We updated this backyard in conjunction with an architectural addition. The new architecture provides many new vantage points to contemplate the garden and we have created distinct views from the breakfast, the family room, and the gazebo. The renovation of the garden created new outdoor spaces for planting and family gatherings. After this project's completion, the clients held their daughter's wedding in the garden. Collaborating with stone masons, we created handsome dry-stack retaining walls that provided level areas. We blended warm ledge stone and lichen-covered moss rock in some places for visual variety while in other places we let the elegant stonework act as the focal point. We were inspired by the regal stand of redwoods on the site that encloses the garden in privacy and provides dappled light throughout. The planting palette formed around their distinct character. We selected green and red Japanese maples as well as dogwoods to complement the colors of the redwoods, and accommodated for the horticultural qualities by choosing shade-lovers such as hydrangeas, hellebores, astilbe, and ferns to create a luscious understory. In sunnier areas, we dappled the garden with our client's favorite roses and cutting perennials. Raised beds of edible plantings provide nourishment for family gatherings.