Small arts and crafts front yard full sun xeriscape in Seattle with with privacy feature and concrete pavers.

This compact, urban backyard was in desperate need of privacy. We created a series of outdoor rooms, privacy screens, and lush plantings all with an Asian-inspired design sense. Elements include a covered outdoor lounge room, sun decks, rock gardens, shade garden, evergreen plant screens, and raised boardwalk to connect the various outdoor spaces. The finished space feels like a true backyard oasis.

a raised deck was added so that a new corner spa could be nestled into the garden and be seat height, eliminating the need for steps up to a tall hot tub. A removable section of the deck allows access to the mechanical panel in the spa. A cut-corner spa was selected to allow more circulation around the spa. Custom lattice panels with a narrow trellis top complete the spa experience and provide privacy from adjacent houses in this tiny urban garden.

The backyard was small and uninviting until we transformed it into a comfortable and functional area for entertaining. The front yard was leveled and converted into a play area for two small children and two large dogs. The client is very allergic to bees, so plants were selected with great care.

John Loper
Small asian backyard garden in Toronto with with privacy feature.

Custom Cedar Privacy Screen
This is an example of a small modern front yard full sun garden for summer in Vancouver with with privacy feature, natural stone pavers and a wood fence.

Outdoor shower built off the existing bathroom making use of a small courtyard
Inspiration for a small and australian native modern courtyard partial sun xeriscape for summer in Melbourne with with privacy feature and natural stone pavers.

A small courtyard garden in San Francisco. • Creative use of space in the dense, urban fabric of hilly SF. • For the last several years the clients had carved out a make shift courtyard garden at the top of their driveway. It was one of the few flat spaces in their yard where they could sit in the sun and enjoy a cup of coffee. We turned the top of a steep driveway into a courtyard garden. • The actual courtyard design was planned for the maximum dimensions possible to host a dining table and a seating area. The space is conveniently located outside their kitchen and home offices. However we needed to save driveway space for parking the cars and getting in and out. • The design, fabrication and installation team was comprised of people we knew. I was an acquaintance to the clients having met them through good friends. The landscape contractor, Boaz Mor, http://www.boazmor.com/, is their neighbor and someone I worked with before. The metal fabricator is Murray Sandford of Moz Designs, https://mozdesigns.com/, https://www.instagram.com/moz_designs/ . Both contractors have long histories of working in the Bay Area on a variety of complex designs. • The size of this garden belies the complexity of the design. We did not want to remove any of the concrete driveway which was 12” or more in thickness, except for the area where the large planter was going. The driveway sloped in two directions. In order to get a “level”, properly, draining patio, we had to start it at around 21” tall at the outside and end it flush by the garage doors. • The fence is the artful element in the garden. It is made of power-coated aluminum. The panels match the house color; and posts match the house trim. The effect is quiet, blending into the overall property. The panels are dramatic. Each fence panel is a different size with a unique pattern. • The exterior panels that you see from the street are an abstract riff on the seasons of the Persian walnut tree in their front yard. The cut-outs illustrate spring bloom when the walnut leafs out to autumn when the nuts drop to the ground and the squirrels eats them, leaving a mess of shells everywhere. Even the pesky squirrel appears on one of the panels. • The interior panels, lining the entry into the courtyard, are an abstraction of the entire walnut tree. • Although the panel design is made of perforations, the openings are designed to retain privacy when you are inside the courtyard. • There is a large planter on one side of the courtyard, big enough for a tree to soften a harsh expanse of a neighboring wall. Light through the branches cast playful shadows on the wall behind. • The lighting, mounted on the house is a nod to the client’s love of New Orleans gas lights. • The paving is black stone from India, dark enough to absorb the warmth of the sun on a cool, summer San Francisco day.

Small modern backyard xeriscape in Boston with with privacy feature for summer.

Inspiration for a small contemporary backyard full sun garden in New York with with privacy feature and decking.

Landscape by Kim Rooney
Photo of a small traditional backyard full sun formal garden in Seattle with with privacy feature.

A long trellis with arbor provides privacy for the sunken path around the house. People walking on the sidewalk would be able to see right into the house without it. Large round boulders create a natural retaining wall around this corner property Design by Amy Whitworth Photo by Amy Whitworth

This compact, urban backyard was in desperate need of privacy. We created a series of outdoor rooms, privacy screens, and lush plantings all with an Asian-inspired design sense. Elements include a covered outdoor lounge room, sun decks, rock gardens, shade garden, evergreen plant screens, and raised boardwalk to connect the various outdoor spaces. The finished space feels like a true backyard oasis.

The design for the new custom stepped redwood fence and gate incorporated a narrow trellis top for Akebia vines. The horizontal slats are expressed with a modern reveal but there are no gaps, for privacy. The topiary trees are Majestic Beauty Hawthorns, which will quickly bulk up in height and spread and create even more privacy from neighboring houses. The narrow sidewalk planter has Liriope, Biokovo Geraniums and Ajuga

Our ‘Romantic Courtyard Garden’ in Durham has been awarded a BALI medal for Design Excellence in the BALI National Landscape Awards for 2020. The brief for this garden was to create a private romantic space for dining and relaxation. A row of pleached ornamental pears (Pyrus chanticleer) and some strategically placed Beech trees provide privacy from several overlooking houses, this gives the space a feeling of green enclosure. A bespoke Oak pergola draws the eye upwards whilst also giving cover from neighbouring properties. A spherical water feature is the central focus here with a backdrop of grasses and dogwoods. Sawn ivory sandstone paving (Stonemarket Paleo) mirrors the interior ground floor of the house, bringing the inside out. This is contrasted by dark grey Baksteen pavers. Traditional materials used in a contemporary way mirror the architecture of the house. Planting is loose and informal. To combat impoverished soil, raised beds were made to create two large feature Rose beds containing mass plantings of David Austin Rosa ‘Princess Anne’ and cheerful Mexican daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus) Winter structure is provided by Osmanthus and Ilex crenata. A subtle lighting scheme extends the gardens use into the evening providing a stunning view from the house in the winter.

Landscape by Kim Rooney
Small traditional backyard partial sun formal garden in Seattle with with privacy feature and gravel.

This garden design in Castleknock was transformed from the typical dull garden, that comes with all new builds in housing estates these days, into a contemporary oasis. Our client wanted to enjoy her garden from morning sunrise right through to sunset, so we designed two patios, positioned to get the full benefit of the sun throughout the day. Like most new builds in housing estates, the garden and kitchen of the house are quite overlooked from the terrace of houses to the rear. For more privacy we incorporated a ‘Hedge in the Sky’ of evergreen Espalier Elaeagnus. We also made sure that there were generous planting areas left along all borders and that the lawn was framed with porcelain strips, for effortless lawn maintenance. Stepping stone pavers create an elegant design element in the small garden, guiding the way to the shed.

Design ideas for a small arts and crafts front yard full sun xeriscape in Seattle with with privacy feature and concrete pavers.

This is an example of a small modern backyard xeriscape for summer in Boston with with privacy feature.