Landscape Architect Los Angeles, CA
Commercial landscape architecture, land planning, and irrigation design for Los Angeles industrial, multifamily, mixed-use, hillside, and master-planned projects.
Commercial Landscape Architect in Los Angeles
Evergreen Design Group is a commercial landscape architect in Los Angeles with a fully remote team and California Landscape Architect License 7158. We work for land developers, civil engineering firms, architects, and design-build contractors. We do not take homeowner work.
Los Angeles projects are mostly infill and redevelopment. Parcels are tight, utilities are old, and the City of Los Angeles, the County, and 87 other cities in the county each review plans against their own codes. You need a team who knows which agency reviews which sheet and builds each sheet to pass.
Our licensed staff prepares land planning studies, planting plans, irrigation designs, tree disposition plans, amenity plans, and hardscape plans in-house. You work with one team and receive one coordinated set, ready to sit beside your civil and architectural plans. Read more on our California landscape architect page or our Orange County landscape architect page.
Who We Work With and What You Build in Los Angeles
Land developers bring us in during feasibility and entitlement, when open space, amenity siting, and street frontage still move. Civil engineering firms share base files with us so grading, drainage, and utility conflicts get settled before plan check. Architects need planting and hardscape sheets matched to the building footprint, fire access, and ADA routes. Design-build contractors want construction documents with clear quantities for accurate pricing. Cities, school districts, and special districts expect sheets built to agency standards and procurement rules.
Industrial and logistics sites in Vernon, Commerce, Sun Valley, Carson, and the Port area call for perimeter buffers, truck court screening, parking lot shade, and irrigation built for low maintenance cost. Multifamily and mixed-use projects range from podium buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and the Arts District to garden-style and build-to-rent communities in the San Fernando Valley. Courtyards, pool decks, and rooftop amenities over structure need early coordination with your architect and structural engineer.
Corporate campuses in Warner Center and Playa Vista, creative office, medical buildings, hospitality, and retail renovations need plans built for heavy foot traffic and tight schedules. Hillside projects in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Hollywood Hills, and the San Gabriel foothills add slope, fire, and tree constraints. Civic and institutional work, from school campuses to parks, follows agency design standards and public bidding rules.
Local Development Conditions Behind Your Scope
These conditions drive scope, fee, and schedule on Los Angeles projects. We address them at the site plan stage, before your civil engineer locks the layout.
City landscape ordinance and state water budgets
The City of Los Angeles Landscape Ordinance Guidelines apply to projects with more than 2,000 square feet of impermeable surface. Single-family homes are exempt. A landscape practitioner certifies the plans. The guidelines call for one tree per 500 square feet of landscaped area and one tree per four surface parking spaces, placed to shade half of the stall area after ten years. Each tree gets at least 50 square feet of unpaved area with a 5-foot minimum dimension. Lawn stays off slopes steeper than 5:1, trees go in at 15-gallon size and six feet tall, and native plants earn priority.
The state water efficient landscape ordinance sits on top of the City rules. The state rule applies to new construction with 500 square feet or more of landscape area and to rehabilitated landscapes of 2,500 square feet or more (DWR). Your permit set needs a water budget, a hydrozone plan, and plant factor documentation the reviewer accepts on the first pass. We prepare those with the irrigation design, so the numbers match the sheets.
Protected trees and street trees
Los Angeles protects native Valley oak, California live oak, Southern California black walnut, Western sycamore, and California bay at four inches or more in cumulative diameter, measured 4.5 feet above grade. Mexican elderberry and toyon shrubs carry the same protection (LAFD). Nobody relocates or removes a protected tree without a permit from the Board of Public Works, and StreetsLA Urban Forestry Division handles those permits and clears work on street trees in the public right of way. Replacement trees come from the protected list unless Public Works approves an alternate (Planning).
LADBS tells applicants to contact Urban Forestry immediately, because the clearance slows the building permit process (LADBS). We prepare the tree disposition plan early, and your arborist report follows the same sequence. In unincorporated Los Angeles County, the oak tree ordinance protects oaks at 8 inches in diameter, or 6 inches in Significant Ecological Areas and the Santa Monica Mountains. The protected zone covers the dripline plus five feet or 15 feet from the trunk, whichever is greater (LA County Planning).
Recycled water from LADWP
LADWP delivers recycled water through about 45 miles of purple pipe, completely separate from the drinking water system (LADWP). Availability depends on how close your site sits to an existing pipe. Recycled systems need separate mainlines, signage, and plant and controller selection to match. Confirm availability at the start of design, because the answer changes mainline routing and plant palette. Outside the City, your water provider sets the rules.
AB 1572 and nonfunctional turf
Starting January 1, 2028, California bars potable water irrigation of nonfunctional turf on commercial, industrial, and institutional properties. HOA common areas follow on January 1, 2029. Turf irrigated with recycled water falls outside the ban, and turf used for recreation or gathering stays allowed (MWDOC). Design new sites without decorative turf on potable water, and expect owners of existing properties to ask for retrofit plans. Our guides cover AB 1572 for developers and design teams and for existing commercial properties.
Fire, hillsides, and the wildland interface
Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones cover large parts of the City, including hillside neighborhoods. In those zones, LAFD brush clearance rules call for grass and brush cut to three inches within 200 feet of structures, and trees over 18 feet tall need branches trimmed up to 6 feet from the ground (LAFD). Clearance work on protected trees and shrubs follows Los Angeles Municipal Code Sections 46.00 through 46.06, so fire planning and tree planning belong in the same set of sheets.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department Fuel Modification Unit reviews plans in its service area. Its plan has three zones. Zone 1 runs 30 feet from the structure, Zone 2 runs to 100 feet, and Zone 3 runs to 200 feet or the property line. Plans follow the Plant Selection Guidelines, label every plant by scientific name, and go in through an online submission. The Unit inspects after installation (LA County Fire).
Entitlement, plan check, and agency coordination
In the City, Planning reviews entitlements and site plans, LADBS reviews building permits, the Bureau of Engineering and StreetsLA review work in the public right of way, and LA Sanitation reviews stormwater. Each reviewer checks different sheets. Specific plans, overlay districts, and design guidelines add standards for streetscape, open space, and planting. Conceptual landscape plans support discretionary review, and construction documents go to plan check. Coastal zone projects add local coastal program review.
Grading, stormwater, and civil coordination
City low impact development rules in the Municipal Code (Chapter VI, Article 4.4) set stormwater requirements for development and redevelopment. Ordinance 188125 updated the stormwater approval process in April 2024 (City Clerk). Bioretention basins, swales, and planters sit inside planting areas. Your civil engineer sets grades, and we set plants, soil, and irrigation for them. County projects follow the County low impact development standards. Sharing base files early keeps utility conflicts, tree locations, and slopes from forcing a redesign at plan check.
Landscape Architecture, Land Planning, and Irrigation Services in Los Angeles
Our land planning in Los Angeles starts at feasibility. We test site layouts against zoning, open space, buffer, and amenity requirements. Then we prepare conceptual landscape plans, exhibits, and open space calculations for planning review. When staff comments arrive, we answer with your civil engineer and architect, so the City receives one coordinated response.
As a commercial landscape architect in Los Angeles, we design entries, street scapes, plazas, parking field planting, screening, and open space. We design to the City code and to the maintenance budget your owner will carry. Industrial developers will find more in our guide to landscape architects for industrial projects.
Planting plans in Los Angeles balance City tree and parking lot requirements, state water budgets, native plant priorities, and fire-resistant palettes on hillsides. We select plants for the water source on your site, potable or recycled, and for the crew who will maintain them.
Irrigation design services
Licensed in-house staff prepare our irrigation design services in Los Angeles. Scope covers zoned layouts, controller and equipment specifications, flow and pressure calculations, backflow documentation, water budgets, and recycled water systems built to LADWP standards.
Tree disposition plans in Los Angeles document species, diameter, and condition for each regulated tree. They then show removals, preservation, protection, and replacement for Urban Forestry review. Sequence matters, so read our guide on who should conduct your tree survey before you order one.
Amenity plans in Los Angeles cover pool courts, fitness areas, courtyards over structure, rooftop decks, tot lots, dog parks, and gathering spaces for multifamily, mixed-use, and senior living projects. We coordinate pool equipment, ADA routes, and drainage with your architect and civil engineer before permit submittal.
Hardscape plans in Los Angeles detail paving, walls, plazas, seat walls, and site furnishings on the same grading base as the rest of the site. Joint layouts and material choices account for seismic movement, thermal cycling, and drainage.
Licensed in-house staff prepare our irrigation design services in Los Angeles. Scope covers zoned layouts, controller and equipment specifications, flow and pressure calculations, backflow documentation, water budgets, and recycled water systems built to LADWP standards.
Construction documents and consultant coordination
We issue stamped construction documents formatted for each agency’s plan check. Sets include planting, irrigation, tree, and hardscape sheets, specifications, and water calculations. We share CAD files with your civil engineer, architect, and fire consultant, review their submittals for conflicts, and answer plan check comments. For multi-site programs, our program management team keeps standards consistent across projects.
Los Angeles Cities and Submarkets We Serve
Our team works remotely and serves the City of Los Angeles from Downtown, Hollywood, and the Arts District to the Westside, Playa Vista, and the Port of Los Angeles. In the San Fernando Valley, we work in Warner Center, Van Nuys, Sun Valley, and Chatsworth, where industrial parks, campuses, and infill housing drive demand. Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena bring mixed-use, studio, and transit-oriented projects.
The South Bay and Gateway Cities, including El Segundo, Torrance, Carson, Vernon, Commerce, and Long Beach, lean industrial and logistics. Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley bring master-planned communities and warehouse projects, and hillside sites in the Santa Monica Mountains and the foothills put fire and oak protection first. Coastal projects in Santa Monica, Venice, and Pacific Palisades add local coastal review.
Our team also serves the Inland Empire, the Central Coast, San Diego, and Northern California. See the full list of areas we serve.
Los Angeles Landscape Architect FAQs
Do Los Angeles commercial permits require a licensed landscape architect?
Requirements vary by agency and project type, so confirm with Planning or LADBS. The City landscape guidelines require certification by a landscape practitioner, and the fire and tree reviewers expect plans prepared by a qualified professional. Evergreen holds California Landscape Architect License 7158.
When should you bring in a landscape architect?
Bring us in at site planning, before the civil plan set is far along. Protected trees, stormwater areas, fire zones, and open space all shape the layout. Settling them early cuts revision cycles during review.
Do you prepare tree plans for protected trees and street trees?
Yes. We prepare the tree disposition plan and the exhibits Urban Forestry reviews, and we coordinate with your arborist on reports. The permit process runs through StreetsLA, so begin the permit early, before you submit for building permits.
Do you design recycled water irrigation systems?
Yes, where recycled water is available. We design on-site systems to the provider’s requirements, including separation from potable lines, signage, and backflow documentation. Confirm availability with LADWP or your water provider at the start of design.
How does AB 1572 affect planting plans for new projects?
Starting January 1, 2028, decorative turf on potable water is out for commercial, industrial, and institutional sites. We replace decorative turf with low-water planting, limit turf to recreation and gathering areas, or specify recycled water where the provider supplies recycled service.
Do you work as a subconsultant to civil engineers and architects?
Yes. Subconsultant work for civil engineering and architecture firms is one of our most common structures. We contract with your firm, share CAD files, attend coordination meetings, and deliver sheets formatted for your set.
Discuss Your Los Angeles Project
Discuss landscape, irrigation, or entitlement support for your Los Angeles commercial project. Developers, civil engineers, architects, and design-build firms: send us your site location, project type, available base drawings, and your next submittal date. A licensed professional reviews them and replies directly.
Request a proposal or contact our team. Review our credentials in our statement of qualifications.