yard

With input from her clients, Barensfeld used a computer to generate the circular patterns that were carved into a pair of Cor-Ten steel screens with a water-jet cutter. The perforations allow light and the green of the surrounding Koi bamboo to filter into the space while preserving privacy.

A small terrace outfitted with an H55 easy chair by Björn Hultén offers a view of the San Francisco Bay.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

Surya’s first word was the Hindi word for bird,” says his father, Ali, “and it’s amazing to see all the birds that are coming through here now that are attracted to certain plants.”

The garden is fed by a laundry-to-landscape graywater system that gently releases water into the soil through wood-chip mulch basins. “They operate as a sort of living filter, soaking up the graywater and slowing its flow into the landscape,” says installer Leigh Jerrard of Greywater Corps, who holds workshops to teach homeowners how to set up the low-tech system themselves. Impurities are broken down through microbial action, and eventually the mulch becomes a rich compost.

Featuring more than 100 species, the garden is brimming with bird and insect attractants. “Surya’s first word was the Hindi word for bird,” says Surya’s father, Ali, “and it’s amazing to see all the birds that are coming through here now that are attracted to certain plants.”

Working with landscape studio Hardy Californians, young birder and naturalist Surya Jeevanjee filled the garden outside his family’s L.A. home with his favorite native California plants and flowers.

The deck is furnished with pieces from Design Within Reach.

An artist by trade, and gardener by passion, Allison Paschke commissioned Providence-based architecture firm 3SIXØ to build a modest cottage that would allow her to reconnect with nature. She landscaped the home’s lush gardens herself.

A pair of architects infused their 1930 house in Montreuil with sunshine and a soothing palette. “Plants, sun, and coffee—what else does one need,” says architect Olivier Leiken

The shingle-like wood pieces,

The suburban backyard garage in Hertfordshire, England, that architect Olli Andrew of Hyper converted into a work studio is wrapped in charred larch wood pieces that give the impression of scales and foster biodiversity, providing a place for insects to nestle.

"A wonderfully versatile space, the outdoor space is enclosed by neighboring gardens offering a peaceful spot to dine and entertain during the warmer months,

Lachie didn't want to have to maintain a large garden and lawn, so the landscaped garden rooms are perfect.

"As you look from the inside out, you see this quite hard architectural form of the concrete and steel columns but it's got this soft landscaping cascading down,