Plutadesigns

Simple zen front yard with floating steps.

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.

Retainer wall added for functionality and contrast in Grandview craftsman.

Marcus Harpur Photographer

Small Garden Design by Amazon Landscaping and Garden Design mALCI 014060004 Amazonlandscaping.ie

Precolonial, handmade, copper lamp with handmade glass in the Gazebo Garden at Soul Safari™. "Side" mounted lamps often add a more cottage or whimsical look to the garden. Photo by Landscape Artist: Brett D. Maloney.

A tiny outdoor space was made to feel larger by replacing the lawn with paved paths and a courtyard. New steps replaced a sloping path to the front door. This home now has great street appeal and the courtyard provides a pretty flower filled living space throughout the year. There is even a small vegetable box squeezed in.

Aluminium Clad Wood Lift & Slide Doors with German engineered track system.

Modern lines with traditional materials give a contemporary new look to this coastal home and garden.

Katherine Lu

The primary goals for this project included completing the landscape left unfinished around the existing pool, replacing as much lawn as possible with native plants to attract pollinators and birds, and reimagining the front yard hillside.

Modern Style Spool and BBQ seating area. Synthetic lawn divides the grey smooth finish concrete decking and the circular fire pit.

In a unique location on a clifftop overlooking the ocean, an existing pool and rear garden was transformed inline with the ‘Hamptons’ style interiors of the home. The shape of an existing pool was changed to allow for more lawn and usable space. New tiling, rendered walls, planters and salt tolerant planting brought the garden up to date. The existing undercover alfresco area in this Dover Heights family garden was opened up by lowering the tiling level to create internal height and a sense of spaciousness. The colour palette was purposely limited to match the house with white light greys, green plantings and blue in the furnishings and pool. The addition of a built in BBQ with shaker profile cupboards and marble bench top references the interior styling and brings sophistication to the outdoor space. Baby blue pool lounges and wicker furniture add to the ‘Hamptons’ feel. Contemporary planters with Bougainvillea has been used to provide a splash of colour along the roof line for most of the year. In a side courtyard synthetic lawn was added to create a children’s play area, complete with elevated fort, cubby house and climbing wall.

The dry creek weaves through this contemporary landscape. It helps direct the drainage and adds some whimsey to the landscape.