© Verdance Landscape Design

Land2c Photo Exterior of chicken run and pots for herbs on new, graceful stairs. The old chicken coop and run was demolished and a new, custom coop and run were tucked under the deck. and stairs. Star Jasmine isplanted around the run-- not harmful to chickens. As it grows it will blend the run into the garden and create more shady areas for the chickens. Human access to the run is concealed as one of the frame squares. The frame will be painted to match the house trim color. Dark vinyl coated chicken wire was used to be less visually noticeable. The stair pots provide room for herbs to grow.

Michelle Andersen

This is the path leading to the Stone Arch and the Sun and Moon Garden. Photo credits: Dan Drobnick

Cannes landscape architecture

Riverfront garden with fieldstone wall, terrace and regionally native plants including aquilegia canadensis, lecothue, yarrow and herbs. These gardens require minimal water and maintenance and they offer seasonal variation, color and food for local birds and butterflies. Angela Kearney Minglewood Designs

Bushnell Landscape Design-Build-Love. For over two decades Bushnell’s Landscapes has been cre­at­ing award-wining and extensively unique outdoor liv­ing spaces. Our construction divi­sion is a one stop shop for all of you out­door needs, whether it’s a cus­tom built out­door kitchen or fire­place or sim­ply revamp­ing your exist­ing plants and land­scape. We have the expe­ri­ence to pro­vide a cre­ative solu­tion for all your needs as well as a dis­tinc­tively bet­ter land­scape that will last for years to come.

In a vast natural landscape, the formal design of intentionally landscaped beds often jars, visually. This Client came from Lake Forest, Illinois, the land of gentrified old world landscapes. Here in the Rockies, she left behind her corporate career to immerse herself in horses, art and a new life lived in connection with family and Nature. She wanted a simple landscape that spoke to these new desires. For this project, we crafted opportunities for Nature to weave its way back into the landscape. The circle drive is the first whiff of this. Designed around a gnarled cedar, the spirit of this entire ranch, we simplified the plant palette, bringing in native and regionally adapted grasses and wildflowers. And that's it! These colors burn against the silvers and tawny browns of Missouri Heights! Gigi

Fine House Studio

Overview of outdoor patio, with dining, fire pit, water feature, and arbor/trellis, surrounded by lush plantings

A small courtyard garden in San Francisco. • Creative use of space in the dense, urban fabric of hilly SF. • For the last several years the clients had carved out a make shift courtyard garden at the top of their driveway. It was one of the few flat spaces in their yard where they could sit in the sun and enjoy a cup of coffee. We turned the top of a steep driveway into a courtyard garden. • The actual courtyard design was planned for the maximum dimensions possible to host a dining table and a seating area. The space is conveniently located outside their kitchen and home offices. However we needed to save driveway space for parking the cars and getting in and out. • The design, fabrication and installation team was comprised of people we knew. I was an acquaintance to the clients having met them through good friends. The landscape contractor, Boaz Mor, http://www.boazmor.com/, is their neighbor and someone I worked with before. The metal fabricator is Murray Sandford of Moz Designs, https://mozdesigns.com/, https://www.instagram.com/moz_designs/ . Both contractors have long histories of working in the Bay Area on a variety of complex designs. • The size of this garden belies the complexity of the design. We did not want to remove any of the concrete driveway which was 12” or more in thickness, except for the area where the large planter was going. The driveway sloped in two directions. In order to get a “level”, properly, draining patio, we had to start it at around 21” tall at the outside and end it flush by the garage doors. • The fence is the artful element in the garden. It is made of power-coated aluminum. The panels match the house color; and posts match the house trim. The effect is quiet, blending into the overall property. The panels are dramatic. Each fence panel is a different size with a unique pattern. • The exterior panels that you see from the street are an abstract riff on the seasons of the Persian walnut tree in their front yard. The cut-outs illustrate spring bloom when the walnut leafs out to autumn when the nuts drop to the ground and the squirrels eats them, leaving a mess of shells everywhere. Even the pesky squirrel appears on one of the panels. • The interior panels, lining the entry into the courtyard, are an abstraction of the entire walnut tree. • Although the panel design is made of perforations, the openings are designed to retain privacy when you are inside the courtyard. • There is a large planter on one side of the courtyard, big enough for a tree to soften a harsh expanse of a neighboring wall. Light through the branches cast playful shadows on the wall behind. • The lighting, mounted on the house is a nod to the client’s love of New Orleans gas lights. • The paving is black stone from India, dark enough to absorb the warmth of the sun on a cool, summer San Francisco day.

Photos by Linda Oyama Bryan

A bubbling basalt stone fountain creates a soothing audible backdrop and is much loved by the birds and wildlife that flock to this garden which is a certified wildlife habitat.

LandWorks first navigated a most challenging local government approval process because of this home’s placement on a lake, but it was passed by local government and came together beautifully. Our lovely clients trusted our team to deliver on an involved hardscape and landscape project that featured multi-level patios, several stone staircases, an involved water feature, an elaborate drainage infrastructure – not to mention a switchback, severe-incline path from lake pier to terrace. The stunning lakeside property features bluestone paving throughout, an outdoor grill counter, decorative driveway details at the home’s front entry, and lush plantings with tons of spring, summer and fall color. We had a brilliant and experienced crew on the very involved hardscape install and a talented, creative, painstaking crew on the perennial installs.

A shady corner of the garden is nice place to escape the summer heat during the day or to light a fire when the evening chill sets in

We turned this pedestrian Leaside backyard upside down! We added a stone patio complete with a firepit and lounge area which is covered by giant umbrella. A custom rough hewn beam pergola was painted black to contrast the custom stainless steel shoes and connector plates and placed over the new dining area and custom buffet. The buffet has a Corten steel decorative panel behind with white plexiglass and lighting for a dramatic dining experience. Horizontal fencing surrounds the backyard and the style carries through to both gates. Natural stone steppingstones and borders add contrast and frame the different sections of the yard. Playful informal plantings give the garden a sense of whimsy. The back porch was created for barbecuing with glass railings to not disturb the view from inside the home and contains a large storage space underneath.

Bespoke bin store. Created to house two mismatched wheelies, painted in Farrow & Ball 'Railings' and dressed with brushed steel furniture to match the house. Topped with a lovely sedum roof, totally self maintaining. © Deb Cass

Photo by Sam Roberts Looking past the pipe planters to the raised veg beds and house