This yard was in dire need of a garden. All of the bones had been laid, but there was no spirit. We used grasses to add movement which blurred the edges of the yard, and made it feel bigger. Though still clean and simple, it has lots of life.

Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun formal garden for summer in London with a vertical garden and natural stone pavers.

This is an example of a large contemporary backyard shaded garden for spring in New York with a container garden and concrete pavers.

Mid-sized contemporary backyard shaded garden in San Francisco with a water feature and concrete pavers.

Chelsea Creek is the pinnacle of sophisticated living, these penthouse collection gardens, featuring stunning contemporary exteriors are London’s most elegant new dockside development, by St George Central London, they are due to be built in Autumn 2014 Following on from the success of her stunning contemporary Rooftop Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012, Patricia Fox was commissioned by St George to design a series of rooftop gardens for their Penthouse Collection in London. Working alongside Tara Bernerd who has designed the interiors, and Broadway Malyon Architects, Patricia and her team have designed a series of London rooftop gardens, which although individually unique, have an underlying design thread, which runs throughout the whole series, providing a unified scheme across the development. Inspiration was taken from both the architecture of the building, and from the interiors, and Aralia working as Landscape Architects developed a series of Mood Boards depicting materials, features, art and planting. This groundbreaking series of London rooftop gardens embraces the very latest in garden design, encompassing quality natural materials such as corten steel, granite and shot blasted glass, whilst introducing contemporary state of the art outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplaces, water features and green walls. Garden Art also has a key focus within these London gardens, with the introduction of specially commissioned pieces for stone sculptures and unique glass art. The linear hard landscape design, with fluid rivers of under lit glass, relate beautifully to the linearity of the canals below. The design for the soft landscaping schemes were challenging – the gardens needed to be relatively low maintenance, they needed to stand up to the harsh environment of a London rooftop location, whilst also still providing seasonality and all year interest. The planting scheme is linear, and highly contemporary in nature, evergreen planting provides all year structure and form, with warm rusts and burnt orange flower head’s providing a splash of seasonal colour, complementary to the features throughout. Finally, an exquisite lighting scheme has been designed by Lighting IQ to define and enhance the rooftop spaces, and to provide beautiful night time lighting which provides the perfect ambiance for entertaining and relaxing in. Aralia worked as Landscape Architects working within a multi-disciplinary consultant team which included Architects, Structural Engineers, Cost Consultants and a range of sub-contractors.

Traditional single glass greenhouse with custom knee wall.
Design ideas for a contemporary garden in Vancouver.

Custom built Corten steel planters stair step down the slope. Grid patterns tie into the windows and architecture of the home, while ornamental grasses and native shrubs soften the spaces. A small Kentucky Blue Grass lawn allows for play, while larger grass areas are composed of drought tolerant Blue Grama Grass.

Mid-sized contemporary front yard partial sun garden in Phoenix with a retaining wall and concrete pavers.

Espaliered witch hazel on welded wire mesh creates a dynamic view across from the kitchen. Viroc herb planters line a breezeway with pavers set in gravel. Two serviceberry trees lit from below punctuate the end of the garden space.

Allison’s most popular water feature was designed in 1999, as the centrepiece of a show garden at the 2000 Chelsea Flower Show , where she won a silver medal on her debut for “Garden of Reflections” (also incorporating more of her garden artwork). The fountain is based on a 2 foot (60cm) diameter acrylic sphere, filled and overflowing with water from a concealed pump. AquaLens sets this on a circular stainless steel platform, which in turn is set in a 5 foot (1.5m) diameter stainless steel contact-lens dish pool. The pool can be dug into a lawn, or set on a terrace or other firm level surface (the pool has a fitted collar so it sits level). We can create the Aqualens dish and sphere in any size. Operation and maintenance are simple: The Aqualens comes fully assembled, just fill with water and plug in the lead for the electric pump. Options available include a fitted internal light, and a different size of dish.

Newton, MA front yard renovation. - Redesigned, and replanted, steep hillside with plantings and grasses that tolerate shade and partial sun. Added repurposed, reclaimed granite steps for access to lower lawn. - Sallie Hill Design | Landscape Architecture | 339-970-9058 | salliehilldesign.com | photo ©2013 Brian Hill

CLCA (California Landscape Contractors Association) Judge's Award Winner for Best California Residential Landscaping project under 150k. Project features gardens, natural rock water fountain, pavers & stone work, putting green for golf lovers, BBQ area, outdoor dining, and night lighting for ambiance at all times of day. Samscaping is Diamond Certified (independently rated highest in quality) and is celebrated by decades of multiple state and local awards. - http://Samscaping.com By Josh Wilbur of AxisWebMedia.com

Rolling Stone Landscapes
This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary backyard garden in Sydney.

Looking for a unique garden that embraced the harsh location and unique architectural characteristics of the contemporary home, the owner employed the expertise of Tim Davies and Levi Carter of Tim Davies Landscaping to design and build this stunning landscape. Being in close proximity to the coast, the planting palette needed to be closely considered to create a landscape that would be able to withstand the conditions. The client was determined to have a mature finish to the garden. In order to achieve this, Tim and Levi sourced a range of mature trees from around the state that were suitable for relocation. These species included Poinciana, Olive, Frangipani and Magnolia trees. Custom ornamentation also creates focal points throughout, while large graphite granite bowls and a custom solid granite planter alongside the pool work to tie the spaces together. This minimal, contemporary design by Tim Davies Landscaping combines high-quality finishes with mature, lush planting to create habitable spaces that work aesthetically. Grab Photography

Photography: © ShadesOfGreen
Inspiration for a contemporary backyard garden in San Francisco.

Garden allee path with copper pipe trellis Photo by: Jeffrey Edward Tryon of PDC
Design ideas for a small contemporary courtyard shaded formal garden for summer in Philadelphia with gravel.

Pristine Acres (www.pristineacres.com) had the wonderful opportunity to build this European-inspired backyard for a very nice young family from Belgium. We incorporated railroad tie planters, flagstone patios and steppers, and a Zoysia grass pool deck into the design. The plantings included lots of Boxwoods and other evergreens and also a European Hornbeam-lined gravel boulevard.

A Garden Room boasting our Luxury 6 Wide aluminum glazing bars.
This is an example of a contemporary garden in Vancouver.

Photo of a contemporary garden in London.