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When you have a family of four , two small wiener , and a backyard the size of a postage seal , you either move elsewhere or find a way to make the space work and accommodate the out-of-door activities your family enjoys . The owner of this home in Piedmont , CA , opt to do the latter and translate their cramped , poorly design patch of Edwin Herbert Land into an outdoor living area spacious enough for everyone .
“ We were tasked with doing the most with this small backyard and offering features for everyone in the family to appreciate , ” says Michael McFadden landscape architect and founder of Planted Earth Inc. , Berkeley , CA . “ The intention challenge was to exposit an exist tile patio so the quad could function as an out-of-door life room . Designing a young entry logic gate and replacing the live stairs from a public pavement to the rarefied backyard — without wipe out too much cherished space — was a further piece of the puzzler . ”
Creating Privacy
The covered terrace was enlarged , raised , and resurface so it could do as an extension of the indoor living space . Concealing it from view is a 6 - foot - tall horizontal ipe forest fence . Photo by : Karl Seifert .
By off the existing patio , enlarging the infinite , and resurfacing it with plank tile flooring , McFadden was able to create a furnished outside living room that serves as an extension of the indoor space . “ The existing patio was too modest , oddly designed , and did n’t function as an outside sustenance way like the guest require . Renovating it to make a comfy and enjoyable space was the heart of the design challenge for the whole project . ”
The key to making it all employment was to provide privacy and withdraw the domain from the nearby public pavement . This was done by instal a retaining bulwark and relocating the stairs and gate between the public pavement and backyard .
“ To show concealment , we construct a 6 - foot - tall horizontal board fence and logic gate , made from the tropical hardwood ipe . The instrument panel fence was confiscate to steel posts that were specify in an exist retaining bulwark , ” read McFadden .
Building a Living Wall
A view of the backyard during the daylight . The lawn is constitute with deep - root fescue to minimize water requirements . Photo by : Karl Seifert .
The existing backyard let in a patch of stilted sod desegregate into a narrow , awkward masonry shelf that was part of a terms to support an unsightly retaining wall . By cladding the wall with a living level of succulent and blossoming perennials , resurface the narrow landing place , and set up a spa and new stone - slab dance step leading up to it , McFadden created two degree of functional outdoor space and a lovely vertical garden .
“ Instead of plainly replastering the worthless retaining wall , for the same cost we prefer to instal a erect fleeceable wall . This living wall was welded and bolted onto the structure of the old retaining wall , ” says McFadden . “ Our undertaking director , Naosuke Nemoto , indicate out the green wall opportunity to the proprietor and I during a merging . Everyone sweep up the idea immediately and we never looked back . "
The living wall is filled with an artistic raiment of drought - liberal plants , including echeveria , sedums , sempervivums , creeping liriope , golden parrot ’s beak ( Lotus Maculatus ) , and dark chalksticks ( Senecio mandraliscae ) . peek up behind the succulent is the variegated foliation ofPittosporum tenuifolium’Marjorie Channon ' . This evergreen plant hedge was added to nail the vertical effect and further obstruct the opinion of the fencing above the existing retaining paries . Photo by : Karl Seifert . ( See more : Vertical horticulture )
Planted Earth landscape house decorator Danica Zoran worked closely with the householder on the plant survival of the fittest . A variety of drouth - tolerant succulents and perennial were chosen for the paries to create a montage of colors and textures . Because of California ’s ironic mood , a drip mould irrigation scheme was woven through the wall to conserve water . The yard also feature a patch of deeply - root Festuca elatior for the dogs , an apple tree , and some carefully selected drought - tolerant shrub and perennials .
Providing Nighttime Ambience
The backyard was transformed by installing a watering place , custom lighting , and a lush vertical garden that clads an existing retaining wall . Resurfacing the minute landing and bestow a stairway made of 6 - inch - thickheaded sandstone slabs created two tier of outdoor living space . pic by : Karl Seifert .
Another important aspect of this makeover was to make the backyard a shoes that could be enjoyed as much at night as it could by twenty-four hour period . This was accomplished through the installation of saucy landscape lighting arrangement , under the focus of Planted Earth designer Robin Slovak , that illuminates the hot tub , life wall , stairway , and other backyard features . “ Our approach is to complete the hardscaping , planting , etc . , and do the inflammation last , ” says McFadden . “ Once everything else is install , we choose a night to experiment , bring with firing placement , angles , fixtures , and luminance levels so we can make adjustments until the lighting has the effect desired by our customer . ”
The total backyard renovation took 2 - 1/2 calendar month to complete , but by the end , the blank felt much larger than before since it utilizes every square column inch . “ The owners were very slaked with the kind of uses we had managed to match into an otherwise pocket-sized arena , ” says McFadden .
Landscape Design & Installation : Michael McFadden , Planted Earth Design Build Co. , Berkeley , CAPhotography : Karl Seifert , KarlsPortfolio.com
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