Kylie Fitts1Invest in a Versatile Greenhouse
Kylie Fitts
The clients of Danielle Wallinger, founder of Studio D Design, are avid gardeners and wanted their backyard to represent that. So, Wallinger chose to install an English-inspired greenhouse in the backyard just off the pool area, opting for one by Hartley Botanic that can double as an entertaining space.
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2Create a Sculpture Garden
Kylie Fitts
On the same property above, Wallinger balanced classical Italian architecture with more modern elements, partly through this sculpture by Emmett Culligan. If you have the space (and the desire!), create your own sculpture garden to add more visual interest to your yard. It doesn’t have to consist of large pieces—they can be smaller to suit your style.
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3Put In a Daybed 
Rich Stapleton
In her own home, designer Vanessa Alexander put in a custom daybed just off the pool for casual lounging and sunbathing. It looks effortlessly luxurious, and if regular patio furniture simply isn’t for you, consider doing the same thing and creating a custom piece that fits your aesthetic.
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4Linear Elements
Courtesy of Scott Zimmer
Juxtapose the natural curves and wildness of nature by putting in landscaping elements that add sharp edges and linear details. In this yard, landscape designer Scott Zimmer of Zimmer Gardens installed a crisp metal edge between the lawn and keystone pathway, giving the yard a more professional and manicured look. However, it’s always functional, as the edging prevents grass from growing into the path, resulting in less maintenance needing to be done.
5Illusion of Overgrowth
Courtesy of Scott Zimmer
With bushes and flowers growing over the pathway, this garden creates an illusion of overgrowth and wildness, but it’s actually kept perfectly in check. Zimmer also used metal edging here, ensuring the garden bed wouldn’t grow into the pea gravel pathway while still giving the landscape a more laid-back, beautiful appearance.
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6Backyard Court
Stacy Zarin Goldberg
If a rolling lawn isn’t your desired backyard, think outside the box. For this home, Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture worked to add BOTH a pickleball and tennis court to the sprawling acreage. For better joint comfort, the concrete courts were topped with Pro-Cushion. The green-painted surfaces help it blend in with the evergreen landscaping. Photometric testing was also used to ensure the court lights didn’t reach neighboring properties.
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7″Natural” Pool
Joseph Kramm
To honor the upstate New York landscape of woods and beautiful views, designer Melissa Anderson of OAD Interiors looked to build a “natural” pool that melded perfectly with the home’s surroundings. Native landscaping and Adirondack-style chairs give this area rustic charm. “We kept everything very simple on the exterior to allow nature to be center stage,” Anderson says.
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8Intentional Zones
Jake Lamons
Break up a large backyard by using different hardscaping surfaces to landscape your different zones. Here, RTA Outdoor Living and HGTV star Mike Pyle opted for brick pavers to separate the outdoor kitchen from the rest of the large paver slabs on the patio.
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9Pool Pavilion
Shade Degges
The circus-meets-sophisticated pool pavilion, designed by Amber Lewis and Curtis & Windham Architects, can comfortably seat 10 guests. Inspired by hotel design and the homeowners’ love of entertaining, Lewis crafted an outdoor space in Martha’s Vineyard meant for large gatherings.
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10Updated Exteriors
Jenna Peffley
Design couple French & French designed a custom gate to welcome guests to their midcentury, Territorial Revival–style home in Santa Fe. The wide slats allow the beautiful garden to be seen from the street while the color coordinates with the home’s porch architecture.
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11Lavender Field
Marion Brenner
Nothing channels the French countryside like a lavender field—especially one that leads to a stone flower-arranging studio. Wendy Owen wanted her Sonoma, California, property to feel like a laid-back, rustic French village. She channeled that atmosphere with landscaping ideas like lovely stone pavilions, stand-alone sheds for gardening, and outdoor cooking areas.
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12Quaint Fencing 
Lisa Flood
Emily Janak’s Wyoming mountain house strikes the perfect balance between quaint and polished. A well-kept lawn contrasts with wild lavender within the garden’s wooden fence, and a canoe suspended under the upper-level extension brings dimension and character.
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13Life-Size Chess
Douglas Friedman
Tiered infinity pools might seem over the top, but the raised design can be a practical way to connect a spa and swimming pool. Even better if yours is overlooking a cool landscape feature, like the life-size chess board in this backyard designed by Ken Fulk. Yard games are always a win, especially if revelers who would rather lounge in the pool can hang nearby.
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14Structured Greenery 
Roger Davies
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15Stone Partition
Emily J Followill
A partial stone wall props up a pergola for shade, while a garden door beyond makes the cozy fireplace zone feel extra private and serene. To keep the outdoor space of this 1950s ranch in Kansas City feeling open and green, Jeffrey Dungan’s team designed it to extend only halfway up past the sitting area.
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16Blooming Flower Border
Annie Schlechter
Rows of hydrangeas and hedges offer a beautiful alternative to typical garden fences. The soft pastel colors are especially stunning and a natural fit for summer cottages, like this one in East Hampton designed by Robert Stilin.
17Strategic Paint Colors
Eric Piasecki
Add more vertical greenery to a hardscaped patio by painting your fence or trellis Go Away Green. The paint color is popular among designers in outdoor areas for its magical camouflaging abilities! Here, Mimi McMakin used a mossy color on the chairs too.
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18Gravel Ground 
Tec Petaja
Instead of a hard-to-maintain lawn, opt for gravel and bring in greenery with lush pots and topiaries scattered around the perimeter of the yard. If you love hosting, an outdoor table is essential—on her Nashville patio, seen here, Gen Sohr anchors one with two wicker end chairs and cozies it up with special throws and cushions.
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19Window Boxes
Ngoc Minh Ngo
When you don’t have a front yard or even a sizeable porch, call on your windows for a beautiful landscaping idea, as Sarah Bartholomew did here. A copper lantern lights the way home, picking up on copper flashed windows and gutters, and window boxes are enlivened with pretty white florals and greenery.
20Native Plantings
STEPHEN KENT JOHNSON
Landscape architecture design studio Terremoto populated the garden of this Bel Air, California, home with native species wherever possible and created “a gradient of wildness” on the steep hillside. The lush canopy of low-water, low-maintenance plants includes native grasses, sages and lilacs, and redbud trees.
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