A local Houston art collector hired us to create a low maintenance, sophisticated, contemporary landscape design. She wanted her property to compliment her eclectic taste in architecture, outdoor sculpture, and modern art. Her house was built with a minimalist approach to decoration, emphasizing right angles and windows instead of architectural keynotes. The west wing of the house was only one story, while the east wing was two-story. The windows in both wings were larger than usual, so that visitors could see her art collection from the home’s exterior. Near one of the large rear windows, there was an abstract metal sculpture designed in the form of a spiral. When she initially contacted us, the surrounding property had only a few trees and indigenous grass as vegetation. This was actually a good beginning point with us, because it allowed us to develop a contemporary landscape design that featured a very linear, crisp look supportive of the home and its contents. We began by planting a garden around the large contemporary sculpture near the window. Landscape designers planted horsetail reed under windows, along the sides of the home, and around the corners. This vegetation is very resilient and hardy, and requires little trimming, weeding, or mulching. This helped unite the diverse elements of sculpture, contemporary architecture, and landscape design into a more fluid harmony that preserved the proportions of each unique element, but eliminated any tendency for the elements to clash with one another. We then added two stonework designs to the landscape surrounding the contemporary art collection and home. The first was a linear walkway we build from concrete pads purchased through a retail vendor as a cost-saving benefit to our client. We created this walkway to follow the perimeter of the home so that visitors could walk around the entire property and admire the outdoor sculptures and the collections of modern art visible through the windows. This was especially enjoyable at night, when the entire home was brightly lit from within. To add a touch of tranquility and quite repose to the stark right angles of the home and surrounding contemporary landscape, we designed a special seating area toward the northwest corner of the property. We wanted to create a sense of contemplation in this area, so we departed from the linear and angular designs of the surrounding landscape and established a theme of circular geometry. We laid down gravel as ground cover, then placed large, circular pads arranged like giant stepping stones that led up to a stone patio filled with chairs. The shape of the granite pads and the contours of the graveled area further complimented the spirals and turns in the outdoor metal sculpture, and balanced the entire contemporary landscape design with proportional geometric forms of lines, angles, and curves. This particular contemporary landscape design also has a sense of movement attached to it. All stonework leads to a destination of some sort. The linear pathway provides a guided tour around the home, garden, and modern art collection. The granite pathway stones create movement toward separate space where the entire experience of art, vegetation, and architecture can be viewed and experienced as a unity. Contemporary landscaping designs like create form out of feeling by using basic geometric forms and variations of forms. Sometimes very stark forms are used to create a sense of absolutism or contrast. At other times, forms are blended, or even distorted to suggest a sense of complex emotion, or a sense of multi-dimensional reality. The exact nature of the design is always highly subjective, and developed on a case-by-case basis with the client.

Beautiful stone path leading to the exterior service area.
クライストチャーチにある低価格の小さな、冬のモダンスタイルのおしゃれな庭 (ゼリスケープ、日陰、川石舗装、ウッドフェンス) の写真

In Seattle's Fremont neighborhood SCJ Studio designed a new landscape to surround and set off a contemporary home by Coates Design Architects. The narrow spaces around the tall home needed structure and organization, and a thoughtful approach to layout and space programming. A concrete patio was installed with a Paloform Bento gas fire feature surrounded by lush, northwest planting. A horizontal board cedar fence provides privacy from the street and creates the cozy feeling of an outdoor room among the trees. LED low-voltage lighting by Kichler Lighting adds night-time warmth. Photography by: Miranda Estes Photography

Photo by Pete Cadieux
ボストンにある高級な中くらいなトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

フィラデルフィアにある中くらいなトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (庭への小道、日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

ニューヨークにある高級な巨大な、夏のトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (庭への小道、日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

Eric Roth
ボストンにある中くらいなヴィクトリアン調のおしゃれな庭 (日陰、砂利舗装) の写真

セントルイスにある低価格の小さなトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (擁壁、日陰) の写真

OnSite Studios
ボストンにあるカントリー風のおしゃれな横庭 (日陰、庭への小道) の写真

…they provide access from one space to another but should always provide a sense of beauty or interest along the way. Getting to where you are going should be half the fun of any destination.

This Flagstone Walkway is a simple, but elegant, connection from front yard to lakeside. The path is a garden walk as well, edged with cottage gardens. Credit: Tad Anderson. All rights exclusively reserved.

JMMDS utilized large stones, an array of foliage textures and tones, and dynamic bluestone placement to transform this side yard into a verdant and refreshing walking experience. The green, purple and white plant palette includes: Anemone hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ (Windflower), Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’ (Grapeleaf Windflower), Aster ‘Wood’s Purple’ (New York Aster), Helleborus foetidus (Bear’s Foot Lenten Rose), Heuchera ‘Citronelle’ (Coral Bells), Heuchera americana ‘Dale’ (Dale’s Strain Heuchera), Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ (Coral Bells), Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’ (Plantain Lily), Hosta ‘August Moon’ (Plantain Lily), Iris cristata (Crested Iris), Lamiastrum ‘Herman’s Pride’ (Yellow Archangel), Phlox stolonifera ‘Sherwood Purple’ (Creeping Phlox), Polygonatum commutatum (Giant Solomon’s Seal), Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas Fern), Pulmonaria ‘Mrs. Moon’ (Lungwort). Photo: Bill Sumner.

A stepping stone path takes you from the main patio around the corner of the house to the sunny raised bed vegetable garden. Lots of interesting plants to see on the way. You hardly know you're in a dense urban neighborhood with all the privacy plants that soften the fenceline. Design by Amy Whitworth Installed by J Walter Landscape & Irrigation Photo by Janet Loughrey

Outdoor steps leading to walkway
ボストンにある中くらいなトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな庭 (日陰) の写真

他の地域にあるアジアンスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

This photo was taken in March, after a long cold winter, showing that the garden still retains interest throughout the year. Gravel was added to suppress annual weeds, keep roots warmer and retain moisture.

Beautiful house in the National Historic District of Memphis, Central Gardens by Gurley's Azalea Garden
ナッシュビルにある高級な小さな、春のトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (日陰、天然石敷き) の写真

A flagstone walkway, custom arbor and iron-gate complete this New Orleans courtyard perfectly.
ニューオリンズにある高級な広い、春のトラディショナルスタイルのおしゃれな横庭 (日陰、コンクリート敷き ) の写真

ロサンゼルスにある中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな庭 (日陰、コンクリート敷き ) の写真