Photos taken just after installation, there are more recent photos in this project. The front areas of this landscape were transformed from a tired, water thirsty lawn into a contemporary setting with dramatic concrete pavers leading to the home's entrance and a new driveway using large concrete slabs with small black pebbles set in resin. Plants for sun and part shade complete this project, just completed in February 2014. The back areas of this transformation are in a separate project: Modern Water-Side Landscape Remodel http://www.houzz.com/projects/456093/Modern-Water-Side-Landscape-Remodel---Lawn-Replaced--Novato--CA Photos: © Eileen Kelly, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

Patterned bluestone, board-on-board concrete and seasonal containers establish strength of line in the front landscape design. Plants are subordinate components of the design and just emerging from their winter dormancy.

1 Acre in Gilbert that needed a complete transformation from bad grass and desert plants to this lush dream home in prime Gilbert! Raised planters and hedges surrounding existing trees, new pavers, fire features - fireplace and fire pits, flower beds, new shrubs, trees, landscape lighting, sunken pool dining cabana, swim up bar, tennis court, soccer field, edible garden, iron trellis, private garden, and stunning paver entryways.

Landmark Historic Estate: 4400 acre property in sub-tropical zone 7b 30 acres of formal gardens and parks Landscape and garden restoration and re-design Master plan being executed over several phases including: -Foundations -Gravel Parterre Terraces -Great Lawn Borders -Garden Rooms with themed plantings design -Riverfront landings -Native Meadows

Michael Shopenn Photography
Photo of an expansive contemporary front yard garden in Denver with a garden path.

Дом из клееного бруса в коттеджном поселке.
Photo of an expansive country front yard full sun garden for summer in Moscow with a retaining wall.

Design | Tim Doles Landscape Design Photography | Kurt Jordan Photography
Expansive mediterranean front yard full sun xeriscape in Santa Barbara with natural stone pavers.

The landscape of this home honors the formality of Spanish Colonial / Santa Barbara Style early homes in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. By re-grading the lot and allowing for terraced opportunities, we featured a variety of hardscape stone, brick, and decorative tiles that reinforce the eclectic Spanish Colonial feel. Cantera and La Negra volcanic stone, brick, natural field stone, and handcrafted Spanish decorative tiles are used to establish interest throughout the property. A front courtyard patio includes a hand painted tile fountain and sitting area near the outdoor fire place. This patio features formal Boxwood hedges, Hibiscus, and a rose garden set in pea gravel. The living room of the home opens to an outdoor living area which is raised three feet above the pool. This allowed for opportunity to feature handcrafted Spanish tiles and raised planters. The side courtyard, with stepping stones and Dichondra grass, surrounds a focal Crape Myrtle tree. One focal point of the back patio is a 24-foot hand-hammered wrought iron trellis, anchored with a stone wall water feature. We added a pizza oven and barbecue, bistro lights, and hanging flower baskets to complete the intimate outdoor dining space. Project Details: Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Higgins Architects Landscape Contractor: Premier Environments Photography: Sam Rosenbaum

Robert Reck
Design ideas for an expansive modern front yard full sun garden in Austin with a retaining wall and gravel.

Inspiration for an expansive traditional front yard partial sun driveway for spring in Miami with a garden path and natural stone pavers.

Expansive traditional front yard partial sun driveway in New York with gravel.

Duy Tran Photography
Design ideas for an expansive traditional front yard partial sun formal garden for spring in DC Metro with concrete pavers.

The problem this Memorial-Houston homeowner faced was that her sumptuous contemporary home, an austere series of interconnected cubes of various sizes constructed from white stucco, black steel and glass, did not have the proper landscaping frame. It was out of scale. Imagine Robert Motherwell's "Black on White" painting without the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston's generous expanse of white walls surrounding it. It would still be magnificent but somehow...off. Intuitively, the homeowner realized this issue and started interviewing landscape designers. After talking to about 15 different designers, she finally went with one, only to be disappointed with the results. From the across-the-street neighbor, she was then introduced to Exterior Worlds and she hired us to correct the newly-created problems and more fully realize her hopes for the grounds. "It's not unusual for us to come in and deal with a mess. Sometimes a homeowner gets overwhelmed with managing everything. Other times it is like this project where the design misses the mark. Regardless, it is really important to listen for what a prospect or client means and not just what they say," says Jeff Halper, owner of Exterior Worlds. Since the sheer size of the house is so dominating, Exterior Worlds' overall job was to bring the garden up to scale to match the house. Likewise, it was important to stretch the house into the landscape, thereby softening some of its severity. The concept we devised entailed creating an interplay between the landscape and the house by astute placement of the black-and-white colors of the house into the yard using different materials and textures. Strategic plantings of greenery increased the interest, density, height and function of the design. First we installed a pathway of crushed white marble around the perimeter of the house, the white of the path in homage to the house’s white facade. At various intervals, 3/8-inch steel-plated metal strips, painted black to echo the bones of the house, were embedded and crisscrossed in the pathway to turn it into a loose maze. Along this metal bunting, we planted succulents whose other-worldly shapes and mild coloration juxtaposed nicely against the hard-edged steel. These plantings included Gulf Coast muhly, a native grass that produces a pink-purple plume when it blooms in the fall. A side benefit to the use of these plants is that they are low maintenance and hardy in Houston’s summertime heat. Next we brought in trees for scale. Without them, the impressive architecture becomes imposing. We placed them along the front at either corner of the house. For the left side, we found a multi-trunk live oak in a field, transported it to the property and placed it in a custom-made square of the crushed marble at a slight distance from the house. On the right side where the house makes a 90-degree alcove, we planted a mature mesquite tree. To finish off the front entry, we fashioned the black steel into large squares and planted grass to create islands of green, or giant lawn stepping pads. We echoed this look in the back off the master suite by turning concrete pads of black-stained concrete into stepping pads. We kept the foundational plantings of Japanese yews which add green, earthy mass, something the stark architecture needs for further balance. We contoured Japanese boxwoods into small spheres to enhance the play between shapes and textures. In the large, white planters at the front entrance, we repeated the plantings of succulents and Gulf Coast muhly to reinforce symmetry. Then we built an additional planter in the back out of the black metal, filled it with the crushed white marble and planted a Texas vitex, another hardy choice that adds a touch of color with its purple blooms. To finish off the landscaping, we needed to address the ravine behind the house. We built a retaining wall to contain erosion. Aesthetically, we crafted it so that the wall has a sharp upper edge, a modern motif right where the landscape meets the land.

The Entry and Parking Courtyard : The approach to the front of the house leads up the driveway into a spacious cobbled courtyard framed by a series of stone walls , which in turn are surrounded by plantings. The stone walls also allow the formation of a secondary room for entry into the garages. The walls extend the architecture of the house into the garden allowing the house to be grounded to the site and connect to the greater landscape. Photo credit: ROGER FOLEY

Huge Boulder Waterfall, Natural Boulder Dry River Bed and Xeriscaped Planting Beds Make This Landscape Design Unique and Beautiful
Inspiration for an expansive contemporary front yard full sun xeriscape in Denver with with waterfall.

Design ideas for an expansive contemporary front yard full sun garden for summer in Detroit with mulch.

In a vast natural landscape, the formal design of intentionally landscaped beds often jars, visually. This Client came from Lake Forest, Illinois, the land of gentrified old world landscapes. Here in the Rockies, she left behind her corporate career to immerse herself in horses, art and a new life lived in connection with family and Nature. She wanted a simple landscape that spoke to these new desires. For this project, we crafted opportunities for Nature to weave its way back into the landscape. The circle drive is the first whiff of this. Designed around a gnarled cedar, the spirit of this entire ranch, we simplified the plant palette, bringing in native and regionally adapted grasses and wildflowers. And that's it! These colors burn against the silvers and tawny browns of Missouri Heights! Gigi

The old concrete driveway was replaced with a contemporary pattern of large concrete slabs with small Mexican pebbles set in between in permeable resin. The other areas of this front landscape were transformed from a tired, water thirsty lawn into a contemporary setting with dramatic concrete pavers leading to the home's entrance. Plants for sun and part shade complete this project, just completed in February 2014. The back areas of this transformation are in a separate project: Modern Water-Side Landscape Remodel http://www.houzz.com/projects/456093/Modern-Water-Side-Landscape-Remodel---Lawn-Replaced--Novato--CA Photos: © Eileen Kelly, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

Located in one on the country’s most desirable vacation destinations, this vacation home blends seamlessly into the natural landscape of this unique location. The property includes a crushed stone entry drive with cobble accents, guest house, tennis court, swimming pool with stone deck, pool house with exterior fireplace for those cool summer eves, putting green, lush gardens, and a meandering boardwalk access through the dunes to the beautiful sandy beach. Photography: Richard Mandelkorn Photography