Alamo, California: Poolside pleasures

The concept of outdoor living attains new heights with the remodel of Craig and Cara Chases Northern California ranch house garden. The previously humdrum yard has become the ultimate space for entertaining and fami

Landscaping a woodland pond

Imagine hiking through a forest on a hot day. Youre looking for a place to stop and rest when you come across a cool, spring-fed pool lit from above by shafts of sunlight poking through tall conifers. Sounds like a

Pot luck

A perfect pot can turn a problem space into a pleasure. It did for Ruth Borun: Before the scene outside took form, Boruns floor-to-ceiling window at the end of a hallway framed an unexciting view of a narrow side ya

Zen and the art of time management

Garden projects keep me off the psychiatrists couch, says dentist Kent Sellers. With the pressure of staying on schedule all day long, Sellers craves slower-paced, contemplative tasks on his days off. Designing and

Stage set

Marlene Dietrich would have felt right at home in this desert garden. Dramatic lines, an elegant pool, and exquisite stone paving make a setting fit for a movie star.But in spite of its refined appearance, the garde

Which path is for you?

Heres a quick guide to common path materials that can be loose-laid. Prices are approximate and do not include edging or base materials such as sand or gravel.The easiest paths are laid over packed sand, or a combin

Lusher look

Can a novice gardener successfully revamp a landscape? Absolutely.Just take a look at Claudia Armanns old front yard in Ventura, California. When she and her husband, Kurt, moved in, the first-time homeowners faced

Splendor in the grasses

Regional: Philo, CaliforniaTaking a hands-off approach to their rural property in Mendocino County, landscape architects Patrick and Jane Miller created a stunningly simple garden to surround their barnlike home and

Welcoming courtyard

A well-designed front yard is a gift to the neighborhood around it. Thats why Michael Manneh took on the challenge of transforming an overgrown patch of grass into a cottage garden in front of his Palo Alto bungalow

Southern California style: Suburban jungle

From the time he was a child, Carl Hartman daydreamed about living in the middle of a jungle one day. My father used to read Rudyard Kiplings The Jungle Book to me, and it created powerful fantasies, he says.When he

Lush and unthirsty

Richard and Carole Kraemers garden in Paradise Valley looks almost tropical. But the plants they grow are really quite drought-tolerant.Beside the front entry, a plush green welcome mat is not thirsty turf but lippi

A personal resort in the suburbs

At dawn on weekdays, Davis Dalbok tends his garden, then has breakfast in the tropics before dashing down the freeway to his city office. His tropical escape is his remodeled porch, which looks like its in Bali or H

Deck with a view

Small space and a modest budget shouldnt stop you from having a great backyard. So says Brian Sullivan, horticultural supervisor for Descanso Gardens.When Sullivan and Alex Flores moved into their home near South Pa

Rocky Mountain: Flowerful meadow

In Fort Collins, Colorado, Bob and Bev Bacons backyard resembles a sunny mountain meadow overflowing with wildflowers. Three years ago, it was sown with a mixture of Coreopsis tinctoria, also known as calliopsis. Ea

Lush and rugged in Boulder

Maintaining a beautiful garden in the middle of deer country might seem like an impossible dream, especially where the water supply is limited. Despite these challenges, landscape designer Robert Howard and his asso

Before and after: Easy-care color

Before new landscaping awakened Betty Norlanders flower bed in Los Altos, California, the view through her living room window was anything but inspirational. Plants in this shapeless 15- by 40-foot plot struggled in

A passion for plants

Classic structure, contemporary materials, and a palette of plants from all over the world fit ingeniously into the small Eugene garden pictured here. Three years ago, Rebecca Sams and Buell Steelman set out to rede

Spacing ground cover plants

The spacing to allow between ground cover plants depends on the particular plant and, to some extent, on how quickly you want the area covered with growth. The descriptions in the sampler give guidelines for spacing

Modern miracle

Los Angeles. The ideal landscape reflects its region and takes advantage of the sites best features. This property overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains achieves both. When designer Mia Lehrer took on the project, m

Make a splash

A water feature in an arid climate isnt a luxury. Its a necessity. When months go by without a drop of rain, the sight and sound of water in the garden are powerfully reassuring on many levels ― physically, psycholo