Landscape Design
Before and Afters
Patio of the Week: Large-Scale Elements in a Small Courtyard
Oversize features bring drama and balance to this landscape designer’s compact North Carolina patio
Landscape designer Jay Sifford recently made a big life change: He moved from a house in Charlotte, North Carolina, with an expansive and elaborate garden he designed, planted and tended, to a townhouse with a small courtyard in nearby Davidson. This brought him a half-hour closer to his beloved second home in the mountains and simplified things when he was in the city. As someone who had been living with a maximalist garden full of a wide range of plants, he embraced the chance to curate a minimalist space.
After: Sifford, who has written stories for Houzz, painted the brick patio and the courtyard’s walls black. Courtyards he’d seen in London, particularly by Charlotte Rowe, inspired the color palette. “I love the crisp contrast of chartreuse and black,” he says. “I have black dogs. I have black stained floors and a black mountain house. Black is beautiful,” he says.
To mitigate the slope of the brick patio, Sifford added a 6-inch-high, 10-foot-deep deck to the back third of the courtyard. It contains the dining area. “I’d also seen this a lot in contemporary London courtyards. It divides the space in a way that makes it feel bigger, whereas a wall or partition would have made it feel smaller,” he says. The decking is pressure-treated pine stained black. A new trapdoor over the drain provides easy access for cleaning.
Find a local deck-and-patio specialist
To mitigate the slope of the brick patio, Sifford added a 6-inch-high, 10-foot-deep deck to the back third of the courtyard. It contains the dining area. “I’d also seen this a lot in contemporary London courtyards. It divides the space in a way that makes it feel bigger, whereas a wall or partition would have made it feel smaller,” he says. The decking is pressure-treated pine stained black. A new trapdoor over the drain provides easy access for cleaning.
Find a local deck-and-patio specialist
Sifford kept the plant palette limited and built large cedar planters that he painted black. “I wanted to copy the horizontal lines of the siding with the planters, because our eyes follow lines,” he says. “The horizontal lines keep the eyes moving around the space rather than up, and that makes the space feel larger.” The oversize scale of the planters also helps. “Never undersize pots,” Sifford advises. “They make a small space feel smaller and jumbled.”
He chose ‘Everillo’ sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’, USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone) and dragon head bamboo (Fargesia rufa, zones 5 to 8) to fill the planters. The bamboo adds softness, and it rustles in the wind. When he saw that the bamboo plants were burning due to the afternoon sun, Sifford added a retractable awning to shade them. Please note that this is a conscientious use of bamboo, as it should be contained to prevent wild spreading.
Planting a vertical garden was a challenge the landscape designer had always wanted to take on. After researching different living wall systems, he chose one from TrueVert, a California company. The system is a panel of carbonized cork with holes cut in it for planting. The roots of the plants grow into the cork, and a wick system allows for easy watering from the top of the panel. Sifford filled two of the planters based on an abstract graphic look, treating the composition like a live painting. He spread the panels across the corner so that the vertical garden continues from one wall to the next.
“I really had to restrain myself here and stick with just a few plants in order to create the graphic pattern,” he says of the vertical garden panels. “These are so great in a courtyard — they bring the garden up the wall and contribute to the immersive experience.”
Browse outdoor lounge furniture in the Houzz Shop
He chose ‘Everillo’ sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’, USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone) and dragon head bamboo (Fargesia rufa, zones 5 to 8) to fill the planters. The bamboo adds softness, and it rustles in the wind. When he saw that the bamboo plants were burning due to the afternoon sun, Sifford added a retractable awning to shade them. Please note that this is a conscientious use of bamboo, as it should be contained to prevent wild spreading.
Planting a vertical garden was a challenge the landscape designer had always wanted to take on. After researching different living wall systems, he chose one from TrueVert, a California company. The system is a panel of carbonized cork with holes cut in it for planting. The roots of the plants grow into the cork, and a wick system allows for easy watering from the top of the panel. Sifford filled two of the planters based on an abstract graphic look, treating the composition like a live painting. He spread the panels across the corner so that the vertical garden continues from one wall to the next.
“I really had to restrain myself here and stick with just a few plants in order to create the graphic pattern,” he says of the vertical garden panels. “These are so great in a courtyard — they bring the garden up the wall and contribute to the immersive experience.”
Browse outdoor lounge furniture in the Houzz Shop
Here are Sifford’s dogs, Amador and new puppy Luca, who helped inspire the black in the color palette. Another palette inspiration was the Carolina sky, seen in the sofa cushions and three paintings by Nicholas Yust that Sifford found on Houzz. “These three paintings are backed on aluminum squares and mimic the view of the sky,” he says. “And when I’m lying on the sofa, the courtyard’s walls create a big black picture frame for the view of the sky.”
The limited palette also includes concrete, which ties the courtyard to the interior flooring. “It’s crisp and contemporary — not at all fussy or pretentious,” Sifford says of the material.
Paintings (set of three): “Blue Essence” giclee on metal, Modern Crowd
Shop for outdoor rugs
The limited palette also includes concrete, which ties the courtyard to the interior flooring. “It’s crisp and contemporary — not at all fussy or pretentious,” Sifford says of the material.
Paintings (set of three): “Blue Essence” giclee on metal, Modern Crowd
Shop for outdoor rugs
As with the planters, Sifford went oversize with the light fixtures. He found the galvanized-steel gooseneck lights on Houzz. “Overscaling elements like this contributes to the immersive feeling,” he says.
The side of the courtyard seen here leads to the house. Sifford painted the French door a cornflower blue to tie it in with the sofa cushions. On the right he added one more color — red, in the form of glass bamboo stalks by Seattle artist Jesse Kelly. “The way glass absorbs, refracts and reflects light in the garden is the most magical thing ever. Especially when the stalks are uplit at night,” he says.
Check out our beginner’s guide to getting started on your home project
The side of the courtyard seen here leads to the house. Sifford painted the French door a cornflower blue to tie it in with the sofa cushions. On the right he added one more color — red, in the form of glass bamboo stalks by Seattle artist Jesse Kelly. “The way glass absorbs, refracts and reflects light in the garden is the most magical thing ever. Especially when the stalks are uplit at night,” he says.
Check out our beginner’s guide to getting started on your home project
Not wanting to go all black on the ground, Sifford found just the right rug. “It has this wonderful branch-like pattern, and the blues in it pull the color of the sky down to the floor,” he says.
A final touch is a planter full of succulents. “I used to love to grow hens and chicks [Sempervivum tectorum] when I was a kid. I hadn’t done that in 50 years, so they bring me back to my childhood,” he says.
Simplifying from his large, complicated and high-maintenance garden to this new courtyard has been a life-changing experience for Sifford. “It’s a relief — simplifying life as you get older makes life good,” he says.
For comparison, check out Sifford’s mountain house and gardens.
More on Houzz
Read more stories about patios
Browse thousands of patio photos
Hire a local design pro
Shop for your outdoor spaces
A final touch is a planter full of succulents. “I used to love to grow hens and chicks [Sempervivum tectorum] when I was a kid. I hadn’t done that in 50 years, so they bring me back to my childhood,” he says.
Simplifying from his large, complicated and high-maintenance garden to this new courtyard has been a life-changing experience for Sifford. “It’s a relief — simplifying life as you get older makes life good,” he says.
For comparison, check out Sifford’s mountain house and gardens.
More on Houzz
Read more stories about patios
Browse thousands of patio photos
Hire a local design pro
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape designer Jay Sifford
Location: Davidson, North Carolina
Size: 300 square feet (28 square meters); 10 by 30 feet
Before: As soon as he stepped inside this row house-inspired townhouse, Sifford knew that it was the spot for him. “It’s very traditional on the outside, with double porches, but on the inside someone had modernized the interiors. It had black stained concrete floors and a modern look,” he says. “The floors were exactly like the ones I’d put in my mountain house, and I took it as a sign.”
While the interiors were move-in ready, the 300-square-foot courtyard was a sad blank slate. The completely private patio is closed in on all four sides, and the door seen here leads to a garage. The brick patio surface sloped down toward a drain in the left corner. The door to the garage lacked a step to navigate the awkward grade change.
Work with a landscape designer