This fountain is a great addition to a front yard entry. Clean and simple with a subtle water noise for visual and auditory interest. The fountain is surrounded by boxwood hedges, Mexican Beach cobble, and white precast concrete.

Life at the beach

Bayon Gardens

Photo of a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun garden in Melbourne with a fire feature and gravel.

Backyard Bliss

Shambhala Landscapes

This classic San Francisco backyard was transformed into an inviting and usable outdoor living space. A few steps down lead to a lounging area, featuring drought-friendly and maintenance-free artificial grass as well as a cozy, custom-built natural gas fire pit surrounded by a Redwood bench. Redwood fencing, low-voltage LED landscape lighting, drip irrigation, planting and a water feature completed the space.

Contemporary yard for a contemporary house

Blue Hibiscus Gardens

IPE wood at installation has the redder color.
Mid-sized contemporary front yard partial sun xeriscape in San Francisco with a garden path and natural stone pavers.

Del Sur Modern Elegance

Jackie and the Beanstalk

Succulent Strip Garden
Mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun garden in San Diego.

Modern Oasis

Mom's Design Build

With an existing pool and retaining walls, we took this space and made it more modern offering many various spaces for lounging, enjoying the fire, listening to the water feature and an upper synthetic turf area for playing games. It is complete with bluestone pavers, a modern water feature and reflecting pool, a raised ipe deck, synthetic turf, glass railings, a modern, gas fire bowl and a stunning cedar privacy wall!

Edinburg Residence

MMD Construction

Mid-sized contemporary backyard partial sun formal garden in Other with a garden path and concrete pavers for summer.

Southfields Garden

Tom Howard Garden Design and Landscaping

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary backyard full sun garden for summer in London with with pond and natural stone pavers.

Park Slope, Brooklyn Garden Design, Wood fence, Sustainable design, Stone pavers

Todd Haiman Landscape Design

© Todd Haiman Landscape Design
Photo of a mid-sized and australian native contemporary backyard garden in New York with concrete pavers.

Walkway Lighting

High Quality LED Lighting

Photo of a mid-sized contemporary front yard xeriscape in San Francisco with a garden path and concrete pavers.

Bouldin Bath Refresh

CG&S Design-Build

Built by Pearson Landscape | photography by Paul Finkel
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary front yard full sun xeriscape in Austin with concrete pavers.

Planters and Containers

Yard Art, Inc

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary full sun garden in San Francisco with a container garden and natural stone pavers.

Contemporary Landscape

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary front yard shaded garden in Chicago with a water feature.

Contemporary Landscape - Dramatic Transformation - San Rafael, CA

Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

Close up of a planting bed with succulents, cared grasses, and other architectural plants. Complimented by the gray concrete pavers and Mexican pebbles. This San Rafael front landscape has been dramatically updated with a welcoming concrete pathway entrance, and complimented by a variety of architectural plants, hardy succulents, textural grasses and a majestic, fruitless olive tree. The dramatic transformation is enhanced by a raised corten steel planter at the pathway entrance with gravel and succulents. Two horizontal ipe wood structures provide contemporary accents. New raised concrete planters alongside the new concrete driveway define the property and showcase more colorful succulents. A beautiful gray house paint color and ipe accents complete the remodel. Drawings, Design and Photos © Eileen Kelly, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

John and Sarah's backyard renovation

Landscape East & West

Stephen Cridland
This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary backyard partial sun formal garden in Portland with concrete pavers and with pond.

Eleganter Stadtgarten

besgen Landschaftsarchitektur

Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary side yard partial sun formal garden for summer in Bonn with with lawn edging, natural stone pavers and a metal fence.

The Lodge, Fulham Cemetery (Grand Designs)

Harry Holding Studio

Planting in the back garden for an innovative property in Fulham Cemetery - the house featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs in January 2021. The design had to enhance the relationship with the bold, contemporary architecture and open up a dialogue with the wild green space beyond its boundaries. Seen here in summer, the planting is a base of evergreen textures punctuated with long flowering perennials.

Queen Anne Makeover

Urban Oasis Design & Construction LLC

These Queen Anne homeowners had completely remodeled their home and were looking for a low maintenance, enjoyable yard that would accentuate their views and provide outdoor space for their dogs. Another important goal was to attract birds and pollinators to the garden, in part for photographic opportunities. A series of Corten planters create planting space along the back property line while leaving plenty of room for artificial turf that the family dogs can enjoy. A recirculating urn water feature creates a pleasant sound, a focal point and most importantly, attracts birds to the garden. Privacy screens designed using OutDeco panels create interest on both sides and focus views to the mountains in the background. Front and backyards were completely redesigned for ease of maintenance.

Contemporary Spanish Pottery with Succulents

Conscious Environments Inc.

This gorgeous contemporary Spanish style entry is accented with Spanish tiles, white precast concrete, synthetic lawn, and pottery w/ succulents.
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary front yard partial sun xeriscape for spring in Orange County with a container garden and concrete pavers.

High Desert Fade Residence

Andrew Goodwin Designs

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary front yard garden in San Luis Obispo with a fire feature.

Mid-sized Contemporary Garden Design Ideas

Get Inspired by Contemporary Gardens on Houzz

A lot of the time when you get home from a long day at work, all you want to do is wind down. Where better to do this than in your very own contemporary garden at home? If you do it right, a great garden design can send you right into holiday mode. But where to start? There’s so many styles to choose from when it comes to garden design. Whether you want to create a tropical, modern, contemporary, beach style or country garden - or something else entirely - the large garden image gallery on Houzz has got you covered. Get inspired and collect your ideas to narrow down your desired garden style and features.

How to Create a Contemporary Garden for Your Home

Depending on which style you’re going for, be sure to know what makes a contemporary garden and if it’s appropriate for your climate. You may want to consider adding a deck or other landscaping features, but the plants you choose will mostly dictate your style and what kind of ongoing maintenance is required. Don’t worry if your backyard isn’t very spacious - there are many plants that can thrive even in a small space and allow you to turn your space into a little paradise of your own, regardless of size.

Decide which plants to use

The greenery you choose is critical to your look. For example, if you’re trying to create a tropical garden palm trees and bamboo are your go-to options. Other popular options are golden cane palm trees and fern for ground cover. From there you can add some colour with bright flowers like frangipani, hibiscus or bromeliads. All these are actually quite hardy plants, so once established, your tropical garden is actually quite easy to maintain. Use this structure and apply it to your style. Research which plants you need to set your base for a contemporary garden and go from there.

Add some decor

If the plants don’t quite do it for you yet, or if you want to add some extra wow-factor, consider adding some extra features. Even if you can’t accommodate a swimming pool, hot tub or pond, you could look at smaller water features. Simple rocks can also have a great effect, while statues and gnomes will add some extra character. Don’t forget to add some furniture so you have a nice place to sit and enjoy your garden!

Need some help?

Once you know what you want your garden to look like, it may be hard to make it a reality on your own. If that is the case for you, consider consulting a professional to help you with your contemporary garden design. Every photo you find on Houzz will lead you to the local pro that did the job, so you won’t have a problem picking the perfect person to help! Whether you need a gardener in Brisbane, a landscape architect in Melbourne or a fireplace installer in Sydney, you can be sure to find one on Houzz.