Atwater Village Backyard

Here's a backyard design project that transformed a boring rectangle of dying grass into an inviting space with places to sit and an undulating pathway to get you there. These photos show off how much the garden can grow in less than 2 years.

It was time to ditch the lawn. My clients love colored foliage with interesting textures. They wanted drought-tolerant, easy plantings that bring lots of beneficial insects. I wanted to create a fun way to interact with the space and make it more interesting than a rectangle, so I came up with this design.

BEFORE

AFTER: Just Planted

I organized the space with DG pathways that allow you to meander and spend time in different areas, to find a place to sit and enjoy the bees, trees and flowers.

Things have filled in nicely now. The purple Euphorbias are becoming trees and the Lavender has gone crazy.

One and a half Years After Planting

Now it's time to do a little tweaking. We lost a couple ground covers and a few Blue Fescue, so we need to fill in some open soil here and there. There's also some weeding to do. But 80% of the plants were successful and are looking great.

Here's a detail of the bench with the Achillea next to it last Summer, approximately one year after planting. Those plants are smaller clumps right now, just coming back up for Spring at the time of this post. They will begin to flower again soon, and should flower all through late Spring and Summer, even into Fall.