Tour 7 Dreamy Beach Gardens to Keep the Summer Vibe Alive
Find ideas for bringing a beachy feeling to your yard with outdoor seating areas, showers, fire pits and more
There’s nothing quite like the dream of relaxing in a house by the sea to help us hang on to that summer vacation mode. We’ve rounded up a handful of coastal homes that have gorgeous outdoor spaces with beach-friendly plantings, fire pits, outdoor showers, seating areas and more — ideas that could be adopted in gardens anywhere to inspire outdoor living and relaxing.
See a sandy fire pit seating area in California, a peaceful waterside retreat on the shores of Washington’s Puget Sound, a dreamy tropical hideaway in Key West, Florida, and other coastal gardens. And find inspiration for bringing a laid-back beachside feeling to your own backyard.
See a sandy fire pit seating area in California, a peaceful waterside retreat on the shores of Washington’s Puget Sound, a dreamy tropical hideaway in Key West, Florida, and other coastal gardens. And find inspiration for bringing a laid-back beachside feeling to your own backyard.
Idea to try: Add tropical-style plantings. If you picture a tropical beach holiday when you imagine a getaway, try incorporating a few tropical (if your climate allows for it) or tropical-looking plants into your garden. Palms and large-scale foliage plants like split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa, USDA zones 10 to 11; find your zone), bird of paradise tree (Strelitzia nicolai, zones 9 to 11) and colorful coleus establish a tropical theme in mild or tropical climates.
Hire a landscape designer on Houzz
Hire a landscape designer on Houzz
In cooler climates, try tropical-looking plants like paperplant (Fatsia japonica, zones 8 to 11), clumping bamboo, canna and hibiscus — covering the latter two in winter or bringing them to a greenhouse, depending on your climate.
See more of this secluded garden
Grow these 10 winter-hardy plants to transport your garden to the tropics
See more of this secluded garden
Grow these 10 winter-hardy plants to transport your garden to the tropics
2. Beachside Fire Pit Lounge in Carpinteria, California
Designer: Grace Design Associates
It took five truckloads of imported sand to help landscape designer Margie Grace transform this coastal garden just south of Santa Barbara, on the California coast, into a beachy oasis. It appears as if the result was well worth it since the new fire-pit gathering area is at beach level and has unimpeded views of the ocean.
Designer: Grace Design Associates
It took five truckloads of imported sand to help landscape designer Margie Grace transform this coastal garden just south of Santa Barbara, on the California coast, into a beachy oasis. It appears as if the result was well worth it since the new fire-pit gathering area is at beach level and has unimpeded views of the ocean.
Idea to try: Give an outdoor fire pit a sandy floor. Inspire guests to go barefoot by surrounding an outdoor fire pit and seating area with sand — conveniently, a fire-safe material for catching stray sparks. Grace recommends VolleyballUSA and The Safe Sand Co. as sources for sand.
See more of this California beachfront garden
See more of this California beachfront garden
3. Peaceful Plantings in Portland, Maine
Designer: Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design
For this oceanside property in New England, landscape architect Matthew Cunningham integrated the home and garden into the property’s natural surroundings. Summer-blooming perennials in soft watercolor hues give way to a rolling lawn down to the Atlantic shore.
Designer: Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design
For this oceanside property in New England, landscape architect Matthew Cunningham integrated the home and garden into the property’s natural surroundings. Summer-blooming perennials in soft watercolor hues give way to a rolling lawn down to the Atlantic shore.
The landscaping takes a light touch with limited hardscaping and naturalistic-style beds, bringing the focus to the water and views across the bay.
Idea to try: Choose a soothing garden color palette. Colors like gray-green, blue, silver and purple tie in with a seaside setting and can have a calming effect in landscapes wherever they’re used.
See three color palettes to help set your garden’s mood
See three color palettes to help set your garden’s mood
4. Relaxed Plantings on Camano Island, Washington
Designer: Lankford Associates Landscape Architects
This garden on the shores of Puget Sound, in the Pacific Northwest, adopts a similar color palette of blue, lavender and gray-green in the beds leading from the home to a patio on the water. Plants include blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, zones 4 to 8), iris, ceanothus, rosemary, pine, lavender, blanket flower and thyme.
Designer: Lankford Associates Landscape Architects
This garden on the shores of Puget Sound, in the Pacific Northwest, adopts a similar color palette of blue, lavender and gray-green in the beds leading from the home to a patio on the water. Plants include blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, zones 4 to 8), iris, ceanothus, rosemary, pine, lavender, blanket flower and thyme.
Idea to try: Use meandering pathways and free-form plantings. While a combination of straight pathways and clear boundaries for beds feels more formal or modern, curving walkways with plants that have billowing forms creates a more relaxed, beachy or countryside feel. You also can edge walkways with perennial herbs like thyme or catmint.
5. Outdoor Living in Manhattan Beach, California
Designer: June Scott Design
This beach garden in Southern California is made up of drought-tolerant, easy-care plantings, which allow the homeowners to spend less time on maintenance and more time enjoying the outdoor living areas. The backyard includes an inviting lounge around a fire pit, a reduced lawn and two side-by-side raised beds for growing herbs and veggies.
Designer: June Scott Design
This beach garden in Southern California is made up of drought-tolerant, easy-care plantings, which allow the homeowners to spend less time on maintenance and more time enjoying the outdoor living areas. The backyard includes an inviting lounge around a fire pit, a reduced lawn and two side-by-side raised beds for growing herbs and veggies.
Idea to try: Create an outdoor room. The key to making an outdoor room just as inviting as one inside the house — or even more so — is to bring all the comforts of a home out to the garden. Choose good-quality outdoor furniture that you enjoy sitting in, pile on cushy pillows and cozy throws, add outdoor lights and heat, if needed, and a soft flooring material or outdoor rug.
See more of this low-water garden
See more of this low-water garden
6. Compact Backyard in Key West, Florida
Designer: Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture
While limited in square footage, this garden around an 1800s carriage house in Key West’s historic district presented an opportunity for Florida landscape architect Craig Reynolds. Following his client’s requests for an outdoor lounge, hot tub, outdoor dining area and outdoor shower, Reynolds worked all the outdoor living elements into the 900-square-foot outdoor area like a jigsaw puzzle, with room left to spare for tropical plants to soften the edges. “I refer to it as a little jewel box,” he says of the space.
Designer: Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture
While limited in square footage, this garden around an 1800s carriage house in Key West’s historic district presented an opportunity for Florida landscape architect Craig Reynolds. Following his client’s requests for an outdoor lounge, hot tub, outdoor dining area and outdoor shower, Reynolds worked all the outdoor living elements into the 900-square-foot outdoor area like a jigsaw puzzle, with room left to spare for tropical plants to soften the edges. “I refer to it as a little jewel box,” he says of the space.
Idea to try: Add an outdoor shower. You don’t need to have a beachfront property to enjoy a summertime rinse in open air. An outdoor shower is relatively easy to add if you have a spot in mind that’s close to an outdoor water line. Surround it with lush plants for screening and privacy.
See more of this tropical garden
See more of this tropical garden
7. Garden Dining in Scituate, Massachusetts
For the deck outside their home on Scituate Harbor, on the coast of Massachusetts, homeowners Luke and Danielle Driscoll wanted a space for outdoor entertaining and dining as a family.
Luke built the dining table and benches from cedar, and the couple laid down a blue-and-white outdoor rug, making the deck more friendly to bare feet. A giant clamshell-style planter made of resin houses a mix of low-water succulents and crushed shells.
Shop for outdoor rugs
For the deck outside their home on Scituate Harbor, on the coast of Massachusetts, homeowners Luke and Danielle Driscoll wanted a space for outdoor entertaining and dining as a family.
Luke built the dining table and benches from cedar, and the couple laid down a blue-and-white outdoor rug, making the deck more friendly to bare feet. A giant clamshell-style planter made of resin houses a mix of low-water succulents and crushed shells.
Shop for outdoor rugs
Idea to try: Set a coastal theme with beachy accents. To avoid falling into beach kitsch territory, choose natural pieces that subtly draw a connection with the coast, or fall back on classic blue and white for pillows, rugs and throws. For example, try using a large shell-style planter (as was done here) or piece of driftwood as a vessel for planting succulents, or filling a low bowl with glass beach floats as a table centerpiece.
See more of this coastal New England garden
See more of this coastal New England garden
Your turn: Do you live on or near the beach? Share your beach garden with us in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Design a Mini Outdoor Retreat
Browse thousands of photos of landscapes
Find a landscape designer near you
Shop for outdoor products
More on Houzz
How to Design a Mini Outdoor Retreat
Browse thousands of photos of landscapes
Find a landscape designer near you
Shop for outdoor products
Designer: Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture
Bursting with tropical foliage and bold flowers leaning over winding brick pathways, this secluded garden in Key West, Florida, offers everything you’d hope for in a tropical hideaway. Hammocks hang from the wraparound porch, palm fronds rustle overhead, seating areas hide throughout the landscape and a deep blue plunge pool, designed like a jungle swimming hole, sits just off the house.