CA Landscape study guide
CA Landscape · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The C-27 Landscape Contractor classification is a California contractor license issued by the Contractors State License Board. It authorizes a licensed business to contract for the installation, alteration, repair, and maintenance of landscaping - planting and transplanting, irrigation and drainage, low-voltage landscape lighting, soil preparation and amendment, and the hardscape and site work that is incidental to a landscape project. The CA Landscape study guide has 9 sections and about 2,525 words.
01Plan Reading, Estimating, and Bidding
Every project has a drawing set: plan views, elevations, sections, details, and a legend/sheet index. Contours close together mean steep ground; a contour V points uphill in a drainageway.
339 words, about 2 min02Site Evaluation, Soils, and Drainage
Slope is expressed as percent grade = (rise ÷ run) × 100 ; degrees equal arctangent of rise/run. A 6% slope is about 3.4°.
283 words, about 1 min03Landscape Planning and Plant Selection
The design sequence runs site analysis → program (client needs) → concept → design development → construction documents. Judge a plan against the classic principles: unity, balance, scale and proportion, rhythm, focal point, and simplicity.
287 words, about 1 min04Irrigation Systems Design and Installation
Design to dynamic pressure at the point of use, not the static reading at the hose bib - subtract meter, valve, backflow, and friction losses. Keep velocity under about 5 ft/s.
280 words, about 1 min05Landscape Construction and Hardscape Installation
A paver patio is a system: compacted subgrade (≈95% Standard Proctor), aggregate base compacted in 2–4 inch lifts, 1 inch of bedding sand, then pavers. Excavation depth = base + bedding + paver thickness - forgetting any layer is the classic error.
262 words, about 1 min06Planting, Transplanting, and Establishment
The most consequential detail is depth: the root flare sits at or slightly above grade , never below. Dig the hole two to three times the root ball width but no deeper than the root ball.
275 words, about 1 min07Landscape Maintenance and Renovation
Follow the one-third rule : never remove more than one-third of the leaf blade at a mowing. Height depends on species - tall fescue 3–4 inches, hybrid bermuda 1–1.5 inches.
268 words, about 1 min08Pest, Disease, and Weed Management
Integrated pest management is a sequence, not a product: prevent (right plant, right place, sanitation), monitor (scouting, sticky cards, pheromone traps), identify (the correct organism, not just the symptom), set a threshold , then treat - cultural, mechanical, biological, and finally chemical. Most exam misses come from skipping identification: yellow leaves can be mites, overwatering, pH-induced chlorosis, or herbicide injury.
258 words, about 1 min09Jobsite Safety and Regulatory Compliance
OSHA basics govern the site: PPE, hazard communication with accessible SDS sheets, hearing protection around equipment, respiratory protection for dust and silica, and electrical safety with GFCI protection. Call 811 before any digging - typically at least two to three business days ahead - and respect the markings.
273 words, about 1 min