Before and After: 3 Barren Yards Become Lush, Inviting Retreats
Pros, including two found on Houzz, used plant colors, textures and shapes to soften and enliven landscapes
Landscape design pros transformed the following three yards into lush, plant-filled spaces. Though the designs vary in style, they share one defining characteristic: All feature abundant plantings that soften the landscape and help blur the lines between the house, hardscape and garden. And despite their differences, these inviting outdoor oases of calm and tranquility all invite lingering and relaxing.
After: The new hardscape pays homage to the home’s clean-lined architectural style. Griffin paired that structured look with soft, gracefully curving planting beds.
Find a landscape architect or designer on Houzz
Find a landscape architect or designer on Houzz
This bed was designed around an existing an existing native eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis, USDA zones 4 to 9; find your zone).
Rather than adding showy flowering plants, Griffin complement the home with textured options. His approach included transplanting many of the property’s existing ferns and hostas into the planting beds, resulting in a lush yet understated look.
10 Native Trees Landscape Designers Love
Rather than adding showy flowering plants, Griffin complement the home with textured options. His approach included transplanting many of the property’s existing ferns and hostas into the planting beds, resulting in a lush yet understated look.
10 Native Trees Landscape Designers Love
The graceful curves continue to the planting beds at the back of the home, where Griffin added layers of plantings. Low grasses and perennials line the lawn, giving way to taller shrubs and ornamental trees.
The main lounging area sits off the family room, with a planted courtyard separating the two. “We wanted to bring the homeowners away from the house into the landscape,” Griffin says. “And we wanted them to feel nested in and surrounded by green.”
Griffin planted larger deciduous ornamental trees and evergreens farther away from the house, and used smaller deciduous shrubs and herbaceous plants closer in. “This brings the eye down and then up and over,” he says.
Read more about this landscape renovation
The main lounging area sits off the family room, with a planted courtyard separating the two. “We wanted to bring the homeowners away from the house into the landscape,” Griffin says. “And we wanted them to feel nested in and surrounded by green.”
Griffin planted larger deciduous ornamental trees and evergreens farther away from the house, and used smaller deciduous shrubs and herbaceous plants closer in. “This brings the eye down and then up and over,” he says.
Read more about this landscape renovation
2. Plant-Filled Retreat
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: An interior designer and a film editor with grown-up children
Location: Southwest London
Size: About 3,060 square feet (284 square meters); 72 by 42½ feet
Landscape designer: Lucy Willcox Garden Design
Before: This home in southwest London boasted large windows, shown here, but the only view was of a patchy lawn and overgrown bushes. The homeowners asked landscape designer Lucy Willcox to transform the space into a spot for relaxing and entertaining, with beautiful plantings that would offer year-round enjoyment from both inside and outside the house.
Wilcox designed a series of outdoor rooms surrounding the home. She also made sure that the plant palette visually linked the spaces. “Some parts of the [yard] are much sunnier than others, so it was about trying to tie those areas together within the same planting scheme,” she says.
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: An interior designer and a film editor with grown-up children
Location: Southwest London
Size: About 3,060 square feet (284 square meters); 72 by 42½ feet
Landscape designer: Lucy Willcox Garden Design
Before: This home in southwest London boasted large windows, shown here, but the only view was of a patchy lawn and overgrown bushes. The homeowners asked landscape designer Lucy Willcox to transform the space into a spot for relaxing and entertaining, with beautiful plantings that would offer year-round enjoyment from both inside and outside the house.
Wilcox designed a series of outdoor rooms surrounding the home. She also made sure that the plant palette visually linked the spaces. “Some parts of the [yard] are much sunnier than others, so it was about trying to tie those areas together within the same planting scheme,” she says.
After: The landscape now has a soft, somewhat wild and soothing feel. Willcox limited the number of plant varieties to keep the space from looking too messy. For designs like this, “I pick seven or so plants and repeat them in blocks of threes, fives and sevens,” she says. Contrasting textures and forms provide additional interest.
Willcox also utilized the technique of succession planting so that the garden will evolve through the seasons. The homeowners were open to the idea of incorporating seed heads and grasses into the winter landscape. “Fifteen years ago, people were wanting much more pristine spaces, but now there’s a movement for a wilder feel,” the designer says.
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Willcox also utilized the technique of succession planting so that the garden will evolve through the seasons. The homeowners were open to the idea of incorporating seed heads and grasses into the winter landscape. “Fifteen years ago, people were wanting much more pristine spaces, but now there’s a movement for a wilder feel,” the designer says.
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The majority of the budget went to plants, but Willcox also added some hardscape features. This boardwalk stretches through the garden, from outside the bedrooms to a lounging deck that overlooks a small lawn area. “There needed to be some sort of balance in the space and somewhere to catch a bit of sun,” she says.
Willcox used wood rather than stone to support the look she and the homeoners were after. “We wanted something much freer and lighter,” she says. “The wood is much softer and suits the garden well.”
Read more about this landscape renovation
Willcox used wood rather than stone to support the look she and the homeoners were after. “We wanted something much freer and lighter,” she says. “The wood is much softer and suits the garden well.”
Read more about this landscape renovation
3. Midcentury Makeover
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their dogs
Location: Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles
Size: One-fifth of an acre
Landscape designer: Deborah Gliksman of Urban Oasis Landscape Design
Before: This classic midcentury modern house and landscape had seen better days. There were a few existing trees, but the yard featured little else. The exterior also had suffered from poorly thought-out changes over the years, resulting in a design that wasn’t in keeping with the architects’ original intentions.
The homeowners found landscape designer Deborah Gliksman on Houzz and hired her restore the landscape and the home’s exterior. “This is a beautiful neighborhood full of classic midcentury modern Palmer & Krisel homes,” Gliksman says. “But the landscape was a disaster. It was just dirt and boulders out front, and the back was very uneven.”
She transformed the property into a wildlife-attracting landscape with curb appeal; the new design softens the original structure while staying true to its midcentury roots.
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their dogs
Location: Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles
Size: One-fifth of an acre
Landscape designer: Deborah Gliksman of Urban Oasis Landscape Design
Before: This classic midcentury modern house and landscape had seen better days. There were a few existing trees, but the yard featured little else. The exterior also had suffered from poorly thought-out changes over the years, resulting in a design that wasn’t in keeping with the architects’ original intentions.
The homeowners found landscape designer Deborah Gliksman on Houzz and hired her restore the landscape and the home’s exterior. “This is a beautiful neighborhood full of classic midcentury modern Palmer & Krisel homes,” Gliksman says. “But the landscape was a disaster. It was just dirt and boulders out front, and the back was very uneven.”
She transformed the property into a wildlife-attracting landscape with curb appeal; the new design softens the original structure while staying true to its midcentury roots.
After: The existing landscape included the large olive tree seen here on the right as well as some oak trees. Saving the healthy trees was a priority, so Gliksman carefully planned the yard around them. “The shade from the large trees keeps the house cooler,” she says.
The homeowners wanted a Southwestern style in front. “I used sculptural agaves, California natives and succulents,” Gliksman says. Because the home is situated in a very hot part of the San Fernando Valley, Gliksman needed sturdy plants that would hold up to the conditions. She placed brightly colored grevillea plants, native to Australia, along the driveway. “Its orange-red blooms are popular with hummingbirds,” she says.
The designer removed the existing rain gutters and created two rain gardens instead. In the front yard, a new dry creek (shown here) absorbs the runoff from the roof and driveway. Its curved lines soften the space, and the drought-tolerant plantings that line its banks add another layer of greenery.
How to Move Water Through Your Landscape
The homeowners wanted a Southwestern style in front. “I used sculptural agaves, California natives and succulents,” Gliksman says. Because the home is situated in a very hot part of the San Fernando Valley, Gliksman needed sturdy plants that would hold up to the conditions. She placed brightly colored grevillea plants, native to Australia, along the driveway. “Its orange-red blooms are popular with hummingbirds,” she says.
The designer removed the existing rain gutters and created two rain gardens instead. In the front yard, a new dry creek (shown here) absorbs the runoff from the roof and driveway. Its curved lines soften the space, and the drought-tolerant plantings that line its banks add another layer of greenery.
How to Move Water Through Your Landscape
The rain garden behind the home, seen here on the left, fills the space between the house and the upper part of the backyard. Gliksman planted it with a mix of grasses, perennials, shrubs and an Angel Red pomegranate tree (Punica granatum ‘Smith’, zones 7 to 11). The variety of colors and textures invites strollers to slow down and take in the sights.
Gliksman’s design also includes natural spiller plants along the edges of the space, and a number of pollinator attractors. The yellow flowers creeping onto the path are Hartweg’s sundrops (Calylophus hartwegii, zones 5 to 9). “These are such great plants, because they look like this for about half the year,” she says.
A final touch is a grassy area for the two dogs who live here. Gliksman opted for Kurapia. It’s a noninvasive, drought-tolerant ground cover that is low-maintenance but still sturdy enough to handle the foot, or paw, traffic.
Read more about this landscape renovation
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Gliksman’s design also includes natural spiller plants along the edges of the space, and a number of pollinator attractors. The yellow flowers creeping onto the path are Hartweg’s sundrops (Calylophus hartwegii, zones 5 to 9). “These are such great plants, because they look like this for about half the year,” she says.
A final touch is a grassy area for the two dogs who live here. Gliksman opted for Kurapia. It’s a noninvasive, drought-tolerant ground cover that is low-maintenance but still sturdy enough to handle the foot, or paw, traffic.
Read more about this landscape renovation
More on Houzz
Browse landscape photos
Read more landscape stories
Hire a landscape contractor
Shop outdoor products
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
Size: About 2 acres (entire property)
Landscape architect and builder: Bob Hursthouse and Josh Griffin of Hursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors
Architect: Tom Basset-Dilley Architects
General contractor: Thomas Patrick Homes
Before: The homeowners loved this midcentury modern home and its surrounding wooded lot, but they knew that both the house and yard needed major renovations. They hired Hursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors, which they found on Houzz, to join their architect and builder before work started. “They had a clear vision for the property,” landscape designer Josh Griffin of Hursthouse says.
Bringing the landscape design pros on from the start meant that the team could create a house and landscape that would flow well together. “Collaborating from the beginning of the project allowed us to plan a very cohesive circulation,” Griffin says.
The property had magnificent hardwood canopy trees, including oaks and copper beeches, and a few existing ornamentals, such as the redbud seen here on the left side of the chimney. Preserving the existing trees and maintaining their root zones during construction were paramount. “Not one tree was felled during construction,” Griffin says.