These Landscape Architectural elements were designed and installed by Great Oaks Landscape Associates Inc. Great Oaks used pergolas and arbors to accent the patio's, sitting areas, and outdoor living spaces.

Andrew Renn Design, Beautiful gardens of Melbourne Australia
Inspiration for a traditional backyard garden in Melbourne with with lawn edging.

A mixture of hard edges with the river rock and soft accents with the greenery and mulch makes this landscape the best of both worlds.
Inspiration for a large traditional backyard full sun xeriscape in Columbus with with lawn edging and river rock.

Landscape Logic created a very colorful but drought-tolerant and low-water use garden in the front yard. It has accent landscape lighting to showcase the plants and trees at night.

Photo of a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun xeriscape for spring in Perth with with lawn edging and decking.

Design ideas for a small traditional backyard garden in London with natural stone pavers and with lawn edging.

Contemporary backyard partial sun garden in Madrid with with lawn edging.

Photo of a contemporary garden in London with with lawn edging.

David Morello
This is an example of a traditional backyard garden in Houston with with lawn edging.

Large contemporary backyard formal garden in Seattle with mulch and with lawn edging.

Clare Obéron
Photo of a country backyard garden in Rennes with gravel and with lawn edging.

Inspiration for a small mediterranean backyard formal garden in DC Metro with gravel and with lawn edging.

Inspiration for a mid-sized country backyard full sun garden in Denver with with lawn edging and a wood fence.

This unique pair of spaces serve as open green space and entertainment area for a complex of mixed-use buildings in Chicago. Formal garden incorporating colorful perennials, and new lawn provide respite for residents. On the opposite courtyard, a new large paver patio areas softened with plantings will offer an entertainment space.

Large and australian native contemporary backyard full sun xeriscape in Orange County with with lawn edging, concrete pavers and a vinyl fence for summer.

Transitional backyard garden in Austin with with lawn edging.

An historic St. Louis home by architect Frederick Dunn has a refurbished yard designed in harmony with the clean lines of the home and grounds. A brick and metal staircase with retaining walls is the new approach to the re-graded rear yard with a heated pool, fountain and the choice of lounging on limestone or grass patio areas. Photo by Toby Weiss for Mosby Building Arts

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 raised yard is separated from the terrace area with a rugged fieldstone wall and stone steps. A Leonard
Expansive traditional backyard garden in Boston with with lawn edging.