B. Bruce
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary partial sun front yard concrete paver formal garden in Portland.

Photo by Casey Fry
Photo of a large farmhouse backyard stone landscaping in Austin.

New Vernon, NJ
Photo of a large traditional full sun front yard formal garden in New York for fall.

Photo of a small farmhouse front yard landscaping in Omaha.

Even small spaces need great design. Container and small space gardens - decks, alcoves and patios are all great spots to "green" up with planted pots. Add color, texture and warmth to your small spaces - or drama to a large space - with a well-designed container. Birdbaths, fountains, troughs and more make great containers. Irrigation can be run to your containers or Oyas (water vessels) can be planted in the containers to provide irrigation and to keep your plants healthy.

Deck sections, concrete slabs set into pebble floor. Photo by Ketti Kupper
This is an example of a small contemporary drought-tolerant and full sun front yard landscaping in Los Angeles.

Design ideas for a small traditional full sun front yard stone landscaping.

This is an example of a mid-sized transitional shade backyard landscaping.

'Husky Cherry Red' tomatoes are planted in the center with zinnias tucked in along the edge of this planter from lechuza.us.Learn how to grow easy vegetables that look great on your patio from the book "Easy Container Combos: Vegetables & Flowers." See a free, 24 page sample of the book at www.pamela-crawford.com. in the 'Books' section. Pamela Crawford designed and photographed the planter. Pamela designs landscapes throughout Palm Beach County, FL, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, the town of Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Wellington.

Allen Haren
This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary partial sun backyard concrete paver formal garden in Los Angeles.

Photo of a large traditional backyard landscaping in Bridgeport with no cover.

Inspiration for a large farmhouse full sun backyard mulch formal garden in Austin.

Inspiration for a large contemporary drought-tolerant and full sun front yard gravel landscaping in San Diego.

Landscape design by John Algozzini, lighting design by Kevin Manning. This project received a 2013 Hardscape North America Design Award, and a 2014 ILCA Award of Excellence. It has also been featured in Chicagoland Gardening Magazine and Total Landscape Care Magazine. Photo courtesy of Bridget Clauson.

Photo of a traditional backyard landscaping in St Louis.

Photo of a large traditional full sun front yard mulch driveway in Boston for summer.

Bliss Garden Design
This is an example of a coastal landscaping in Seattle.

Originally a nearly three-story tall 1920’s European-styled home was turned into a modern villa for work and home. A series of low concrete retaining wall planters and steps gradually takes you up to the second level entry, grounding or anchoring the house into the site, as does a new wrap around veranda and trellis. Large eave overhangs on the upper roof were designed to give the home presence and were accented with a Mid-century orange color. The new master bedroom addition white box creates a better sense of entry and opens to the wrap around veranda at the opposite side. Inside the owners live on the lower floor and work on the upper floor with the garage basement for storage, archives and a ceramics studio. New windows and open spaces were created for the graphic designer owners; displaying their mid-century modern furnishings collection. A lot of effort went into attempting to lower the house visually by bringing the ground plane higher with the concrete retaining wall planters, steps, wrap around veranda and trellis, and the prominent roof with exaggerated overhangs. That the eaves were painted orange is a cool reflection of the owner’s Dutch heritage. Budget was a driver for the project and it was determined that the footprint of the home should have minimal extensions and that the new windows remain in the same relative locations as the old ones. Wall removal was utilized versus moving and building new walls where possible. Photo Credit: John Sutton Photography.

Design Consultant Jeff Doubét is the author of Creating Spanish Style Homes: Before & After – Techniques – Designs – Insights. The 240 page “Design Consultation in a Book” is now available. Please visit SantaBarbaraHomeDesigner.com for more info. Jeff Doubét specializes in Santa Barbara style home and landscape designs. To learn more info about the variety of custom design services I offer, please visit SantaBarbaraHomeDesigner.com Jeff Doubét is the Founder of Santa Barbara Home Design - a design studio based in Santa Barbara, California USA.