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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Andrea Doonan horticulture + design

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United States
San Diego, CA
Andrea Doonan horticulture + design

Landscape Design + Art + Consulting
Transforming Spaces where soil meets home. ISA Certified Arborist

04/08/2026

A peaceful sanctuary where nature meets home. A garden doesn't have to be perfect but it should bring you joy.

03/30/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out for the and annual garden tour yesterday. Every year this tour draws out around 200 people touring a unique spread of professionally designed and horticulture enthusiast gardens. This year was focused on coastal gardens of Point Loma and Coronado and our Coronado gem was featured. An extra thanks to our clients and the volunteers for your generosity and participation. Some shots from our garden in case you missed it.

03/27/2026

Walk-through right after installation is like graduation day. You provided the tools and the structure and now it's passed off to them to fly. I can't wait to see the plants grow and the space evolve. This unused hillside got steps, fruit trees, veg beds, lots of native plants and a creekbed to divert water to a new meadow. More progress photos on my stories. Installed by

03/24/2026

Give me a desert superbloom but make it my front yard. This front yard request was Anza Borrego meets a desert botanical garden. Our client adds things here and there including a growing aloe collection on the other side of their driveway. It's got a sweet minimal elegance to it. The backyard, on a canyon, has mostly chaparral and woodland vibes. I love when different parts of a yard can have their own personalities. We are a big fan of the desert lavender really jiving with the brittle bush.

03/21/2026

Hot take: a garden shouldn't look like AI. I've seen images floating around where I can't tell if it's a rendering or a garden and it kinda weirds me out. When we draw landscape plans we use perfect circles to depict the plant size at full maturity. But in real life plants grow in amoebas and trapezoids... Towards the light, the shade, spreading where soil and water are ideal conditions. We can do our best to predict what a plant is going to do or even if it's going to thrive or survive, but in the end they are going to have the final say. We can nudge them and shape them, but I still like to think that a landscape is a living breathing organism and not a curated sterile still image.

03/20/2026

Happy Spring Equinox, garden fairies! Although this year spring came early and it feels like we skipped straight to summer. I hope you (and your gardens) are hanging in there with this unseasonable heatwave.

Photo of matilija poppy / romneya coulteri taken on Tecate Peak aka Kuuchamaa, which is a sacred mountain for the Kumeyaay people.

03/17/2026

Did you know that 18 million years ago the Channel Islands were adjacent to San Diego? That's why Torrey pines grow on Santa Rosa Island. For millennia it was home to the Chumash who carved bead currency with a rare stone (chert) found on Santa Cruz Island which gave them the name "the money makers". Their currency has been found as far as Arizona.

It is a goal of mine to meet all of the plants I work with in their natural home and visiting Santa Cruz Island felt like completing my CA plant community bingo card. I've spent time on the wild side of Catalina but this hits differently. I got to say hi to island buckwheats, heuchera, and Catalina Cherry as well as mainland coastal plant friends like yarrow, seaside daisies, rhus, blue hyacinth, coreopsis, and artemesia. We also saw Island foxes, a pair of hawks harassing a pair of bald eagles, meadow larks, canyon wrens, and a dolphin super pod! What special land. When I design with native plants it's a bit of a love letter to all these special places we are blessed to call home.

03/16/2026

Ojai Design Inspiration. Love the artistry in all the hardscape and masonry.

03/10/2026

Most of my design aesthetic leans "impressionistic" if I had to use one word. Ordered wild and whimsy, which tends to fit with a lot of the historic homes I work with. That said, every once in a while a modern home finds its way to me that begs for clean lines and broad strokes. This Mission Hills project was one of those.

The backyard takes advantage of sweeping views with multiple decks and lots of plant texture and color contrast. Since the hillside was mostly viewed from the three decks, I wanted it to be a simple low maintenance tapestry. A few years in the ground and we are all pleased. And yes, I still managed to squeeze some California natives in this project. On the canyon side of the fence we planted locally native sages, ceanothus, and buckwheat.

03/05/2026

Yesterday I was privileged to be on a speaker panel at 's Doing Business For Good Summit, discussing the Blue Nexus between biodiversity, food and soil. One audience question that came up was about nitrification of the oceans. I really love coming from the place of small actionable items that everyday people can do to be part of the solution. This is just one more reason to remove or at least reduce lawn. And always evaluate your irrigation and soil so that it is efficient, percolating, not overwatering, and not running off into our streets and storm drains. This is a place where I think we should be bold and notify landlords, homeowners, business complexes, and HOAs into doing right. Leave notes on their doors and encourage people to do better. In addition to irrigation, I would recommend to really be mindful about fertilizer use. Do you really need it? Have you evaluated the soil and plant needs? Is the soil actually in a place to receive the fertilizer? Could aerating and compost (lawn) or mulch (planter areas) solve this issue? Is it the correct time of year?

Address

San Diego, CA
92104

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+1 858-255-0585

Website

http://www.AndreaDoonan.com/

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