Community Soil
Terraced estate garden with natural stonework and structured plantings on a Sonoma County property

Design

Master Planning for Estate Properties: Designing the Whole Landscape

Why larger Northern California properties benefit from a phased master plan—and what the process looks like from first walk to finished documents.

May 28, 2025 · 7 min read · Community Soil

On a larger property, individual projects—a new garden here, a retaining wall there—can pull in different directions without a guiding vision. A landscape master plan brings the whole property into one coherent design, sequenced so you can build it over time as budget and priorities allow.

What a master plan includes

From first walk to working plans

Our process begins with a free site assessment, followed by a landowner’s questionnaire, county-level research, and a longer interview and site tour. From there we develop a comprehensive, tailored design that transforms your intentions and our observations into working plans for the whole property.

A master plan is the difference between a collection of projects and a property that works as a single, living system.

Because Community Soil designs and builds with our own crews, the plan we draw is grounded in what we can actually construct—and we can carry your property from concept through installation and long-term stewardship.

Start With The Land

Book your site visit.

Tell us about your property and what you hope it can become. We offer a complimentary half-hour visit for prospective Sonoma County clients.