From eco-friendly landscapes to alfresco living spaces, our experts dish the dirt on creating a lavish lawn.
When you own a million-dollar-plus estate, you don’t want to adorn the outside of your home with a couple of blah bushes, nor do you want a conglomerate of mismatched plants and trees to destroy your curb appeal. “Any successful outdoor space responds directly to the architecture of the house whether that means integrating it or being sensitive to the stylistic nature of the house,” says Dylan Robertson, landscape designer and founder of D-Crain Design & Construction in Austin, Tex. “I think it’s important to be thoughtful in designing landscape so you can capitalize on, essentially, the very valuable real estate.”
The front yard is your presentation to the world, explains landscape designer and cofounder of California-based Silver Tree Landscape Design Warren Patterson. “The front garden has the backdrop of the home behind it so if you have a Victorian home, you can’t put a Tuscan garden in front of it,” Patterson says. “You try and match the garden so that backdrop of the home is very beautiful.” Contemporary architecture, for example, is sleek and organized so large rosettes of Agaves would complement each other, says Patterson. On the other hand, that aforementioned Victorian home is all about eye candy so an array of flowers organized into mini gardens arranged by color, would be fitting.
On the other side of the fence, the backyard is reserved for entertaining friends and family, says Patterson, and can be an extension of your indoor space. Just imagine a lazy Sunday afternoon in spring with your loved ones enjoying a barbecue— the perfect opportunity for an outdoor living room. The key to crafting an open-air living room is making use of the natural surroundings with the practicality of indoor necessities, all in a fashionable manner. Robertson suggests hanging light fixtures from a tree rather than planting them in the ground. “It’s a really interesting way to create very cool ambiance, especially if it’s a roomlike environment,” Robertson says. “It’s a way of lighting that’s similar to an interior space. It creates that spirit about it as well.” For furniture, Robertson recommends integrating it into the landscape. Rather than a garden bench, he suggests a sculpted concrete seat with or without a cushion.
