Garden Design magazine’s new issue features an antebellum garden rescued from ruin, staghorn ferns as wall art, and a new garden designed around the aged elegance of old bricks discovered at a stone yard in Los Angeles.

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Our favorite story in the issue? We fell hard for a giant staghorn fern and herringbone brick “carpets” in a Santa Monica garden by designer Scott Shrader, who stretched the possibilities of a small property to create a series of outdoor rooms for entertaining and lounging. Plus a pond, a pool, an antique fountain, and a fire pit:

Photography by Mark Adams courtesy of Garden Design.

Above: Beneath a mounted staghorn fern an antique limestone trough serves as a wall fountain.

Above: “I built the entire garden around this reclaimed brick,” Shrader told Garden Design. “I like to start projects at ground level, organizing the paving and layout. Then I work my way up. Visually, it’s one of the most important surfaces in a garden.”

Above: Slim 4-inch strips of 3/8-inch Del Rio gravel serve as a visual connection between the pool’s concrete coping the the reclaimed bricks, laid in a herringbone pattern.

Above: Coffee tables on wheels and lightweight chairs made by San Francisco-based The Wicker Works are a portable complement to a custom built-in sofa made of brick and fitted with custom cushions covered in Perennials outdoor fabrics.

To see the rest of this garden, subscribe to Garden Design.