Sonoma County · Est. 2010
Land cared for, beautifully and for generations.
Community Soil is a full-service ecological landscape design, installation, and estate stewardship firm. From fire-safe land management to refined garden master planning, we help landowners realize the full potential of their property.
Serving Sonoma, Napa & Mendocino Counties · California
Who We Are
A family-owned firm rooted in Sonoma County since 2010.
We manage sites from the foundation of the home to the edges of the property lines—infrastructure, water systems, stonework, and intricate plantings alike. Throughout every project, clear communication ensures your expectations for beauty, function, and cost are understood and met.
The result is land that not only serves its purpose, but grows more resilient and more cherished with each passing season.
Ecologically Driven
Every design accounts for the changing climate, the regional environment, and the life cycles of the materials we use.
Fire-Smart Stewardship
Defensible space, fuel reduction, and forestry that protect your home while keeping the land beautiful and healthy.
Comprehensive Planning
Master planning that lets you build out your property in confident phases, knowing the finished result will fit together.
Built to Grow Resilient
Our landscapes become more enjoyable and more resilient over time, supported by tailored, lasting maintenance plans.
What We Do
Full-service care for your land, from vision to stewardship.
Our Approach
The way we look at the land—and provide solutions.
Four guiding disciplines shape every project we take on, ensuring your landscape is as enduring and ecologically sound as it is beautiful.
01
Site Planning
We emphasize comprehensive master planning so every essential element fits together. Build out gradually, knowing the finished result will integrate beautifully—and often at lower overall cost.
02
Landscape Architecture
Grounded in millennia of land development practice, our design begins with landforms and infrastructure and finishes with improved soil health and robust plantings—clarity, beauty, and ease of use.
03
Permaculture
A whole-systems ecological design methodology that emphasizes beneficial connections between elements on site and between the built and natural environment.
04
Regeneration & Resilience
We prioritize details, materials, and maintenance that reverse ecological decline—and design landscapes that withstand drought, flood, fire, and wind in an era of climate change.
How We Work With You and the Land
Getting started,
and what it costs.
We offer a free, half-hour site assessment visit for prospective clients in Sonoma County. Once we've seen your property and heard your aspirations, we can tell you how we'd approach designing and implementing your site improvements.
Usually one quick visit is enough to tell if we're a good fit for your needs.
At a glance
- Service area
- Sonoma County
- First visit
- Free · 30 min
- Design timeline
- 2–3 months
- Typical fee
- $5,000 – $10,000
The process
Four steps · start to finish
01 30 minutes · no cost
Free site visit
A complimentary half-hour assessment for prospective clients in Sonoma County. We walk your property, hear your aspirations, and quickly tell if we're a good fit.
02 Questionnaire · site tour
Discovery & research
An introductory landowner's questionnaire, county-level site research, and a longer interview and site tour to develop a custom design proposal.
03 2–3 months · $5–10k
Design proposal
For a deposit retainer, we create a comprehensive, tailored proposal — schematic site plans, a planting palette, and itemized cost estimates for construction by our crews.
04 Flexible · DIY-friendly
Consultation alternative
Have a larger property or prefer a DIY approach? We also offer walk-the-land consultations — specific observations, diagrams as needed, and limited follow-up references.
“For some landowners, a good consultation is enough to begin working their land in an informed and beneficial manner.”
CA Contractor License C-27 #1016286
Each Landscape and Project Is Unique
Our Design Process
A complete sequence of steps is outlined below — depending on your property and intended scope, all or just a few of these ingredients may be included in your combination of design documents and requirements.
- Phase 01 — Understand the land
- 1
Base Mapping
We map exactly what's already there.
All available site documents are compiled and synthesized with field observations to create a scaled working map of the property. The more detailed the map, the better the design can respond to and enhance the conditions of the landscape.
View Sample Base Map - Phase 02 — Shape the design
- 2
Conceptual Design
We explore the big-picture options together.
Early design studies are diagrammatic, showing alternative configurations of major elements and circulation routes. At this stage, design intentions and options are confirmed with clients before developing the elements to further levels of detail.
View Sample Concept Plan - 3
Schematic Design
We lock in the layout and scale.
A well-developed design scheme shows the placement and scale of all the major elements in a new, improved arrangement for the property. This level of detail is generally sufficient for ballpark construction estimates, although the construction details for some aspects may not be worked out yet.
View Sample Schematic Design - Phase 03 — Document for building
- 4
Construction Planning
We detail every measurement for the builders.
A landscape construction plan shows all the details from the schematic plan, with detailed notes and measurements for the builders. This enhanced plan is typically needed for detailed cost estimation and effective project planning.
View Sample Landscape Plan - 5
Planting Design
We choose every species, variety and size.
Plants are the 'icing on the cake' of the site development process. While general notes about plant types and groupings typically accompany the schematic plan, a planting plan calls out exact species, varieties, quantities and sizes of plants to populate the newly configured landscape. This also enables detailed estimation of installation costs.
View Sample Planting Plan - 6
Construction Detailing
We draw the custom structures to scale.
Before building any new, custom structures, scaled construction drawings are developed to work out and confirm the details and provide precise data for cost estimation. A few hours of drafting can save countless hours of construction headaches.
View Sample Construction Details - Phase 04 — Build & steward
- 7
As-Built Plans & Maintenance Manuals
We document the build and how to care for it.
Built elements sometimes change over the construction process, in response to particular site details. At the owner's discretion, design plans can be updated to include alterations and utilities, for accurate future reference. Landscape maintenance best practices can also be compiled and specified in a custom site manual, to ensure the proper care of the new landscape design during its establishment and future stewardship.
Selected Work
Hundreds of projects, each rooted in care.
From small suburban gardens to broad-acre forest restoration, every project exemplifies our commitment to beauty and sustainability.
What Folks Say
Trusted by landowners across Sonoma County.
Paolo and his team were recommended to us by our best friends and neighbors in West County. We worked with Paolo and his team across interior landscaping, waterway management, forestry management, and even collaborated with neighbors along the way. This is a high quality, thoughtful group that stands behind their work.
Community Soil is fantastic! They helped us envision and create our new gardens when we replaced our front and backyard lawns. We wanted colorful, fragrant, drought-tolerant plants that would attract bees and butterflies, plus fruit trees and a vegetable garden. They installed a drip system that is easy to maintain in the warmer months. I love watching the yard change from season to season. The team is very talented, creative, knowledgeable, and patient. I highly recommend Community Soil!
If you are looking for high quality, thoughtful approach to managing your land we highly recommend Community Soil as a partner. They worked with us closely in restoring habitat and water management on 15 acres of redwood forested land. We watched them carefully, meticulously bring health back to a largely neglected piece of West County land. We plan to have a lifelong relationship with Paolo and his group.
We started working with Paolo and Jeff in late 2014 trying to develop a vision for how to put some life and order to our 8.5 acre old plum/prune farm. Over the last 8+ years we have used Community Soil’s skills and vision to create gardens, restore oak woodlands, add an arbor and gathering place, and generally find a way to incorporate our sense of place on our land in a sustainable way. Paolo and Jeff and their team have been a pleasure to work with on this journey.
If you are looking for a landscaping business which designs according to sound environmental principles, I suggest using Community Soil. They helped me reconstruct my landscaping after the Tubbs Fire burned my home and 6 acres of oak woodland. They used the dead tree trunks for slope and erosion control, and constructed swales in combination with my roof water drainage to raise the water table of my property. Plantings were beautiful while respecting water usage, and they used sound forestry and fire management principles in protecting regrowth. They are pricier than some because they pay livable wages, ensuring long-term, skilled employees. I highly recommend Community Soil!
Get Started
Book your site visit.
We offer a complimentary half-hour visit for prospective clients in Sonoma County. Tell us a little about your property and we’ll be in touch to schedule a time.
Thank you!
Your request has been received. We’ll reach out shortly to schedule your site assessment.