D. Visser, A. Newell
This is an example of a mid-sized traditional front yard shaded garden in San Francisco with gravel.

This is an example of a large modern front yard shaded xeriscape in Los Angeles with a retaining wall and gravel.

Jo Fenton
Inspiration for a small traditional courtyard shaded formal garden for spring in London with a garden path and gravel.

After, pillars were designed of sufficient scale, in a style that echoed the home. Photo by William Healy
Photo of a large country front yard shaded driveway for winter in Cleveland with gravel.

Eric Roth
Photo of a mid-sized traditional side yard shaded formal garden in Boston with gravel.

Shade Garden with koi pond , cedar fence, ferns and ivy Jeffrey Edward Tryon
Small contemporary backyard shaded xeriscape in Philadelphia with a water feature and gravel for fall.

Bliss Garden Design
Design ideas for a contemporary backyard shaded garden in Seattle with gravel.

This is an example of a traditional backyard shaded garden in New York with gravel.

Japanese courtyard garden in NYC. This garden was built in a dark courtyard on top of a roof. All plants are real and had to be planted within the mounds.

Outdoor gathering place; this firepit has been carved out of the native forest of WNC and enhanced in a natural way using native, boulders, stone steppers and plantings. Just a short walk from the formal patio and covered porches, this custom residence includes an abundance or outdoor living areas to enjoy.

A once over grown front yard received a much deserved makeover resulting in an inviting walkway and sitting area near a water feature. The complete project was implemented by Professional Image Landscaping, Inc.

An artist's garden with a garden shed, dog house and run surrounded by hog wire fencing and perennial plantings. Photo by Galen Fultz
Design ideas for a small contemporary backyard shaded garden in San Francisco with gravel.

The gravel path leads through to the many spaces ending in the fountain focal point. The path is lined with cushwa brick with a circular pattern reinforcing the space. Boxwood surrounds this space. The wall is graced with two standard form lilacs. Photo Credit: Linda Oyama Bryan

Inspiration for a large traditional backyard shaded garden in Houston with gravel.

The garden space faces North so gets morning sun then mostly in the shade. In the summer especially it is lovely to sit here have breakfast and later in the day under the large Sugar Maple a cool spot to relax and grill. I am asked all the time are there any shade plants to use! as you can see the garden is constantly changing from spring bulbs and spring flowers to summer and fall color. The gravel terrace provides a simple and affordable surface and very European.

A view through the garden rooms, a gravel path leads through to the many spaces, each set up to be viewed from within. The path is lined with cushwa brick outlining the spaces. Terra cotta containers are filled with boxwood and petunia; pachysandra and bugleweed ground cover fill the flanking and center beds. A cast iron bench offers an opportunity to sit and enjoy the space, with the fountain creating a pleasant sound. Standard form lilacs sit in the boxwood hedge. Photo Credit: Linda Oyama Bryan

When the homeowners contacted Nancy Shanahan of Sycamore Design, they wanted to enlist her expertise for one goal: to provide screening from the neighboring school and its construction projects. Little did they know, this small assignment would open the door to an ongoing series of projects culminating in a garden that celebrates the seasons while supporting their family activities. Both a tranquil respite and a platform for entertaining guests, these outdoor spaces are an extension of the homeowners' vibrant personalities, reaching playful functionality with the use of texture, movement, color, and even edibles. Their garden thrives today and continues to evolve with the recent addition of a cutting garden, a sunken spa to replace their trampoline, and a fire pit to activate the area beneath their majestic oak tree.

This shade arbor, located in The Woodlands, TX north of Houston, spans the entire length of the back yard. It combines a number of elements with custom structures that were constructed to emulate specific aspects of a Zen garden. The homeowner wanted a low-maintenance garden whose beauty could withstand the tough seasonal weather that strikes the area at various times of the year. He also desired a mood-altering aesthetic that would relax the senses and calm the mind. Most importantly, he wanted this meditative environment completely shielded from the outside world so he could find serenity in total privacy. The most unique design element in this entire project is the roof of the shade arbor itself. It features a “negative space” leaf pattern that was designed in a software suite and cut out of the metal with a water jet cutter. Each form in the pattern is loosely suggestive of either a leaf, or a cluster of leaves. These small, negative spaces cut from the metal are the source of the structure’ powerful visual and emotional impact. During the day, sunlight shines down and highlights columns, furniture, plantings, and gravel with a blend of dappling and shade that make you feel like you are sitting under the branches of a tree. At night, the effects are even more brilliant. Skillfully concealed lights mounted on the trusses reflect off the steel in places, while in other places they penetrate the negative spaces, cascading brilliant patterns of ambient light down on vegetation, hardscape, and water alike. The shade arbor shelters two gravel patios that are almost identical in space. The patio closest to the living room features a mini outdoor dining room, replete with tables and chairs. The patio is ornamented with a blend of ornamental grass, a small human figurine sculpture, and mid-level impact ground cover. Gravel was chosen as the preferred hardscape material because of its Zen-like connotations. It is also remarkably soft to walk on, helping to set the mood for a relaxed afternoon in the dappled shade of gently filtered sunlight. The second patio, spaced 15 feet away from the first, resides adjacent to the home at the opposite end of the shade arbor. Like its twin, it is also ornamented with ground cover borders, ornamental grasses, and a large urn identical to the first. Seating here is even more private and contemplative. Instead of a table and chairs, there is a large decorative concrete bench cut in the shape of a giant four-leaf clover. Spanning the distance between these two patios, a bluestone walkway connects the two spaces. Along the way, its borders are punctuated in places by low-level ornamental grasses, a large flowering bush, another sculpture in the form of human faces, and foxtail ferns that spring up from a spread of river rock that punctuates the ends of the walkway. The meditative quality of the shade arbor is reinforced by two special features. The first of these is a disappearing fountain that flows from the top of a large vertical stone embedded like a monolith in the other edges of the river rock. The drains and pumps to this fountain are carefully concealed underneath the covering of smooth stones, and the sound of the water is only barely perceptible, as if it is trying to force you to let go of your thoughts to hear it. A large piece of core-10 steel, which is deliberately intended to rust quickly, rises up like an arced wall from behind the fountain stone. The dark color of the metal helps the casual viewer catch just a glimpse of light reflecting off the slow trickle of water that runs down the side of the stone into the river rock bed. To complete the quiet moment that the shade arbor is intended to invoke, a thick wall of cypress trees rises up on all sides of the yard, completely shutting out the disturbances of the world with a comforting wall of living greenery that comforts the thoughts and emotions.

Contemporary shaded garden with gravel.