineyard during fruiting season to keep the birds and critters out,” Lange says.

The fruit orchard included pistachios, oranges, pears, macadamia nuts, cherry trees and more.

Finally, the company installed stand-up flagstone walkways, concrete bridges, many types of flowering trees and WAC LED lighting around the property such as path lights, hanging lights and driveway lights.

Throughout the process, the company was no stranger to pivoting as the client changed his mind and added four times the number of trees than in the original design Additionally, the large mature fruit trees and grape the client requested proved difficult to find.

With such a large swath of renovation and installation work, the project took almost two years to complete with crews of seven to eight irrigation techs, managers, hardscape experts and laborers.

“The team trained and spent a lot of time using heavy equipment and had a lot of reinforcement on proper planting techniques and mixing of new soils with compost,” Lange says.

The company used large Bobcats, skip loaders, forklifts, trenchers and compactors on this project.

“We do the work in-house as we have an incredibly talented staff,” Lange says. “It was a magical experience to design the project and interact so well with the client.”

BY SARAH WEBB

Joshua Malik

CEO, Joshua Tree Experts, Stockertown, Pa.

Green Industry Pros: How did you get into the green industry?

Joshua Malik: I was in high school, and right after I graduated, I started with a local tree care company in 1992.

GIP: Tell me a little bit more about your company.

Malik: I had been doing tree care for 13 years when I launched Joshua Tree. From 2005 to 2017, we were doing general tree care and plant health care services. We launched our lawn care department in 2017 and our pest control department in 2020. When I got in the business in 2005, a lot of our competition was focused on bigger tree removal, and we found our niche in the market. Our mission statement is making the home environment safe, healthy and beautiful.

GIP: What have been some of your successes throughout the years?

Malik: We’ve grown to a 65-plus person company and hit more than $7 million in sales last year. We’ve been focusing on developing our people with a lot of inside training, certification and licensing training. We opened up a second branch location in 2021.

GIP: What’s your favorite tool?

Malik: We have old-school values, but we use new-age technology. We believe a lot in software. We have a CRM, SingleOps, that works from the first contact with a client through the sales process. We use technology for everything from our GPS systems for tracking driver safety to email to the Google Drive platform.

GIP: What’s your favorite part about being in the green industry?

Malik: I love arboriculture and caring for trees. When I was younger, I was a big thrill nut, and I loved to skydive and rock climb and motocross race, so climbing trees sounded like a fun job. My first eight years I spent in the field as a climber and crew leader. If you’re pruning trees, you can really see the aesthetic value, and if you’re doing a removal, there’s obviously that instant satisfaction that you’ve made a difference in making a house safe.

GIP: What do you think the industry could use more of?

Malik: It could use more people. If there was a way that companies could gain the interest of local universities that are providing horticultural or arboriculture programs, that would be really helpful.

GIP: Where do you see the green industry going in the next five to 10 years?

Malik: I think it’s going to continue to grow, and the equipment that’s coming out that focuses on the safety of employees is a very positive foot forward.

GIP: What advice do you have for those just starting out?

Malik: The biggest thing is to start looking at the bigger picture. Planning is super important, and it’s not just a one-year plan but a three- to five-year plan. Also, build a good culture. Younger people want to know they’re having an impact in the success of the company.

GIP: What’re your favorite things to do outside of work?

Malik: I love to mountain bike, camp, hike and hunt. We just moved into a new house, and the first project we’re doing is putting in a big outdoor living space.