Before and After: Pros’ Own Yard and Patio Transformations
See how these 3 outdoor spaces blossomed under the expert hands of their landscape designer owners
What do landscape designers create when they can follow their own vision to the fullest? To find out, we searched for makeovers completed by the owners, all landscape pros, for themselves. These three yards are quite different, with each speaking to what the designer prioritized — including local history, sustainability, experimentation and family-friendliness. But all show the same high level of expertise that comes from getting your hands dirty time and again for others.
After: Looking to the region’s history of oak-and-hickory savannas and tallgrass prairies, Hursthouse created a prairie meadow, added groves of trees and brought in landscape materials that played off the home’s Craftsman-style architecture.
All of the plants in the meadow are native to Kendall County, and much of the front yard is planted with pollinator attractors. New stepping stones in the swale lead from the lawn through the meadow and to the street.
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All of the plants in the meadow are native to Kendall County, and much of the front yard is planted with pollinator attractors. New stepping stones in the swale lead from the lawn through the meadow and to the street.
Work with a landscape designer
One planting challenge: The landscape has five climatic zones. Hursthouse carefully selected natives according to each one, knowing that the plants would find their sweet spots and spread from there.
Along the sides of the existing driveway, seen here, the plants include Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica, USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone), native columbines (Aquilegia sp.), Rudbeckia, coneflowers (Echinacea sp.), coreopsis, Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium sp.) and two varieties of asters. What’s in bloom at any given time depends on the season.
Along the sides of the existing driveway, seen here, the plants include Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica, USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone), native columbines (Aquilegia sp.), Rudbeckia, coneflowers (Echinacea sp.), coreopsis, Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium sp.) and two varieties of asters. What’s in bloom at any given time depends on the season.
Before: While the home felt perfect, the landscape surrounding it seemed like an afterthought.
After: Hursthouse brought elements from the architecture into the yard. The cobbled granite on the new fountain, for instance, is drawn from the cobbled granite on the home’s column bases. And Hursthouse extended the existing bluestone on the porch floor and steps to a new entry terrace.
The couple’s prized koi fish swim in the fountain’s water, which bubbles up from a sugar kettle made of cast iron. Not seen: a circular fire pit to the right of the patio, which pays homage to famed landscape architect Jens Jensen’s signature council rings.
Sugar kettle: Grove Kettles
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The couple’s prized koi fish swim in the fountain’s water, which bubbles up from a sugar kettle made of cast iron. Not seen: a circular fire pit to the right of the patio, which pays homage to famed landscape architect Jens Jensen’s signature council rings.
Sugar kettle: Grove Kettles
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“After” photos by David Duncan Livingston; photo styling by Dorothea Coelho
2. Living Laboratory
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape architect Travis Gramberg of Koheid Design; his wife, Aubree; their two young children; and the family’s two dogs
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Lot size: 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters)
Before: This ranch house in Southern California had great potential for indoor-outdoor living and for acting as a living laboratory for Travis Gramberg’s landscape architecture business. Plus, Gramberg and his wife, Aubree, considered it an ideal place for starting a family. But they also thought the house needed a major renovation, and they wanted to improve the property’s environmental impact, including by adding a rain garden and having as many native plants as possible.
2. Living Laboratory
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape architect Travis Gramberg of Koheid Design; his wife, Aubree; their two young children; and the family’s two dogs
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Lot size: 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters)
Before: This ranch house in Southern California had great potential for indoor-outdoor living and for acting as a living laboratory for Travis Gramberg’s landscape architecture business. Plus, Gramberg and his wife, Aubree, considered it an ideal place for starting a family. But they also thought the house needed a major renovation, and they wanted to improve the property’s environmental impact, including by adding a rain garden and having as many native plants as possible.
After: Gramberg worked with architect Craig O’Connell to renovate the home from the studs up, create an addition next to the back porch and rework the landscape.
To help rainwater percolate back into the ground, they cut off a large portion of the impervious concrete driveway and replaced the remaining concrete with permeable pavers. They also gave the home’s facade a more streamlined look that blended better with the landscape.
Gramberg swapped the staccato-style plantings in the front yard for masses of California brittlebush (Encelia californica, zones 10 to 11), creating a more cohesive feel.
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To help rainwater percolate back into the ground, they cut off a large portion of the impervious concrete driveway and replaced the remaining concrete with permeable pavers. They also gave the home’s facade a more streamlined look that blended better with the landscape.
Gramberg swapped the staccato-style plantings in the front yard for masses of California brittlebush (Encelia californica, zones 10 to 11), creating a more cohesive feel.
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Inspired by the work of sculptural artist Lew French, Gramberg dry-stacked lava, granite, field boulders and Mexican pebbles taken from the yard for this side of the house. He also used leftovers from past projects, including slate and brick, to create a path of pavers between the house and the rain garden.
The rain garden, which helps manage runoff, is lined in grasses and has some California sycamore (Platanus racemosa, zones 7 to 10) trees. This is part of Gramberg’s living laboratory, so he experiments with different plants here.
The rain garden, which helps manage runoff, is lined in grasses and has some California sycamore (Platanus racemosa, zones 7 to 10) trees. This is part of Gramberg’s living laboratory, so he experiments with different plants here.
Before: The backyard had a large but uninviting porch.
After: The new porch roof is smaller by 15 feet, but the space has gained comfortably furnished areas that make all the difference. Joining a sectional begging to be lounged on, a fire feature for ambiance and a circular dining table that seats five (not seen) is a hot tub clad in wood.
The new primary suite addition, visible at the back, connects to the house by a glass breezeway and creates privacy from the street.
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Hot tub: Snorkel
The new primary suite addition, visible at the back, connects to the house by a glass breezeway and creates privacy from the street.
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Hot tub: Snorkel
The house is on a corner lot, and this vegetable garden, which is on the other side of the addition, faces the street. The raised bed makes tending plants easier. It’s made of Texas limestone, matching the posts and beams of the new back porch.
Between the patio and the street, Gramberg planted toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia, zones 7 to 10). And for the patio material, he reused a good amount of the concrete removed elsewhere from the property.
Learn more about this transformation
Between the patio and the street, Gramberg planted toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia, zones 7 to 10). And for the patio material, he reused a good amount of the concrete removed elsewhere from the property.
Learn more about this transformation
3. Entertaining Outlook
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape designer Simon Orchard, his wife and their two young sons
Location: Hampshire, England
Size: 4,884 square feet (454 square meters); 148 by 33 feet
Before: With small terraces on two levels and borders that were too narrow for plantings, this dated backyard in England was ripe for a makeover. Landscape designer Simon Orchard and his wife were envisioning a place where they could relax, dine and entertain and where their two young boys would have room for playing. They also wanted to bring the space to life with plantings.
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape designer Simon Orchard, his wife and their two young sons
Location: Hampshire, England
Size: 4,884 square feet (454 square meters); 148 by 33 feet
Before: With small terraces on two levels and borders that were too narrow for plantings, this dated backyard in England was ripe for a makeover. Landscape designer Simon Orchard and his wife were envisioning a place where they could relax, dine and entertain and where their two young boys would have room for playing. They also wanted to bring the space to life with plantings.
After: A new deck with a pergola sporting a pullout canopy looks out over a verdant lawn grown from seed. Interestingly, while Orchard was widening the planting beds, he discovered an air raid shelter under the existing wood deck. He recycled the wood boards for the new deck, flipping them over to avoid their detritus-attracting grooves.
Close to the house, you can spot a living wall up the terrace steps and to the left. It adds an unexpected element versus having the typical potted plants, and Orchard planted it with drifts in a diagonal pattern for an artistic and unified look. ‘Golf Ball’ kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’, zones 8 to 11) shrubs flank the steps, adding an element of symmetry.
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Close to the house, you can spot a living wall up the terrace steps and to the left. It adds an unexpected element versus having the typical potted plants, and Orchard planted it with drifts in a diagonal pattern for an artistic and unified look. ‘Golf Ball’ kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’, zones 8 to 11) shrubs flank the steps, adding an element of symmetry.
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The plants are Mediterranean style and can handle semishade, as the yard is east-facing and loses sun in the late morning. A mix of flat and spiky specimens, along with both colorful and more subtly hued ones, create depth and interest in the lush new planting beds.
The choices seen here include ‘Moonshine’ yarrow (Achillea ‘Moonshine’, zones 3 to 9), ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 9), catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’, zones 3 to 8), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis, zones 3 to 8) and artemisia.
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The choices seen here include ‘Moonshine’ yarrow (Achillea ‘Moonshine’, zones 3 to 9), ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 9), catmint (Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’, zones 3 to 8), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis, zones 3 to 8) and artemisia.
Read more about this makeover
More on Houzz
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Browse more landscape photos
Shop for your outdoor spaces
1. Prairie Natives Aplenty
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape architect Bob Hursthouse of Hursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors and his wife, Robbi
Location: Millbrook, Illinois
Size: 1½ acres (0.6 hectares)
Before: When landscape architect Bob Hursthouse and his wife, Robbi, moved to the Kendall County countryside in Illinois, a vast expanse of lawn greeted them. The property had beautiful mature trees but not much else, and there was a hard-to-mow drainage swale that dipped down 9 feet and then rose again to the street. All this had Hursthouse thinking of a redesign.