This garden house was designed by owner and architect, Shirat Mavligit. The wooden section of outer wall is actually the outer section of a central volume that creates an enlarged open space bisecting the home interior. The windows create a view corridor within the home that allows visitors to see all the way through to the back yard. Occupants of the home looking out through these windows feel as if they are sitting in the middle of a garden. This architectural theme of volume and line of site is so powerful that it became the inspiration for the modern landscape design we developed in the front, back, and side yards of the property. We began by addressing the issue of too much open space in the front yard. It has no surrounding fence, and it faces a very busy street in Houston’s Rice Village Area. After careful study of the home façade, our team determined that the best way to set aside a large portion of private space in front of the home was to construct a landscape berm. This land art form adds a sense of dimension and psychological boundary to the scene. It is built of core 10 steel and stands 16 inches tall. This is just high enough for guests to sit on, and it provides an ideal sunbathing area for summer days. The sweeping contour of the berm offsets the rigid linearity of the home with a softer architectural detail. Its linear progression gives the modern landscape design a dynamic sense of movement. Moving to the back yard, we reinforced the home’s central volume and view corridor by laying a rectilinear line of gravel parallel to an equivalent section of grass. Near the corner of the house, we created a series of gravel stepping pads that lead guests from the gravel run, through the grass, and into a vegetable garden. The heavy use of gravel does several things. It communicates a sense of control by containing the vitality of the lawn within an inorganic, mathematically precise space. This feeling of contained life force is common in modern landscape design. This also adds the functional advantage of a low-maintenance space where only minimal lawn care is needed. Gravel also has its own unique aesthetic appeal. Its dark color compliments both the grass and the house, providing an ideal lead-in to the space of the vegetable garden. This same rectilinear geometry was applied to the side yard, but the materials were reversed to add dramatic effect. Here, the field is gravel, and the stepping pads are made from grass. Heavy gauge steel planters were set into the gravel to house separate plantings of Zoysia. The pads run from the library to the kitchen, allowing visitors to travel between the two as if they are walking on a floor decorated with grass. The lawn in all three yards is planted with Zoysia grass. This species of grass is frequently used in modern landscape design because it requires only moderate amounts of water to retain its exceptionally fine texture. When mowed, it presents a clean, well-manicured lawn that compliments the conservatism of the home.

Идея дизайна: засухоустойчивый сад на заднем дворе в стиле модернизм с газонным бордюром

Garden bed that wraps around side of house with natural stone and plantings with brick edging.
Идея дизайна: большой солнечный, летний засухоустойчивый сад на боковом дворе в стиле модернизм с газонным бордюром, хорошей освещенностью и покрытием из гальки

This modern backyard boasts a light, neutral color pallet and plants like yuca an ornamental grasses.
Источник вдохновения для домашнего уюта: засухоустойчивый сад на заднем дворе в современном стиле с газонным бордюром, мощением тротуарной плиткой и с деревянным забором

The view of Cat Mountain from the street really shows the privacy of the patios below. The long steel planters separate the lawn from the front beds and add direction to the entrance. This photo was taken by Ryann Ford.

The garden isn't completely lawn-free. It hosts an IdealMow lawn of native Dune Sedge. It thrives with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides and uses only 20 percent of the water required by a turf grass lawn. A "smart" subsurface, hydrozoned drip irrigation system on weather based controllers delivers exactly what the hydrozoned foliage needs, right to its roots. This aids foliage health and eliminates water loss to evaporation. To keep its lawn-like appearance, the grass needs mowing only a few times a year. If left to grow, it forms true-green waves.

Источник вдохновения для домашнего уюта: большой солнечный засухоустойчивый сад на заднем дворе в классическом стиле с газонным бордюром, хорошей освещенностью, покрытием из гальки и с деревянным забором

This Montecito front yard was transformed with artificial turf, boulder edging, planting, landscape lighting and more. Synthetic grass was cut to fit around a boulder edging. The boulders were from the mudslide tragedy in 2018. This landscape was rebuilt and renewed. Landscaping and stone edging surround this loop driveway.

corten steel planter and gravel bed for streetside exterior drought-tolerant landscaping
На фото: большой засухоустойчивый сад на переднем дворе в восточном стиле с полуденной тенью, покрытием из гальки, газонным бордюром и с металлическим забором

Источник вдохновения для домашнего уюта: засухоустойчивый сад в стиле неоклассика (современная классика) с газонным бордюром и покрытием из гальки

Photos: Tony Vitale of Landscape Logic
Пример оригинального дизайна: солнечный, летний засухоустойчивый сад среднего размера на заднем дворе в стиле модернизм с хорошей освещенностью, мощением клинкерной брусчаткой, газонным бордюром и с деревянным забором

Terrace and grill station with Storage Pavilion off the the left in photo
Пример оригинального дизайна: солнечный, летний засухоустойчивый сад среднего размера на боковом дворе в современном стиле с газонным бордюром, хорошей освещенностью и мощением тротуарной плиткой

A simple lawn and landscape is delineated with garden walls built out of a recycled concrete patio. Concrete mow curbs separate lawn from landscape and integrated natural boulders add to the visual interest of this garden.

Идея дизайна: солнечный, весенний засухоустойчивый сад среднего размера на заднем дворе в стиле модернизм с хорошей освещенностью, покрытием из гравия, с деревянным забором и газонным бордюром

На фото: большой солнечный засухоустойчивый сад на заднем дворе в стиле модернизм с газонным бордюром, хорошей освещенностью и мощением клинкерной брусчаткой

These are some of our design and build landscapes with sustainable, eco-friendly design practices in mind. Many of these were Cash for Grass rebate customers or Waterwise Conversion programs where money was awarded through local water districts and agencies.

Residential home in Santa Cruz, CA This stunning front and backyard project was so much fun! The plethora of K&D's scope of work included: smooth finished concrete walls, multiple styles of horizontal redwood fencing, smooth finished concrete stepping stones, bands, steps & pathways, paver patio & driveway, artificial turf, TimberTech stairs & decks, TimberTech custom bench with storage, shower wall with bike washing station, custom concrete fountain, poured-in-place fire pit, pour-in-place half circle bench with sloped back rest, metal pergola, low voltage lighting, planting and irrigation! (*Adorable cat not included)

This Montecito front yard was transformed with artificial turf, boulder edging, planting, landscape lighting and more. Synthetic grass was cut to fit around a boulder edging. The boulders were from the mudslide tragedy in 2018. This landscape was rebuilt and renewed.

While not as prickly as a Yucca Whipplei or agave, and not as stiff as a Snake Grass, California native Spreading Rush (Juncus patens) does a great job of defining a boundary and re-routing traffic. Its deep blue green color makes a great backdrop for both brighter green and distinctively LA silver foliage. Birds love the seeds!