Residential landscape design
Whole-property design for custom homes: entries, courtyards, terraces, outdoor kitchens and showers, planting and lighting — detailed so the materials read as one piece.
Carlsbad, California
Gardens, courtyards and water that make a place worth standing in.
Tributary is a landscape architecture studio working across Southern California — custom residential grounds, pools and spas, tiled water features, and community parks and play areas, designed and detailed from first sketch through installation.
Residential grounds
Pools & spas
Custom tile & stonework
Native & drought-tolerant planting
Parks & play areas
Selected work
A sampling of built projects — private residences, community greens and public park renovations. Tap any image to see the original post.
Custom residence with pool and spa — bluestone paving, walls and coping for a very clean look.
A project entry designed and installed many years ago — still a favorite.
Native Spring pool area and play area
Custom tile barbecue and shower
Love Agave ‘Blue Glow’
Crosby residence
Shipwreck Park renovation, Dana Point
Contemporary spa and wood deck
Esencia Greens play area
Newport Coast residence
What we do
Pools, spas & water features
Pools, spas and decks, plus custom tile fountains and basins. Bluestone, hand-painted tile, stone coping — chosen for how it ages, not just how it photographs.
Planting & water-wise gardens
Native and drought-tolerant planting plans built around Southern California conditions — agaves, aloes, grasses and shade trees that hold their shape year-round.
Parks, play areas & community spaces
Neighborhood greens, pool decks and park renovations, from concept through construction documents and on-site review during installation.
The studio
Tributary Landscape Architecture is based in Carlsbad, California. We work on private residences and community projects up and down the coast — Dana Point, Newport Coast, Rancho Santa Fe and the inland valleys.
Every project runs through the same process: understand the site, draw it properly, and stay involved through installation so the detail that was drawn is the detail that gets built. Some of the gardens here were installed many years ago and are still favorites.