Plant Health & Resilience for Napa & Sonoma Valley Estates
Proprietary COMPOST TEA & STEADY CARE
HEALTHY PLANTS START IN THE SOIL
Plant Health & Resilience keeps established plantings strong, feeding the soil and the plants before stress shows. On a large estate, that takes a proprietary compost tea, organic fertilizer, and steady seasonal attention, all handled by one in-house team that already knows the property.
Penning Landscapes is a family-owned, single-source landscape firm that has designed, built, and maintained estate gardens across Napa Valley since 1988.
Protect What Takes Years to Grow
On a Napa Valley estate or winery property, the garden is part of what makes the place what it is. Specimen trees, established roses, and the plantings that frame a tasting room or guest arrival take years to mature, and they are costly to replace.
Plant Health & Resilience is a preventative soil and plant care program Penning developed in-house to keep estate and winery gardens resilient through heat, drought, and weather stress.
It works by feeding the soil biology beneath the garden, not only the plants above it. Just like humans, plants need to be fed diverse, microbial nutrients and essential elements to thrive and sustain their vitality and beauty. Penning tunes it to the trees and shrubs on your property, one part of how Penning cares for a property over time.
Healthy soil is where every good garden starts.
Feed the soil well, and the plants take care of themselves.
How the Program Works
Plant Health & Resilience has two parts that work together: what we feed the soil and plants, and how and when we apply it.
Compost Tea
A proprietary, microbe-rich compost tea enriches the soil biology, and an organic liquid fertilizer adds the essential elements plants need, like nitrogen, iron, and zinc. Together they support the whole soil ecosystem, not only the plant above it.
Application
A plant-health-care technician applies the treatments topically, onto the leaves or into the root zone, chosen by plant and season. The program runs on a yearly cycle of four treatments: two compost teas, in spring and fall, and two fertilizer applications in summer.
Fertilizers with high microbial diversity to enrich both soil and plants.
Organic, plant-safe ingredients safe for kids and pets.
Key nutrients: nitrogen, iron, and zinc for plant health.
Enhances the natural living, diverse soil ecosystem.
Plants become more resilient to pests, disease, and drought.
The people who know what grows here
Penning designs, builds, and maintains the landscapes in its care, so the team feeding your soil already knows the plantings and the history of the site. A dedicated plant-health-care team runs the program, reading each garden and adjusting treatments to what the plantings need as the season changes. That continuity is a large part of why these maintenance relationships last for years.
Plant Health & Resilience at a Glance
Plant Health & Resilience is a preventative soil and plant care program applied four times a year.
| Best for | Estate managers, private estate owners, and winery property directors protecting established, high-value plantings |
|---|---|
| Includes | Four treatments a year: two compost tea (spring and fall) and two liquid fertilizer (summer), applied topically to trees and shrubs |
| Ingredients | Plant-based and organic |
| Open to | Any Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley property, maintenance client or not |
| Investment | By proposal. |
Recognized for How We Care for Gardens
Penning holds 17 California Landscape Contractors Association awards across 22 years, 13 of them in maintenance, the work of keeping a landscape healthy long after it is planted. That record includes two statewide maintenance trophies, the 2022 CLCA State Trophy at the Nirenberg Residence and the 2004 John Redmond Memorial Award at the Stanford Residence, along with a 2024 First Place for Medium Commercial Maintenance at Mayacamas Vineyards. Plant Health & Resilience is built on that same commitment to caring for what is already in the ground.
Related Services
Plant health is one part of how Penning cares for a property. These services work alongside it, all handled by the same in-house team.
Irrigation
The water side of plant health: efficient, documented irrigation that gives your plantings the steady moisture they rely on to stay healthy.
Maintenance Service
Penning's full maintenance program, and the place to start if you want one accountable partner for the whole property.
Seasonal Planting & Gardening
Planting and seasonal color, measured and adjusted through the year to keep the landscape healthy season after season.
Healthy plants depend on what surrounds them: good water, the right planting, and steady care. Penning keeps those working together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Plant Health & Resilience for?
It is for estate managers, private estate owners, and winery property directors caring for established, high-value plantings across Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. Any property can use the program, whether or not Penning already handles its maintenance.
How is the program priced?
Pricing is set by proposal, because every property and planting is different. A complimentary site visit is where the plan and the cost are discussed.
We already fertilize the property. How is this different?
Standard fertilizing feeds the plant. This program feeds the soil biology beneath it, using a microbe-rich compost tea alongside essential elements like nitrogen, iron, and zinc. It is preventative and organic, made to keep plantings more resilient to heat, drought, and pests rather than reacting after a plant declines.
How do we get started?
How is the program applied?
It is applied topically. A Penning plant-health-care technician treats the trees and shrubs directly, using a truck-mounted tank and hose to spray the leaves or the root zone, depending on the plant and the season. Penning can inject fertilizer into a drip system, but most applications are topical.
Is the program safe around children and pets?
Yes. The program is safe for children and pets, because every application is plant-based and organic.
Schedule a complimentary site visit
Bring Penning out to see your garden. We will look at your plantings and your irrigation, talk through what the season ahead asks of them, and show you how Plant Health & Resilience keeps an estate garden thriving for years to come.
