June 17th marked a special day for a local Fallbrook family, when a birthday wish came true for 7-year-old Gemma. Gemma was born a rare genetic defect that currently has no cure. Just recently she started a brand new treatment and has seen some progress.

Benchmark had the opportunity to provide landscaping for “Gemma’s Wish”, the Disney movie Frozen-themed, backyard castle made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Benchmark’s landscape designer, Jaclyn Salts, was instrumental throughout the process. For the design, she chose plants that were variegated or with white flowers to continue the frozen theme while also being low maintenance and drought tolerant once established. She coordinated Benchmark’s onsite team – Juan Carlos Gutierrez, Laith Bahbahani, Mario Chavez, Aristeo Mendoza, Guillermo Ramirez, Edrei Tellez, and Paris Clement – along with Irma Sandoval, coordinator for the North County team, all of whom were dedicated to executing Jaclyn’s design, making “Gemma’s Wish” of a Frozen castle come true.

A special thank you to Palomar Medical Center for recommending Benchmark for the site’s landscape installation, to Ewing Irrigation for donating irrigation supplies, to KRC Rock for providing cobble/rocks, and Benchmark’s Jeff Janczylik for donating plants from our South County branch. It was a pleasure to work with each company and individual involved, including the staff at Palomar Medical and SC Engineering.

Prior to this project, the family’s yard consisted of mainly a large dirt slope inaccessible to wheelchair bound Gemma. Her parents were very grateful for the help with the landscape as they just moved into their house last September. Gemma also has two very attentive older sisters who were just as excited for the Frozen castle.