Richard P. Rauso, ASLA
Photo of a mid-sized traditional backyard full sun garden for summer in Other with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

www.seeinseeout.com
Mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun formal garden in Austin with a garden path and natural stone pavers for summer.

Denise Cadwallader
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun garden for summer in London with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Courtyard www.johnevansdesign.com (Photographed by Mike Swartz photography)
This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary courtyard partial sun formal garden for summer in West Midlands with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

With a lengthy list of ideas about how to transform their backyard, the clients were excited to see what we could do. Existing features on site needed to be updated and in-cooperated within the design. The view from each angle of the property was already outstanding and we didn't want the design to feel out of place. We had to make the grade changes work to our advantage, each separate space had to have a purpose. The client wanted to use the property for charity events, so a large flat turf area was constructed at the back of the property, perfect for setting up tables, chairs and a stage if needed. It also created the perfect look out point into the back of the property, dropping off into a ravine. A lot of focus throughout the project was the plant selection. With a large amount of garden beds, we wanted to maintain a clean and formal look, while still offering seasonal interest. We did this by edging the beds with boxwoods, adding white hydrangeas throughout the beds for constant colour, and subtle pops of purple and yellow. This along with the already breathtaking natural backdrop of the space, is more than enough to make this project stand out. Photographer: Jason Hartog Photography

Rechtglaub-Wolf, Lübeck
Inspiration for a mid-sized traditional backyard full sun garden for summer in Hamburg with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Whole house remodel of a classic Mid-Century style beach bungalow into a modern beach villa. Architect: Neumann Mendro Andrulaitis General Contractor: Allen Construction Photographer: Ciro Coelho

This antique boy and goose fountain is surrounded by a European Hornbeam hedge at the edge of an arrival courtyard. During the Summer annual and tropical planters are placed in and around this feature to help animate it.

Design ideas for a large traditional side yard full sun outdoor sport court for summer in Vancouver with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Legacy Custom Homes, Inc. Newport Beach, CA
This is an example of a large tropical backyard partial sun garden for summer in Orange County with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

1950’s mid century modern hillside home. full restoration | addition | modernization. board formed concrete | clear wood finishes | mid-mod style.
Design ideas for a mid-sized midcentury side yard partial sun garden for summer in Santa Barbara with a water feature and concrete pavers.

A Memorial-area art collector residing in a chic modern home wanted his house to be more visible from the street. His yard was full of trees, and he asked us to consider removing them and developing a more modern landscape design that would fully complement the exterior of his home. He was a personal friend of ours as well, and he understood that our policy is to preserve as many trees as possible whenever we undertake a project. However, we decided to make an exception in his case for two reasons. For one thing, he was a very close friend to many people in our company. Secondly, large trees simply would not work with a landscape reflective of the modern architecture that his house featured. The house had been built as story structure that was formed around a blend of unique curves and angles very reminiscent of the geometric patterns common in modern sculpture and art. The windows had been built deliberately large, so that visitors driving up to the house could have a lighted glimpse into the interior, where many sculptures and works of modern art were showcased. The entire residence, in fact, was meant to showcase the eclectic diversity of his artistic tastes, and provide a glimpse at the elegant contents within the home. He asked us to create more modern look to the landscape that would complement the residence with patterns in vegetation, ornamentation, and a new lighted water fountain that would act like a mirror-image of the home. He also wanted us to sculpt the features we created in such a way as to center the eye of the viewer and draw it up and over the landscape to focus on the house itself. The challenge was to develop a truly sophisticated modern landscaping design that would compliment, but in no way overpower the façade of the home. In order to do this, we had to focus very carefully on the geometric appearance of the planting areas first. Since the vegetation would be surrounding a very large, circular stone drive, we took advantage of the contours and created a sense of flowing perspective. We were then very careful to plant vegetation that could be maintained at a very low growth height. This was to prevent vegetation from behaving like the previous trees which had blocked the view of the house. Small hedges, ferns, and flowers were planted in winding rows that followed the course of the circular stone driveway that surrounded the fountain. We then centered this new modern landscape plan with a very sophisticated contemporary fountain. We chose a circular shape for the fountain both to center the eye and to work as a compliment to the curved elements in the home’s exterior design. We selected black granite as the building material, partly because granite speaks to the monumental, and partly because it is a very common material for modern architecture and outdoor contemporary sculpture. We placed the fountain in the very center of the driveway as well, which had the effect of making the entire landscape appear to converge toward the middle of the home’s façade. To add a sense of eclectic refinement to the fountain, we then polished the granite so that anyone driving or walking up to the fountain would see a reflection of the home in the base. To maintain consistency of the circular shape, we radius cut all of the coping around the fountain was all radius cut from polished limestone. The lighter color of the limestone created an archetypal contrast of light and darkness, further contributing to the modern theme of the landscape design, and providing a surface for illumination so the fountain would remain an established keynote on the landscape during the night.

Riviera garden
Photo of a large eclectic backyard partial sun formal garden for summer in Nice with gravel and a garden path.

A old watering trough from the site was used as a water feature within the courtyard. Low maintenance plantings and traditional gravel pathways with paver edging flank the stone entry and are surrounded by low lath screen fences to formalize the space. This farmstead is located in the Northwest corner of Washington State. Photo by Ian Gleadle

Inspiration for a large contemporary shaded formal garden for summer in Hamburg with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Featured in Home & Design Magazine, this Chevy Chase home was inspired by Hugh Newell Jacobsen and built/designed by Anthony Wilder's team of architects and designers.

This is an example of a large contemporary partial sun garden for summer in Munich with natural stone pavers.

http://gvhphotographie.blogspot.com Small waterfall with masoned rock wall at the pond. The patio area is squared bluestone pavers planted with a durable thyme ground cover.

Large contemporary backyard full sun formal garden in Stuttgart with a water feature and natural stone pavers for summer.