Beautifully Crafted Moroccan-Style Courtyard in San Francisco

Designer Stephen Suzman created a lush, romantic Moroccan-style courtyard in San Francisco. Wind-protected site offers a warm, secluded retreat. Marble-capped seat walls and hand-painted tile benches invite lingering. Tr

Savvy Side Yard: Five Favorite Features in Sacramento

1. Trellis for Shade. Coated aluminum trellis overhead provides shade while letting daylight bathe a privacy wall and fountain. 2. Floral Backdrop. Drought- and heat-tolerant gaura, lavender, salvia draw the eye to the b

Lush and Low Cost: Salvage Garden from Cuttings and Divisions

Fred and Kit Fulton near Waldport, Oregon, planted a slope using only cuttings, seedlings, and divisions—cost next to nothing. “We call it our salvage garden.” Palette includes daylilies, hardy fuchsias, heather, santoli

More Road Trips for Garden Lovers: Northwest and Southern California

NORTHWEST: Columbia River Horticultural Tour Start with an overnight at McMenamins Edgefield (Troutdale, OR), a whimsical resort on 38 acres of gardens. Follow U.S. 30 west to Sauvie Island’s Cistus Nursery (Mediterranea

Water Wisdom: Drought-Tolerant Garden in Clovis, California

Matching Garden to Climate Claudia Kus’s 3-acre Clovis property features a Southwestern house style and water-wise garden driven by costly water, serious soil problems, and hot, dry summers. She planted drought-tolerant

Streams of Stone: Creating the Illusion of a Meandering Creek

Meandering streams are beautiful and cooling. To create this illusion, set river rocks of varying sizes end to end. Watch the flow take shape with bubbles and eddies.

Planning a Small Garden: Strategies for a Narrow Mediterranean Space

Determine your likes in detail. Moore wanted a Mediterranean garden matching her Spanish stucco home and Mexican folk art interior. She researched books, visited gardens, organized files; brick steps with broken tile in

Side-Yard Makeover: Two San Jose Spaces Transformed for Living

Side Yard 1: Journey Through Flowers Samantha and Joel Mier transformed a 14x35-foot side yard from a straight cement driveway into a meandering 30-inch aggregate concrete path with blooming borders—daylilies, lamb’s ear

Vintage California Craftsman Garden Makeover

Marla Koosed and Ron Smoire remodeled their late-1940s home to vintage California Craftsman style, then asked landscape architect Rob Steiner to design a complementary garden. Steiner created an open-air front yard “parl

Deer-Proof Garden in Montana: Wire-Mesh Fence Protects Raised Beds

Mike and Joyce Nave’s Montana property near Missoula includes a 1,600-square-foot raised-bed garden protected by an 8-foot wire-mesh fence. Designed by their son Jim, an 8x10-foot shed with corrugated tin roof echoes the

Borrowing a View: Tucson Ridge Garden Blends with Desert Scenery

Mohit and Sherry Modi’s Tucson backyard, perched atop a ridge, blends seamlessly with a verdant gorge and the Santa Catalina Mountains. Landscape architect Philip Van Wyck transformed a dead lawn into a series of low wal

Mirror Magic: Expanding Garden Space with Reflective Glass

Three Creative Uses Reflected Glory: Barbara and Jack Thomas placed a 4x8-foot mirror on a Seattle garden wall behind a shallow pool, making the pool and patio appear twice as large. A stone lion’s head drips water throu

Easy Being Green: Sustainable Oakland Backyard by Shirley Watts

Designer Shirley Watts earned Alameda County’s Green Business certification for her redesign of Christine McCargar’s small, irregular Oakland backyard (12 ft wide at rear, 20 ft near house, 54 ft long). Enclosed by build

Sonoma Hilltop Garden: A Country Retreat with Regional Materials

Maximizing Views and Regional Feel Landscape designer Richard William Wogisch cleared overgrown trees on his Sonoma Valley hilltop home to maximize views, then developed garden rooms using materials reflecting the area’s

Embracing Heritage: Arts and Crafts Garden Renovation in San Luis Obispo

Restoring Regional Character Landscape architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith believes in cherishing unique heritage. He renovated a San Luis Obispo garden that had “Martha’s Vineyard charm” but fought its architectural style an

Design an Exotic Backyard: Vanessa Kuemmerle's Ever-Evolving Garden

A Playground for Experimentation Vanessa Kuemmerle’s 2,300-square-foot Emeryville, California garden is an eclectic mix: a black tree fern grown from a spore, bromeliads from a drugstore, South African bulbs from friends

Backyard Magic: Chilling Drinks and Lighting for Parties

1. Chill drinks in unexpected containers. Holden and Moll use 39-inch soaking tubs that revert to tubs after the party. Smaller glazed ceramic bowls also work. 2. Hang portable lighting fixtures. White lights strung over

Sensory Delights: Water, Color, and Fragrance in a Santa Fe Courtyard

In Richard and Beverly Armstrong’s rural Santa Fe County courtyard, a bamboo pipe spills water into a hand-carved granite basin, creating a soothing sound and providing water for hummingbirds. The garden palette includes

Desert Connection: Reclaiming a Paradise Valley View with Native Plants

Removing Walls and Non-Natives Janet Simon and Ron McCoy’s Paradise Valley, Arizona home had a wall blocking the desert view and gardens of non-native oleanders and struggling palms. Landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck

Lettuce Centerpiece: A Living Salad Bowl for the Patio Table

Time: ~30 minutes | Cost: ~$45 Materials Large terra‑cotta bowl (≥16″ diameter, with drain holes) Small bag potting soil Lettuces (5 six‑packs): butter, romaine, ‘Red Oak Leaf’, Swiss chard Trowel Planting & Care Fi