gmhTODAY 25 gmhTODAY April May 2019 | Page 59

Red Roots Landscaping: Raising Family to a New Level Written and Photographed By Craig Lore A pril is the coolest month for turning your gaze towards the yard and garden. When the rain has stopped and the sun is shining, thoughts turn to summer BBQs, cool drinks on the patio, and colorful flower beds. When you look through the windows into your yard, you can see the arbor, pergola, paved walkway, fire pit, out- door lighting, fountain, and barbeque station—that, so far, exist only in your imagination. Red Roots Landscaping, based in Gilroy, can help make that imaginary yard into a reality. The roots of Red Roots Landscaping grow deep and wide. Owner, Guillermo “Memo” Banuelos; his wife and CFO Maria Reyes; and their sons Eddie Banuelos, Relly, and Roman Reyes are the core of this family-run business. Memo and Maria were an item back in their teen years at San Benito High School in Hollister, but after that they drifted apart. Memo did a four-year stint with the Marines, and Maria attended Heald College in San Jose to earn a Business Administration degree. But later, a chance encounter brought them back together in Hollister where they married, settled down, and subsequently raised their six children. In 1996, Memo also raised his business, Red Roots Landscaping, which started out as a general lawn and yard maintenance service, but over time the business grew into a full-service landscape construction company. Today, with their general contractor’s license, they are ready to carve, and sculpt, and build the outdoor spaces their clients have always wanted. Although your new yard and garden start out with plans on paper, the company’s boots-on-the-ground landscape supervisor, Eligio “Lee” Rojas, is there to suggest plant selections based on soil type and available sunlight. With an eye towards the whole picture, Lee knows what will grow where and how to enhance the entire yard with an irrigation system, lighting enhancements, a dry streambed, flowerbeds, or planter boxes. Memo brings his expertise to suggest modifications and enhancements to the hardscape, such as paving, patios and stonework. He does the same for garden construction elements made of wood or stone including barbecue installations, arbors, pergolas, cabanas, water features, pool houses, and gazebos. “People want their yards to be an extension of their house,” Maria said, “to make both the indoors and outdoors a part of the livable space.” In this technological day and age, you can have almost anything that you can think of. “For one client we installed an outdoor TV near their spa that’s controlled by a remote control—it glides up from inside a ‘rock’.” Lee’s team has also installed outdoor lighting and irrigation systems that are controlled from a mobile phone app. Sunlight, fresh air, and green space are good for the soul. When we take the time to relax, we become better people in all other aspects of our lives. Red Roots Landscaping is a family affair, and they don’t want your family to simply imagine the perfect yard: When you look through your windows, they want you to see it. “People want their yards to be an extension of their house, to make both the indoors and outdoors a part of the livable space.” GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN april/may 2019 gmhtoday.com 59