I‘m a Landscape Designer and Owner of Succulent Designs by Mary and live with my husband and two teenage daughters in the Hollywood Riviera area of Redondo Beach, in Southern California. (In my life before kids, I worked as a paralegal and legal secretary). After the kids became a little older, I scaled back the PTA a bit and became college educated in Landscape Design and pursued my passion, well, other than the family thing.
During this time, I worked as a Succulent Designer at the former Waterwise Garden Center in Torrance, California. While there, I learned more about succulents, made wreaths, verticals and perfected planting succulent arrangements in the lush, floral style.
I also gleaned more information on landscape design with an eye towards saving water. Soon afterwards, I started my company, Succulent Designs by Mary.
I especially love talking about succulents and educating others on their beauty and adaptability to our environment. And, often, I teach classes and in which I share tips and tricks on creating beautiful and long lasting wreaths, and containers. The inspiration and conversations that happen during these classes can, and has been, especially fun and memorable, especially when there’s wine involved!
While fighting the dreaded C, I’ve experienced the restorative effects of working in the garden first hand. Experimenting with succulents was my diversion. I used working outside with succulents as my inspiration , escape and restoration.
Since Southern California usually doesn’t get much rainfall, designing with drought-tolerant plants is especially important to save water and money. But, this does not mean sacrificing lushness or beauty. My palette is natives, drought tolerant plants, and almost always, succulents!
I design landscape makeovers to update a home’s curb appeal and create a more livable, low maintenance landscape. Sometimes it takes just a few tweaks to turn a landscape from ho-hum to spectacular! In so doing, I keep in mind the interior views of the outdoors and often create outdoors rooms, thereby creating more livable space!
More about me and my company.
We have started a new service! We have started offering the choice of renting completed arrangements for a special event, staging your home, or, if you want to receive a ready-made arrangement that will be maintained quarterly or entirely maintained by Succulent Designs by Mary, which is usually twice a month. The latter is good option for companies and individuals who don’t have time or the inclination to care for their succulent arrangements and want them always looking their best!
We can also maintain and rework your existing plant containers and succulent areas of your landscape. Ask about booking quarterly check ups of your newly planted containers and/or landscape. During this visit, Mary will check for and treat your plants for insects and disease, trim up any plant material that is overgrown, and replace any succulents that are not doing so well.
We also provide a design consultation service with a diagnosis of problem areas for your landscape. Mary can produce a design for a landscape, or for section of it. We will plant new plants, water them in, or move existing plants.
The initial consultation for planning a new landscape usually takes one hour. The consultation takes place at your home, or the site of the future landscape. Mary will assess the light or shade conditions, the topography and soil condition, the placement of adjacent structures, and the micro-climate of your space. We will discuss the existing irrigation system and watering patterns. We will consult with you on your personal preferences as to design concepts, plants and colors. We will try to incorporate existing plants into the new design where appropriate by creating a new design that includes them in their current location or moving them if appropriate.
We have good relationships with people who can modify irrigation systems as needed, modify the timers and positioning of sprinkler heads etc.
Design fees vary according to the size and the scope of your landscape project.
Implementing the Design: Fees are calculated on an hourly basis, plus costs of plant material and any other materials required (such as soil, fertilizer etc.) The size of the crew and total time will vary for each job. We do not do hardscape such as masonry or concrete work or anything that requires cement or stone cutting. We can lay bark, gravel aggregates, pebbles, stones and pavers.
Please fill out the information below and state what you’d like done or feel free call or text Mary at 310-770-8944 to schedule a consultation, or have any questions.
