Romantic Country Garden, Surrey, UK
Inspiration for an expansive traditional backyard partial sun garden for fall in Sussex with a water feature and decking.

This job was in Kona, Hawaii and is constructed from native rock.
Inspiration for a large tropical front yard partial sun formal garden in Phoenix with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

This is an example of a country garden in Denver with a water feature.

Design ideas for an expansive country garden in Denver with a water feature.

Outdoor water feature
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun garden in Salt Lake City with a water feature, concrete pavers and a stone fence.

Design ideas for a small modern courtyard full sun garden in Houston with a water feature.

A contemporary garden renovation that adds levels of living space with a light and open feel to create a graceful landscape both pleasing and functional. This urban garden feels much larger than its standard city lot size and is packed with features such as the natural boulder water feature, that make it unique.

Winner of the 2017 Casey Van Maris Award, given to the project awarded the highest marks for execution of unique and innovative design in landscaping. Awarded by Landscape Ontario

Marianne Lee Photography Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects Parker Construction TheBlueGarden.org
Inspiration for an expansive traditional full sun formal garden for summer in Boston with a water feature.

This rough millstone granite fountain was placed in a heavily planted pocket to soften its 6' diameter of Mexican pebbles.
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary backyard partial sun garden for fall in Detroit with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Inspiration for a large mediterranean backyard garden in Santa Barbara with brick pavers and a water feature.

Vista Estate Imaging
Design ideas for a large country garden in Seattle with a water feature and natural stone pavers.

Creating environments that encourage our families to spend more time outdoors is important in today’s hi-tech world. Designed for the 2014 Chicago Flower and Garden show, this display garden captures a playful sensibility well-suited for any family to enjoy. The clean, modern lines and carefully planned spaces of this 50’ by 50’ garden form an enticing setting to simply unplug. Working within a very limited area, the design organizes a bio pool with sundeck, a spillover water feature and lounge area, and a gravel dining terrace with a built-in fireplace and shade tree canopy. Unlike traditional pools, our bio pool utilizes aquatic plants, beneficial bacteria, and microbes, rather than harsh chemicals, to filter the water. Impurities and excess nutrients are drawn out of the water naturally, creating a much healthier swimming environment. A native plant palette is incorporated throughout the garden with shade trees, ornamentals, native forbs, and perennials in an emergent spring landscape. We hope this exciting design will encourage green inspiration for visitors, whether they have a tight city lot or a larger suburban property.

A River Oaks couple contracted Exterior Worlds to design a contemporary garden behind the gym in their two-story home. The original garden was very traditional in both style and function, and was used exclusively as an area to plant foliage and various species of flowers. Its only ornamentation was a three-tiered fountain, which looked outdated and made noise throughout the night due to failing pumps. Our clients asked us to convert a portion of this space into something more functional, and to create a more contemporary garden design throughout the remainder of the property. They also requested we replace the fountain with a more contemporary water feature. Because the garden had previously been designed in the shape of a near-perfect rectangle, we already had the basic geometry necessary for the development of a new, more contemporary style. We developed our landscaping plan by breaking this area up into proportional quadrilateral sections of varying size. Some of these would later be used as patio space, others as garden space, and the last and largest section would be converted into a far more sophisticated water feature and fountain. We began the project by building a red brick patio over the first section just outside the window of the home gym. Rather than placing the bricks in a standard, linear fashion, we took a more eclectic approach. We laid the bricks in alternating diagonal rows that created a sense of immediate movement the moment you stepped onto the patio. This had the effect of drawing both the feet and the eyes toward the center of the property, and it also served to immediately establish the garden’s new, contemporary design. In the large central section of the property, we created a rectangular koi pond the size of a small swimming pool. We deliberately built it to be the central, dominating feature of the landscape that would anchor all other garden elements. We built a two-inch coping around the pond, stocked it with koi, and installed lighting in the fountain’s corners at the end closest to the home. Our clients particularly liked this new water feature when it was finished. Neither of them were swimmers, but they had always enjoyed sitting by pools at the homes of friends. Now, they could sit by their own pond, and watch the koi fish swim around the lighted fountain. To further develop the contemporary design of the garden, we added several more important landscaping features and physical structures. We built another patio, identical to the first, at the opposite end of the pond. This framed the water, bringing a sense of balance and refined containment to the landscape. We also built a sculpture garden near one side of the pond to add an artistic element to the water, masonry, and surrounding greenery. To do all this, of course, we had to significantly narrow the perimeters of the garden itself, so by the time we finished our construction, there was no room left to install a walkway. Working with what we had, as opposed to what we did not have, we built the walkway across the water. Large pedestals were placed in the pond, capped by large limestone pads that mimicked the effect of floating on water. These pads were large enough to support the weight of an adult, and provided both a means of transit across the pond, and varying points of observation from within the pond itself.

Paul Bardagjy Photography
Design ideas for a mid-sized modern backyard shaded garden in Austin with a water feature and gravel.

Inspiration for an expansive mediterranean backyard partial sun formal garden in Los Angeles with a water feature and concrete pavers.

fench country classical garden meets modern. These are technically two different houses that the client combined into one. VERY different styles, but well done.

Italian fountain is centered in this formal Mediterranean garden. Wisteria blooms on vaulted pergola over the entry door. Espaliered fig trees, roses, hydrangea and citrus trees fill the beds while boxwood hedges lend formality. Photo by David Palermo Photography, Santa Barbara.

A close up picture, taken on a rainy day, of this small waterfall. Note the two rocks in the foreground are faux rocks made out of concrete. Photo by Garcia Rock And Water Design