Here is a yard, once a playground for weeds.  In this design we eliminated the entire “lawn” and filled the space with outdoor rooms and plants that require very little attention. Most of what we chose requires no extra care outside of water and good drainage.  As with most of our installations we installed a drip-line which feeds a slow drip to the base of each plant with emitters that control the amount of water depending on the plant size and type.  So far this is the biggest water saving way to irrigate without wasting a single drop of water, and should be used until plants are established.  The majority of plants will only require a few minutes of drip, two-to-three times a week with the exception of those extremely hot days.

Features of this design include a sunken fire pit in a sunken patio, curvilinear pathways that flow through raised beds, a small rock garden, and a sunken living room with stone furniture.  The raised berms used as beds help to create cozy spaces or “rooms”. They add depth to the landscape and help immensely with drainage.   It’s always nice when you can find a way to reuse heavy material such as topsoil, bricks, and old sidewalks instead of hauling them off to a landfill.  (It also saves your back.)

To add warmth and take the back yard one level further we added wooden walkways.

Outdoor living room with stone seating.

From above

Mini rock garden.  Unfinished areas near the house (lower left corner) will be completed after the new roof is put on.  Also on the way, a solar carport to be constructed at the end of the walk (top right).

Watching the plants grow through the hottest summer on record.  Thank you drip lines!  Here is Pennisetum alopec ‘Cassian’.

Caryopterous ‘Longwood Blue’ and Osmanthus fragrens Fragrant Tea Olive.

Delosperma cooperi Hardy Ice Plant under the stone table top.

Salvia nemorosa ‘Snow Hill’ (Meadow Sage), Culluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’ (Scotch Heather), and Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’ (Purple Wood Spurge)

Vitex angus-castus (Chaste Tree)

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Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’ & Euphorbia characias ‘Tasmanian Tiger’

By the way here is the before.

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