Landscape Design
Patio of the Week
Patio of the Week: Family-Friendly Design Connects Home and Yard
A landscape designer creates a zoned backyard in Seattle that includes pollinating plants and clean modern lines
This young family wanted to make their Seattle backyard a spot where they could lounge, dine, garden and play. “One of the most fun types of projects to work on is a small urban yard that’s kind of a hodgepodge, and this was one of those projects,” landscape designer Rebekah Rongo says.
Knowing the family wanted an al fresco dining space, a lounge for adults, a kids’ play area and a space for growing edibles, she zoned the yard with an area for each. She included pollinator-attracting plants and transformed an unpleasant area beneath the deck. The result is a family-friendly yard that feels connected to the contemporary home’s architecture.
Knowing the family wanted an al fresco dining space, a lounge for adults, a kids’ play area and a space for growing edibles, she zoned the yard with an area for each. She included pollinator-attracting plants and transformed an unpleasant area beneath the deck. The result is a family-friendly yard that feels connected to the contemporary home’s architecture.
After: Rongo placed the new dining area in a corner of the yard, close to the new vegetable and herb gardens and a barbecue area.
The turf is artificial. “I’m passionate about the great applications for artificial turf,” the landscape designer says. “It is lower in cost and water usage than real lawns.” In this case, she wanted to break up the concrete in a high-traffic area with something low-cost and low-maintenance. She also wanted something that would drain well, noting that a lawn’s rhizomatic root structure can mat and cause water runoff issues. Beneath the artificial turf is a layer of sand and compacted aggregate. Landscape contractor Gabe Shulman of Sage and Stone tied the artificial turf’s drainage into the existing drains on-site. Also, Rongo chose a pet-specific turf product for the homeowners’ puppies that drains and wicks urine. Other pet waste gets scooped, and then the area gets a quick rinse with a hose or watering can.
The project work also included dressing up the existing deck. The new boards cladding the deck and the surrounding elements below are tight-knot western red cedar. The new railings incorporate black welded wire, otherwise known as hog wire. Shulman sealed the deck with low-VOC Penofin wood stain in the Western Red Cedar color. “We used as many natural, nontoxic materials as possible,” he says.
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The turf is artificial. “I’m passionate about the great applications for artificial turf,” the landscape designer says. “It is lower in cost and water usage than real lawns.” In this case, she wanted to break up the concrete in a high-traffic area with something low-cost and low-maintenance. She also wanted something that would drain well, noting that a lawn’s rhizomatic root structure can mat and cause water runoff issues. Beneath the artificial turf is a layer of sand and compacted aggregate. Landscape contractor Gabe Shulman of Sage and Stone tied the artificial turf’s drainage into the existing drains on-site. Also, Rongo chose a pet-specific turf product for the homeowners’ puppies that drains and wicks urine. Other pet waste gets scooped, and then the area gets a quick rinse with a hose or watering can.
The project work also included dressing up the existing deck. The new boards cladding the deck and the surrounding elements below are tight-knot western red cedar. The new railings incorporate black welded wire, otherwise known as hog wire. Shulman sealed the deck with low-VOC Penofin wood stain in the Western Red Cedar color. “We used as many natural, nontoxic materials as possible,” he says.
Work with a landscape designer
Before: The existing deck posed a challenge. “I really had to think, ‘What can we do here?’” Rongo says.
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After: Rongo covered the area under the deck with new boards. They create continuity and connect the deck and staircase to the yard below. She made the most of the staircase area by designing a new built-in seating area at its base. The bench seats lift up for access to storage underneath.
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After: By continuing the cedar boards, adding a garden below and putting up hanging plants, Rongo tied the architecture of the house to the landscape architecture.
“The homeowners love to garden and love hanging plants,” she says. “We hung four little hanging herb gardens to enliven [the area].” Her clients also wanted to create a connection to where food comes from, and use their yard to teach their kids about the process. So they loved the idea of adding pollinator-attracting plants throughout their yard.
Rongo added nasturtiums to the hanging herb garden, seen here, to attract pollinators. “It’s amazing. I visited this yard six weeks after planting, and it was already attracting lots of bees and butterflies,” she says.
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“The homeowners love to garden and love hanging plants,” she says. “We hung four little hanging herb gardens to enliven [the area].” Her clients also wanted to create a connection to where food comes from, and use their yard to teach their kids about the process. So they loved the idea of adding pollinator-attracting plants throughout their yard.
Rongo added nasturtiums to the hanging herb garden, seen here, to attract pollinators. “It’s amazing. I visited this yard six weeks after planting, and it was already attracting lots of bees and butterflies,” she says.
12 Essential Herbs for Your Edible Garden
This adults’ lounge area sits in a spot where Rongo bumped the patio out into the adjacent alley. (The homeowners own the alley and can modify it as needed.) Taking over just a few square feet made a big difference in the narrow backyard. “We really wanted to bring interior comfort to the outdoor spaces,” Rongo says.
The cedar posts-on-pipe fencing Shulman used, made locally by All City Fence, matches the wood around the deck. “If you bury cedar posts in concrete, the wood will rot as early as five years later,” he says. “With this product, the bottom of the cedar posts are pipe, so that the cedar is only aboveground. This means it will last much longer,” he says.
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The cedar posts-on-pipe fencing Shulman used, made locally by All City Fence, matches the wood around the deck. “If you bury cedar posts in concrete, the wood will rot as early as five years later,” he says. “With this product, the bottom of the cedar posts are pipe, so that the cedar is only aboveground. This means it will last much longer,” he says.
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The custom modern trellises also are cedar posts-on-pipe structures, with black welded wire to coordinate with the fencing and deck railings.
Rongo chose fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, USDA Zone 8; find your zone) as the climbing plant for the trellises. “Sometimes there are trash cans on the other side of the fence in the alley, so in addition to wanting something evergreen on the trellis, I thought using something fragrant would be a good idea,” she says. The jasmine also attracts pollinators.
In the year since these photos were taken, Rongo reports that the plants have climbed two-thirds of the way up the trellises, adding life, color and softness.
Rongo chose fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, USDA Zone 8; find your zone) as the climbing plant for the trellises. “Sometimes there are trash cans on the other side of the fence in the alley, so in addition to wanting something evergreen on the trellis, I thought using something fragrant would be a good idea,” she says. The jasmine also attracts pollinators.
In the year since these photos were taken, Rongo reports that the plants have climbed two-thirds of the way up the trellises, adding life, color and softness.
“I like to plant pollinator-attracting plants in big swaths when I can. In this yard we used purple geraniums [‘Rozanne’ cranesbill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’, zones 4 to 9)] for that,” Rongo says. “Bees love this plant, and it can create a habitat for local pollinators.”
After: Rongo had Shulman add underdecking to protect the spaces below from rain. “We have a lot of days that are perfectly pleasant here except for drizzling rain,” Shulman says. “Or it may have rained and gotten all the furniture wet. Overhangs are important for being able to spend time outside on those days.” A little seating area along the side and a picnic table area beneath the deck serve as kids’ spaces.
“We wanted to blur the transitions in the yard with continuity in the materials,” Rongo says. This included continuing the deck’s cedar on the facia beneath it, the built-in seating area, the fencing and the trellises.
The new cedar walls under the deck also conceal an easy-to-access storage area. Around the corner, a custom sliding door allows access to this storage space.
“We wanted to blur the transitions in the yard with continuity in the materials,” Rongo says. This included continuing the deck’s cedar on the facia beneath it, the built-in seating area, the fencing and the trellises.
The new cedar walls under the deck also conceal an easy-to-access storage area. Around the corner, a custom sliding door allows access to this storage space.
Rongo addressed the yard’s existing slope by regrading, creating two levels with steps between them. The two planes also delineate distinct spaces — one for dining, cooking and growing food; the other for lounging and playing.
Shulman recessed lights into the steps as well as into the flooring of the seating area on the right. Since construction, the homeowners have added some party lights.
And the drainage, which used to run off the site, now is handled on-site. The pavers have gravel beneath them that acts as a shallow dry well. In other words, the water drains between the pavers and then percolates through the gravel down into the ground. Rongo directed any runoff that escapes that system toward the planting beds.
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Shulman recessed lights into the steps as well as into the flooring of the seating area on the right. Since construction, the homeowners have added some party lights.
And the drainage, which used to run off the site, now is handled on-site. The pavers have gravel beneath them that acts as a shallow dry well. In other words, the water drains between the pavers and then percolates through the gravel down into the ground. Rongo directed any runoff that escapes that system toward the planting beds.
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The building on the left here is the homeowners’ recently renovated garage, which forms a boundary for the yard. “We used the steel planters to warm up the space and to help delineate the different spaces,” Rongo says. “They also create a nice transition between the two levels.”
The metal shop at Sage and Stone crafted the planters of Cor-Ten steel. The one along the steps holds a vegetable garden that’s fun for the kids.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
The metal shop at Sage and Stone crafted the planters of Cor-Ten steel. The one along the steps holds a vegetable garden that’s fun for the kids.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
“We really liked the idea of sheltered space for the kids under the deck, because it feels like a fort,” Rongo says. “It’s hidden but not too hidden.” In fact, it’s located directly across from where the adults can enjoy some wine while keeping an eye on their kids. Since construction was completed, the homeowners have added a projection screen underneath for movie nights.
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Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with young children
Location: Seattle
Size: The total yard, including the patio, is 1,500 square feet (139 square meters).
Landscape designer: Rebekah Rongo of SJC Studio Landscape Architecture
Landscape contractor: Gabe Shulman of Sage and Stone
Before: The yard was hemmed in by a garage and an alley, and Rongo realized she had to incorporate many functions without making those elements feel crammed in. “Sometimes the hodgepodge gives you a direction to go [in],” she says. For example, the existing deck informed where a covered play area and storage could go. From there, she could see where the lounge area would be a good fit, which left the back corner for the dining and barbecue area. Another issue was the slope of the yard, which had been causing water runoff issues.