Hugo guards the entry to the back yard. Guests can either enter the back yard through the gates concealed entrance, or turn right and walk down the paved path to the front door. This space is a main garden feature that displays plant varietals from all over the world.

Photos by Meagan Hancock
フェニックスにある高級な中くらいな、夏の地中海スタイルのおしゃれな庭 (ゼリスケープ、半日向、レンガ敷き) の写真

Designed and Built by The Garden Route Co. Photos by Rich Radford
サンフランシスコにある高級な中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな裏庭 (ゼリスケープ、半日向、コンクリート敷き ) の写真

Photos by Drew Kelly
サンフランシスコにある高級な中くらいなエクレクティックスタイルのおしゃれな庭 (日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

Photographer - Ralph Barnie Contractor - Capital Pacific Homes
サンタバーバラにある高級な中くらいなサンタフェスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (漆喰サイディング) の写真

Back of the house with a new extension housing kitchen, living and dining areas, and a new dormer on the top floor. Photo by Chris Snook
ロンドンにある高級な中くらいなコンテンポラリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (レンガサイディング、タウンハウス) の写真

Close up of a planting bed with succulents, cared grasses, and other architectural plants. Complimented by the gray concrete pavers and Mexican pebbles. This San Rafael front landscape has been dramatically updated with a welcoming concrete pathway entrance, and complimented by a variety of architectural plants, hardy succulents, textural grasses and a majestic, fruitless olive tree. The dramatic transformation is enhanced by a raised corten steel planter at the pathway entrance with gravel and succulents. Two horizontal ipe wood structures provide contemporary accents. New raised concrete planters alongside the new concrete driveway define the property and showcase more colorful succulents. A beautiful gray house paint color and ipe accents complete the remodel. Drawings, Design and Photos © Eileen Kelly, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

The problem this Memorial-Houston homeowner faced was that her sumptuous contemporary home, an austere series of interconnected cubes of various sizes constructed from white stucco, black steel and glass, did not have the proper landscaping frame. It was out of scale. Imagine Robert Motherwell's "Black on White" painting without the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston's generous expanse of white walls surrounding it. It would still be magnificent but somehow...off. Intuitively, the homeowner realized this issue and started interviewing landscape designers. After talking to about 15 different designers, she finally went with one, only to be disappointed with the results. From the across-the-street neighbor, she was then introduced to Exterior Worlds and she hired us to correct the newly-created problems and more fully realize her hopes for the grounds. "It's not unusual for us to come in and deal with a mess. Sometimes a homeowner gets overwhelmed with managing everything. Other times it is like this project where the design misses the mark. Regardless, it is really important to listen for what a prospect or client means and not just what they say," says Jeff Halper, owner of Exterior Worlds. Since the sheer size of the house is so dominating, Exterior Worlds' overall job was to bring the garden up to scale to match the house. Likewise, it was important to stretch the house into the landscape, thereby softening some of its severity. The concept we devised entailed creating an interplay between the landscape and the house by astute placement of the black-and-white colors of the house into the yard using different materials and textures. Strategic plantings of greenery increased the interest, density, height and function of the design. First we installed a pathway of crushed white marble around the perimeter of the house, the white of the path in homage to the house’s white facade. At various intervals, 3/8-inch steel-plated metal strips, painted black to echo the bones of the house, were embedded and crisscrossed in the pathway to turn it into a loose maze. Along this metal bunting, we planted succulents whose other-worldly shapes and mild coloration juxtaposed nicely against the hard-edged steel. These plantings included Gulf Coast muhly, a native grass that produces a pink-purple plume when it blooms in the fall. A side benefit to the use of these plants is that they are low maintenance and hardy in Houston’s summertime heat. Next we brought in trees for scale. Without them, the impressive architecture becomes imposing. We placed them along the front at either corner of the house. For the left side, we found a multi-trunk live oak in a field, transported it to the property and placed it in a custom-made square of the crushed marble at a slight distance from the house. On the right side where the house makes a 90-degree alcove, we planted a mature mesquite tree. To finish off the front entry, we fashioned the black steel into large squares and planted grass to create islands of green, or giant lawn stepping pads. We echoed this look in the back off the master suite by turning concrete pads of black-stained concrete into stepping pads. We kept the foundational plantings of Japanese yews which add green, earthy mass, something the stark architecture needs for further balance. We contoured Japanese boxwoods into small spheres to enhance the play between shapes and textures. In the large, white planters at the front entrance, we repeated the plantings of succulents and Gulf Coast muhly to reinforce symmetry. Then we built an additional planter in the back out of the black metal, filled it with the crushed white marble and planted a Texas vitex, another hardy choice that adds a touch of color with its purple blooms. To finish off the landscaping, we needed to address the ravine behind the house. We built a retaining wall to contain erosion. Aesthetically, we crafted it so that the wall has a sharp upper edge, a modern motif right where the landscape meets the land.

メルボルンにある高級な中くらいなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな玄関ドア (白い壁、黒いドア) の写真

サンタバーバラにある高級な中くらいな地中海スタイルのおしゃれな庭の写真

David Rasche
ニュルンベルクにある高級な中くらいなコンテンポラリースタイルのおしゃれな直階段 (木の蹴込み板) の写真

ラスベガスにある高級な中くらいなトランジショナルスタイルのおしゃれなダイニング (ベージュの壁、セラミックタイルの床、暖炉なし) の写真

オレンジカウンティにある高級な中くらいなコンテンポラリースタイルのおしゃれな前庭 (庭への小道、日向、コンクリート敷き ) の写真

Planung: Fei Klein, Fotos: Jörn Dreier
ドルトムントにある高級な中くらいなコンテンポラリースタイルのおしゃれなマスターバスルーム (ドロップイン型浴槽、壁掛け式トイレ、フラットパネル扉のキャビネット、ベージュのキャビネット、ベージュのタイル、ガラス板タイル、白い壁、塗装フローリング、横長型シンク、人工大理石カウンター) の写真

ロサンゼルスにある高級な中くらいな地中海スタイルのおしゃれな裏庭のテラス (天然石敷き) の写真