Landscaping & Grounds Care for Napa Valley winery estates
In-house design, build, and maintenance
FOR WINERY PROPERTY DIRECTORS
Penning Landscapes curates the entrances, gardens, and event lawns of Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley winery estates, so the landscape opens the senses for the wine that follows.
First Place for commercial maintenance at Mayacamas Vineyards, 2024 CLCA North Coast Chapter. Tending wine country grounds since 1988.
HOW IT WORKS
Working with Penning Landscapes starts with a conversation on site to discuss the property.
The Site Visit
An account manager and a service expert walk the property with you. Penning looks closely and listens for how you use the grounds, what your season asks of them, and where the landscape is falling short of the brand it represents. The visit is complimentary.
Onboarding
Once the plan is set, Penning takes over the grounds with scheduled visits, seasonal reviews, and one point of contact who knows your property. One call reaches the team that does the work.
The Plan
Penning comes back with a maintenance plan shaped to the property. It accounts for your event calendar, your water conditions, and the corners of the grounds that need the most attention through the year.
Long-Term Partnership
Plantings mature, events change, the property grows into itself, and Penning grows it with you. The grounds look better in year five than they did in year one, because the same firm has been tending them the whole way.
Maintenance & Gardening
Routine and seasonal care
Plant Health
Keeps established plantings strong
Irrigation
QWEL-certified water management
Seasonal Planting
Color and change through the year
Lighting
Designed and installed in-house
Design-Build
Provided as needed
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Penning tends the grounds that shape the guest experience: the winery, its hospitality areas, and the tasting room. One ongoing program, held to the standard your brand sets.
Entrances & Gardens
Beds, courtyards, and tasting-area plantings kept healthy and in character, season after season.
Gathering Spaces
Event lawns that hold up under foot traffic, with seasonal color timed to your calendar.
Irrigation Management
QWEL-certified water management, tuned to the soil and plants for a tight-water region.
Lighting
Permanent landscape lighting, designed, installed, and kept working year-round.
ONE TEAM
On a winery property, the specimen trees and the established plantings that frame the tasting room and the guest arrival take years to mature, and they are costly to replace. A landscape like that is worth the care of one firm that knows it.
Penning Landscapes is a family-owned, single-source landscape firm that has designed, built, and maintained the grounds of Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley estates since 1988.
Penning's own crews handle the planting, irrigation, lighting, and horticultural care, so the whole landscape sits with one in-house team. The lighting works in step with the irrigation, the planting plan accounts for how the water runs, and one schedule replaces the roster of vendors to chase.
Penning designs and builds knowing the same team will tend the result through every season that follows. For most winery estates, that becomes an ongoing maintenance partnership. The same firm tends the grounds year after year, and they look better with each passing season.
“Our team doesn't just build gardens, we carefully watch over them, ensuring they flourish and thrive for generations to come.”
— Ben Penning, CEO, Penning LandscapesAt a Glance
Penning Landscapes is the single-source firm winery and hospitality directors call when one team should be accountable for the entire grounds.
| Best for | Winery and hospitality property directors at Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley wine country estates |
|---|---|
| What Penning cares for | Entrances, gardens, event lawns, courtyards, container plantings, lighting, and irrigation of the grounds. Not the vines or viticulture. |
| Water management | QWEL-certified water management through the California Water Efficiency Partnership, with EPA WaterSense recognition |
| Winery proof | 2024 CLCA First Place, Medium Commercial Maintenance, Mayacamas Vineyards |
| Typical engagement | Long-term maintenance partnership, with design and build as the on-ramp |
| Next step | Schedule a complimentary site visit |
RECOGNIZED FOR WINERY & ESTATE WORK
Penning won First Place for Medium Commercial Maintenance at Mayacamas Vineyards in the 2024 CLCA North Coast Chapter awards, recognition earned on a working winery property. That kind of result is the rule rather than the exception: 13 of Penning's 17 California Landscape Contractors Association awards are in maintenance categories, with recognition spanning more than two decades.
Penning's design and build work is recognized at the highest end of wine country as well. The firm earned the 2025 CLCA Installation Sweepstakes for the build at Domaine Chandon, a hospitality landscape designed by Peter Wendt and built by Penning.
2024
First place
Medium Commercial Maintenance: Mayacamas Vineyards
2025
Installation Sweepstakes
Domaine Chandon (design and build, Peter Wendt design)
2022
CLCA State Trophy
Small Residential Maintenance: Nirenberg Residence
Related Services
Winery care sits at the center of the relationship. These services work alongside it, all handled by the same in-house team.
Maintenance & Gardening
The hub for routine and seasonal care of the whole property.
Plant Health & Resilience
A proprietary treatment to keep established plantings strong.
Irrigation Maintenance
Water planned and audited by a QWEL-certified team.
Landscape Lighting
Evening lighting, designed and installed in-house.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Penning work on the vines or the vineyard rows?
No. Penning cares for the ornamental and hospitality landscape of a winery property, not the vines or viticulture. That means the entrances, gardens, event lawns, courtyards, container plantings, lighting, and irrigation of the grounds, while your vineyard team handles the rows.
What parts of a winery property does Penning maintain?
Penning maintains the guest-facing and ornamental grounds: arrival areas, garden beds, courtyards, event lawns, seasonal container plantings, landscape lighting, and the irrigation that supports them. The goal is grounds that reflect your brand and stay ready through the season.
Can Penning get the grounds ready for events and high season?
Yes. Penning plans planting, pruning, and seasonal color around your event calendar so the property looks its best on the days that matter. Event lawns and gathering spaces are maintained to hold up under foot traffic and a full schedule.
Does Penning handle irrigation and water management?
Yes. Penning provides QWEL-certified water management through the California Water Efficiency Partnership, with WaterSense recognition from the EPA. The team tunes irrigation to the soil and the plants so water is used sensibly in a tight-water region.
Does Penning only do maintenance, or design and build too?
Penning does both, as one accountable firm. Many winery relationships begin with a design and build project, such as the award-winning build at Domaine Chandon, and grow into long-term care of the grounds. Penning self-performs planting, lighting, and irrigation, and manages specialist trades for masonry, pools, and larger structures.
Schedule a complimentary site visit
The clearest way to know whether Penning is right for your property is to walk it together. An account manager and a service expert will visit, listen to what your season needs, and show you how the grounds can carry your brand season after season, year after year.
