The backyard is proposed with a vintage feeling. Space is combining pathways, patio, fireplace, outdoor kitchen, swing, and colorful and different plant turfs. The backyard was converted into an ideal environment to hear the bird noises and rustling sounds of nature.

Design ideas for a southwestern drought-tolerant and partial sun backyard retaining wall landscape in San Diego.

Brooklyn Garden Design © Todd Haiman Landscape Design
Inspiration for a mid-sized timeless backyard concrete paver patio remodel in New York with no cover

Looking from inside to outer surrounding Japanese garden area. The top row of windows are hand blown art glass. Photo credits:Dan Drobnick
Design ideas for a mid-sized asian partial sun backyard gravel landscaping in Cleveland.

A view from the top of the slope the garden is built on. A stone path provides access from the front yard to the back deck. Pictures by landscape designer Ben Bowen

This West Village rooftop garden features a custom ipe horizontal fence and planter, concrete pavers, and outdoor dining and sectional seating. It also includes black fiberglass planters filled with Japanese maples, bamboo, maiden grasses, hydrangeas, and knockout roses. This project was designed by Amber Freda in collaboration with Michael Wood Interiors. See more of our projects at www.amberfreda.com.

This once empty yard was transformed with perennial gardens, raised garden beds, a cute chicken coop, and boxwood hedge with a garden gate. The raised beds are home to strawberries, vegetables, herbs, lavender and annuals.

Brooklyn backyard with pergola, built in children's activity wall, blue stone paving with synthetic grass inserts for the play area with swings. Outdoor storage boxes double up as benches.

Experience tranquility with our custom-designed Japanese-style landscape project. Featuring a traditional dojo, serene pathways, and carefully curated greenery, this garden brings a touch of Zen to your home.

This project reimagines an under-used back yard in Portland, Oregon, creating an urban garden with an adjacent writer’s studio. Taking inspiration from Japanese precedents, we conceived of a paving scheme with planters, a cedar soaking tub, a fire pit, and a seven-foot-tall cedar fence. The fence is sheathed on both sides to afford greater privacy as well as ensure the neighbors enjoy a well-made fence too. Photo: Anna M Campbell: annamcampbell.com

This project presented unique opportunities that are not often found in residential landscaping. The homeowners were not only restoring their 1840's era farmhouse, a piece of their family’s history, but also enlarging and updating the home for modern living. The landscape designers continued this idea by creating a space that is a modern day interpretation of an 1840s era farm rather then a strict recreation. The resulting design combines elements of farm living from that time, as well as acknowledging the property’s history as a horse farm, with staples of 21st century landscapes such as space for outdoor living, lighting, and newer plant varieties. Guests approach from the main driveway which winds through the property and ends at the main barn. There is secondary gated driveway just for the homeowners. Connected to this main driveway is a narrower gravel lane which leads directly to the residence. The lane passes near fruit trees planted in broken rows to give the illusion that they are the remains of an orchard that once existed on the site. The lane widens at the entrance to the gardens where there is a hitching post built into the fence that surrounds the gardens and a watering trough. The widened section is intended as a place to park a golf cart or, in a nod to the home’s past, tie up horses before entering. The gravel lane passes between two stone pillars and then ends at a square gravel court edged in cobblestones. The gravel court transitions into a wide flagstone walk bordered with yew hedges and lavender leading to the front door. Directly to the right, upon entering the gravel court, is located a gravel and cobblestone edged walk leading to a secondary entrance into the residence. The walk is gated where it connects with the gravel court to close it off so as not to confuse visitors and guests to the main residence and to emphasize the primary entrance. An area for a bench is provided along this walk to encourage stopping to view and enjoy the gardens. On either side of the front door, gravel and cobblestone walks branch off into the garden spaces. The one on the right leads to a flagstone with cobblestone border patio space. Since the home has no designated backyard like most modern suburban homes the outdoor living space had to be placed in what would traditionally be thought of as the front of the house. The patio is separated from the entrance walk by the yew hedge and further enclosed by three Amelanchiers and a variety of plantings including modern cultivars of old fashioned plants such as Itea and Hydrangea. A third entrance, the original front door to the 1840’s era section, connects to the patio from the home’s kitchen, making the space ideal for outdoor dining. The gravel and cobblestone walk branching off to the left of the front door leads to the vegetable and perennial gardens. The idea for the vegetable garden was to recreate the tradition of a kitchen garden which would have been planted close to the residence for easy access. The vegetable garden is surrounded by mixed perennial beds along the inside of the wood picket fence which surrounds the entire garden space. Another area designated for a bench is provided here to encourage stopping and viewing. The home’s original smokehouse, completely restored and used as a garden shed, provides a strong architectural focal point to the vegetable garden. Behind the smokehouse is planted lilacs and other plants to give mass and balance to the corner and help screen the garden from the neighboring subdivision. At the rear corner of the garden a wood arbor was constructed to provide a structure on which to grow grapes or other vines should the homeowners choose to. The landscape and gardens for this restored farmhouse and property are a thoughtfully designed and planned recreation of a historic landscape reinterpreted for modern living. The idea was to give a sense of timelessness when walking through the gardens as if they had been there for years but had possibly been updated and rejuvenated as lifestyles changed. The attention to materials and craftsmanship blend seamlessly with the residence and insure the gardens and landscape remain an integral part of the property. The farm has been in the homeowner’s family for many years and they are thrilled at the results and happy to see respect given to the home’s history and to its meticulous restoration.

Photography by Studio H Landscape Architecture. Post processing by Isabella Li.
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary drought-tolerant and partial sun gravel water fountain landscape in Orange County.

©toddhaiman2014
Design ideas for a mid-sized transitional shade backyard gravel garden path in New York for spring.

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

My garden gate and Japanese maple, mid-November. Photo by Jay Sifford
This is an example of an asian shade backyard landscaping in Charlotte.

Photo of front side of Tea House. Building is all hand constructed using pegs. The building is designed using metaphysical principles and was constructed using exotic and local wood species. . Photo credits: Dan Drobnick

Award-winning Japanese landscape designer Kohei Owatari uses natural elements like water and stone to create relaxing environments amid modern life. A reverence for nature marks this eco-friendly and creative landscape design, where meandering pathways perfectly complement clean geometric lines and patterns. Natural stone was the ideal material to deepen the connection with the natural world. The unique leaf-shaped patio and the custom water trough are key elements that showcase Kohei’s exceptional creativity and design sense.

Brooklyn backyard with pergola, built in children's activity wall, blue stone paving with synthetic grass inserts for the play area with swings. Outdoor storage boxes double up as benches.

Total renovation for a small backyard garden in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The scope included a bluestone patio, horizontal cedar fence with built in planters and bench with storage. Overhead cafe string lights and a pendant fixture allow this family to enjoy their garden after dark. Low maintenance flowering perennials and grasses as well as herbs and vegetables fill the planted areas.