Our client in Emerson has a beautiful home, perched on a magnificent mountain slope with incredible views. They asked Dreamscapes to design outdoor living spaces for them in order to fully utilize the property. Their wish list included a water feature, a deck for outdoor living, a patio to take in the distant views of the mountains, a place to garden, and a natural and native planting design to fit into the existing southeastern native woodlands and mountain environment. Living on the side of a mountain means bedrock. The design incorporates the natural slope and stone and works with the terrain. A new deck was constructed to extend out from the house, floating over the bedrock where it meets the new pond. From the top of the hill, a waterfall cascades down through the native plantings into the pond below. Natural boulders were used to build seating along the pond’s edge, where you can watch the fish, tend to the aquatic plants, listen to the frogs, and even take a dip to cool off. Two natural flagstone patios were built at two different elevations to sit and enjoy the views of the landscape and the mountains. Both patios are accessible by cut stone crab orchard steps set into the slope. The space at the end of the driveway was a blank canvas and the perfect place to design and build a garden of raised beds, enclosed in a traditional picket fence. It is now filled with vegetables, herbs, and cutting flowers. The local bees and butterflies love it too. And the beautiful landscape takes on a magical look after sunset. Landscape lighting was expertly placed, using a variety of fixture types to enhance the pond, waterfalls, trees and plants, bringing the spaces to life after dark. The homeowners are both multi-talented and wanted a place to incorporate their skills. They create original art, build detailed wood work and plant edible gardens, just to name a few. This new landscape gives them and their family and friends a place to work and play and relax. It has become a haven for people and wildlife alike. Outdoor living at its finest!

This small urban patio transformed into a productive, edible oasis.
Example of a small classic backyard patio vegetable garden design in San Luis Obispo with no cover

This is an example of a mid-sized farmhouse full sun front yard gravel landscaping in San Diego.

Joe Dodd
Inspiration for a rustic concrete paver patio vegetable garden remodel in Santa Barbara with a pergola

We installed a raised garden bed made of redwood with individual timed sprinklers. This is a great contemporary garden with minimal upkeep.
Example of a mid-sized minimalist backyard concrete patio vegetable garden design in Orange County with no cover

Photo of a mid-sized mediterranean vegetable garden landscape in Santa Barbara.

The espaliered apple fence has become a dense wall of leaves, hiding a multitude of ripening fruit. The multi-stem trees in the back ground are River Birch (Betula nigra 'Heritage'). Photo by Rob Cardillo

Joe Runde
Design ideas for a transitional gravel landscaping in Chicago.

Gardens of every sort are an opportunity to enjoy the beauty found outdoors, including the often over-looked vegetable garden. The use of a fence or enclosure of some sort is helpful in keeping the gardens fruits safe from the occasional dig-happy pet as well as less welcome marauders such as rabbits and deer. By enclosing the space the fence itself helps to create its own little world within.

An organic vegetable garden with an ocean view is luxury in its purest form. Two 15-foot by 4-foot raised planters were made out of redwood, and only the exteriors were stained to ensure no leeching occurs into the food.

This small urban patio transformed into a productive, edible oasis.
Small elegant backyard patio vegetable garden photo in Santa Barbara with no cover

Espaliered apple trees were used as a living fence for this garden space. The raised planting beds are built of cedar planking for extra height in the raised beds.

The garden 3 weeks after planting, on a foggy day. Photo by Steve Masley
Inspiration for a timeless deck container garden remodel in San Francisco

Inspiration for a large farmhouse backyard stone landscaping in New York.

Photo of a large farmhouse backyard stone landscaping in New York.

Example of a mid-sized transitional backyard concrete paver patio vegetable garden design in Seattle with no cover

This vegetable garden of 3 cedar raised beds was part of an over all drought tolerant garden.
This is an example of a small traditional full sun backyard gravel vegetable garden landscape in Los Angeles for summer.

wa design
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary partial sun backyard gravel landscaping in San Francisco for spring.

Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional full sun backyard vegetable garden landscape in Boston.