DIY Network

Horse-Country Home: Landscaping From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-106

Francesca de la Flor at work tending her garden.

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In this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes, we meet Francesca de la Flor and learn about the vacation home she built in Temecula, California.

In this segment, Francesca discusses her landscaping and some of the challenges she faced.

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Drought, Deer, Rabbits and Other Complications

Francesca's vision for the yard surrounding her vacation home was to emulate the look of a tended English garden -- with roses and other flowering plants. After some initial plantings, she noticed her flowers and ornamentals disappearing.

Ultimately she learned that, in this area, she needed to select plant species that were drought-resistant, tolerant of alkaline soil -- and that rabbits didn't eat. Books on drought-resistant planting helped her refine her gardening choices. Educating herself earlier on indigenous species that thrive in this particular region and climate (figures A and B) would have saved Francesca considerably in money and time spent.

Figure A

Figure D

Figure C

Aside from the rabbits, the hills of Temecula are also home to deer -- which are also happy to dine on tender garden plants. Deer-fencing (figure C) that's eight feet tall or taller helps keep hungry deer away from prized plantings. In addition to the fencing, Francesca incorporated a sprinkler system to make frequent watering easier and more convenient.

Final Words of Advice

Ultimately Francesca was happy with the decision to be her own contractor in the building of her vacation home -- despite a few unexpected complications and problems that did come up. Throughout the process she maintained a positive, "glass half full" attitude and didn't let the challenges cause her undue stress. She acknowledges, however, that acting as your own contractor is a big commitment and a lot of work. "It takes learning a new language," she says, "the language of contracting. It takes a tremendous amount of shopping, meeting with people, interviewing subcontractors -- it's a lot of work. But if you just write a check and leave it in somebody else's hands, you give up a lot of your own ultimate control of the project. And what you get back may not be what you envisioned. You're a lot closer to getting what you really want if you build it yourself, if you become your own contractor."

RESOURCES :

Investing in a Vacation Home for Pleasure and Profit
Author: James H. Boykin
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: South-Western Educational Pub (2005)
ISBN: 0324314116

How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment: New, Tax-Free Methods for Using a Vacation Home for Recreation, Retirement and Investment
Authors: Tom Kelly, John Tuccillo
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: McGraw-Hill (2004)
ISBN: 0071429700