Seasonal Outdoor Decor: Silvery Blue and White Beach Style

The look is silvery blue and white—fresh as a sea breeze. Chances are, all you need for beautiful decorations is right outside your back door. In Pajaro, California, natural materials paired with cool coastal accessories

Quick Patio Table Centerpieces: Living Pizza-Inspired Bowls

Terra-Cotta Bowls Planted in Minutes Start with a terra-cotta bowl at least 12 inches wide. Choose bowl first, then plants to fit. Perfect plants: tiny sedums, succulents, thymes, baby’s tears, blue star creeper, dichond

Rusted Steel Garden Elements in Yountville, California

In Steven and Kimberly Cooks Yountville garden, designer Jack Chandler uses an unusual collection of rusted steel—arbor, retaining walls, light fixtures, sculptures—to create a bold, warm, cozy feel, not cold or industri

Romance Your Pots: Jill Goodsell's Container Design Secrets

Stylish Succulents Jill Goodsell of Woodinville, Washington, uses “bling for the garden”—captivating containers that invite lingering. A 9x12-inch pot on a rusted iron pedestal holds frosty pink Echeveria gibbiflora ‘Met

Create a Waterfall Garden in 6 Steps Using a Kit

Sunset test garden coordinator Bud Stuckey worked with experts to build a waterfall using an Aquascape Designs kit at headquarters in Menlo Park. A five-person crew took eight hours; cost about $8,000. Two first-timers c

A Path That Spells a Poem in Tiburon, California

Visitors to Judith Thompson and Cindy Brooks’s front door walk on an elegant walkway with a hidden message: stones arranged in gravel like braille dots spell Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” D

Backyard Type: Social – Designing for Outdoor Entertaining in Corona del Mar

Moving the Party Outdoors Chris and Eric Fenmore host dozens in their 1,800-square-foot Corona del Mar home. Chris designed a backyard that draws guests deeper into the garden by placing the kitchen at the far end. A 12-

Before You Build a Waterfall: Essential Considerations

Kits and Resources for First-Timers Pond equipment suppliers offer packaged kits with manuals, videos, filters, pumps, and liners, or individual parts. Take a class, read books like Garden Pools, Fountains & Waterfalls (

Building Barn Doors from Rough-Sawn Cedar

Make 79-inch-tall barn doors from rough-sawn cedar 1x8s. Each door uses four full-width 1x8s plus one ripped to 35¾ inches total width. Boards held by a Z-shaped frame of 1x4s (ripped from 1x8s) attached with 1⅜-inch dec

Seamless Garden Flow on a Santa Fe Hilltop

Stone Terraces Link Steep Slopes At a hilltop site in the Tesuque Valley north of Santa Fe, landscape architect Faith Okuma designed stone terraces to gracefully link an upper property section with a lower area 25 feet b

New-Look Parterre: Formal Hedges Frame Casual Plantings in Washington

Rich Burkholder Americanized the French parterre in his Sammamish, Washington garden. Formal evergreen hedges—low boxwood inner borders, arborvitae perimeter—frame casual clumps of Japanese silver grass, cosmos, dahlias,

Contemporary Adobe Courtyard in Santa Fe

Catherine Clemens and Elizabeth Robechek transformed a blank downtown Santa Fe space into a contemporary retreat with an earthy Southwest color scheme. Custom-built elements include a black-bottom spa with stained concre

Listening to the Landscape: Designing with Site Conditions in Redmond, Washington

Designer Vi Kono began her Redmond, Washington garden by responding to a mature evergreen stand and a high water table. These created four habitats—wet shade, dry shade, damp sunlight, dry sunlight—each suggesting differ

Terraced Vegetable Garden on a Slope in Kenmore, Washington

Stephanie Brooks, with help from her father Robert Thomas, transformed a blackberry-covered slope into level gardening space. They outlined a 24-by-32-foot area with railroad ties and built a 4-foot pressure-treated timb

Bamboo Gallery Fence at California Center for Creative Renewal

Inspired by Japanese tori gates, a 35-foot bamboo fence at the California Center for Creative Renewal in Encinitas consists of rectangular panels varying in height and width with the terrain. Shelves set into the fence s

Dual Waterfall Feature for Portland Idea House

Two Cascades Visible from Every Room Gerald Ouellette of G&O Landscaping built a pair of waterfalls on a steep bank behind the Sunset Northwest Idea House in Portland. Using an excavator and shovels, he sculpted ledges,

Family Courtyard: Enclosing a Front Yard for Outdoor Living in Palo Alto

Expanding Living Space Without Remodeling Dana and Nick Granoski enclosed their front yard behind a fence to create a private courtyard, extending their 1,454-square-foot Eichler home outdoors. The space functions as a f

Best Low-Pollen Trees for Allergy-Free Western Gardens

Horticulturist Thomas Ogren, author of Safe Sex in the Garden, ranks plants by allergy potential. Below are trees with pollen-free or near pollen-free ratings, suitable for fall planting in the West. Visit www.allergyfre

Moss Boxes: Copper Trays for Temporary Display

Copper trays (6¼ inches square, 1½ inches tall, $9 each from Smith & Hawken) contain Irish moss and Scotch moss. No drain holes; suitable for temporary display (2–3 weeks). Irrigate weekly, drain by turning tray upside d

Woodland Front Yard Retreat in Eugene, Oregon

Replacing a Sparse Lawn with Shade Plantings Sarah and Lance Robertson’s front lawn, shaded by mature Douglas fir and Oregon myrtle, grew sparsely. In 1996, with landscape architect Brad Stangeland, they replaced it with