Nature has an interesting way of reminding us who’s in charge. As we saw most recently when Hurricane Sandy carved a devastating path through the East Coast in 2012, we’re often left to clean up the pieces in its wake.

About five months after the hurricane plowed through New York, a couple in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood hired landscape designers Sean Lewis and Jesse Terzi to rebuild and rehabilitate their 18- by 50-foot front yard, which had all but drowned in the storm. The clients wanted a space they could spend a lot of time in — not maintaining and working, but enjoying and entertaining. Before Photo Saltwater flooding washed out and destroyed nearly everything planted in the garden. One Japanese maple, one yucca and a small patch of lawn were the sole survivors. New Eco Landscapes AFTER: An existing Cor-Ten fence and oiled ipe deck were reused in the new garden design, reducing cost and allowing more money to go toward a new outdoor kitchen and plants.

Terzi and Lewis, of New Eco Landscapes, created two distinct garden areas. “He wanted a large outdoor kitchen,” says Lewis, and “she wanted a comfy lounge area.” The contrast is striking but balanced — the geometric and orderly deck and outdoor kitchen area complement the looser, more organic patio.

Potted herbs carry the greenery of the patio onto the deck, and the irregular flagstone pulls the grays of the outdoor kitchen and dining area down into the landscape. String lights are fun and inexpensive outdoor lighting.

After the storm the client moved a huge air conditioning unit to the deck. “We had to work around it,” says Lewis. He ultimately mirrored the look of the outdoor kitchen cabinets with a simple slat box and a planter. New Eco Landscapes Lewis and Terzi designed and built cedar cabinets to house the outdoor kitchen's natural-gas grill and smoker. This was the most time-consuming part of the whole project, Lewis says, but also his favorite feature. A trellis and bamboo add privacy. New Eco Landscapes A low sectional sofa invites guests to lounge. Irregular-shape flagstone blurs the boundary between patio and landscape. New Eco Landscapes Considering the effects of the storm, planting this time around called for a little more resilience. “The plants were inspired by my visits to Cape Cod," says Lewis. "The cape is covered with rhododendrons, scrub pine and grasses. When I see that a plant can thrive without any irrigation or maintenance in poor soil, I know it will be a winner."

The designers refined the plant selections by looking around at what plants had survived the hurricane. “We drove around Long Beach, New York, and saw all the Hollywood junipers were thriving, while many other evergreens had died,” says Lewis. New Eco Landscapes The designers promptly filled the garden with what they'd seen on their ride: lavender, thyme, mugo pine, rhododendron, Japanese maple, hardy sedum, Hollywood juniper and Mexican feather grass.

For now all is well in Brooklyn, but Lewis and Terzi built this garden for the future, for both good weather and bad. “If and when another hurricane hits New York, we want this garden to be able to ride it out,” says Lewis. New Eco Landscapes Tell us: Have you rebuilt after Sandy? Please show us what you've done!