Backyard of the Week: Inviting Garden Retreat in the City
A San Francisco backyard and narrow side yard get a stylish, plant-filled makeover
Annie Thornton
19 October 2019
Houzz Editorial Staff
Extra-efficient solutions for privacy, planting and space planning come into play in this San Francisco side yard and backyard, where landscape designer Steve Ritchey created two outdoor spaces that allow the homeowners, a couple that entertains often, to enjoy and experience outdoor living in under 700 square feet. “My work was to make each space inviting and naturally lead guests to the next space,” Ritchey says.
“After” photos by Travis Rhoads Photography
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: A design-focused couple that travels often for work and enjoys entertaining when home
Location: Corona Heights neighborhood of San Francisco
Size: Total exterior space is 700 square feet (65 square meters)
Designer: Seed Studio Landscape Design
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: A design-focused couple that travels often for work and enjoys entertaining when home
Location: Corona Heights neighborhood of San Francisco
Size: Total exterior space is 700 square feet (65 square meters)
Designer: Seed Studio Landscape Design
Before: The side yard sits directly off the kitchen and dining room through folding glass doors. Slate pavers covered the floor before the renovation and an existing cedar fence separated the yard from a neighboring property. The pavers and the fence were in great shape, so Ritchey wanted to incorporate them into the new design in a way that created an inviting garden feel.
Look for a landscape designer near you on Houzz
Look for a landscape designer near you on Houzz
After: Ritchey removed a patch of pavers in the corner closest to the house, replacing them with a top dressing of La Paz river rock as a way to echo the gray tones of the slate and add a new texture and scale to the space. A new ‘Seiryu’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Seiryu’), a highly ornamental, patio-friendly tree, anchors the shady corner. “I wanted a single small tree to make the space more comfortable and bring down the visual height of the surrounding walls,” Ritchey says.
He planted the tree directly in front of a set of French doors that open to the living room, creating a viewing garden while also visually separating the indoor and outdoor spaces. Once the tree matures more, the designer hopes the homeowners will be able to access the patio through the French doors, walking over the stone floor and under the tree’s canopy.
Also overhead are new wood crossbeams, “creating a sense of an outdoor room instead of the existing slot canyon feeling,” Ritchey says of the three-story-tall walled space. “My goal was to bring down the ceiling to something approximating a more typical room height, which feels more comfortable and inviting.” The wood ceiling and eventual maple tree canopy, he adds, help keep the eyes down and within the space.
He planted the tree directly in front of a set of French doors that open to the living room, creating a viewing garden while also visually separating the indoor and outdoor spaces. Once the tree matures more, the designer hopes the homeowners will be able to access the patio through the French doors, walking over the stone floor and under the tree’s canopy.
Also overhead are new wood crossbeams, “creating a sense of an outdoor room instead of the existing slot canyon feeling,” Ritchey says of the three-story-tall walled space. “My goal was to bring down the ceiling to something approximating a more typical room height, which feels more comfortable and inviting.” The wood ceiling and eventual maple tree canopy, he adds, help keep the eyes down and within the space.
Japanese maples make for great patio trees, as their size suits smaller spaces and their attractive bark and foliage can be admired up close.
10 Top Trees to Grow in Containers
10 Top Trees to Grow in Containers
Before: The view of the side yard from inside the house reveals how integrated it is with the home.
After: In designing and furnishing the side yard, “it needed to read as a furnished room and function as part of that space,” Ritchey says. Carefully arranged furniture fits into the narrow outdoor space, borrowing space from the sliding glass doors. The existing cedar fence features a darker, more modern stain that also makes the space read more like a walled room.
New planter boxes top the perimeter fence, creating an even more attractive view for the many rooms in the three-story house that overlook the patio. Blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae), native island alumroot (Heuchera maxima) and western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) grow in the planters.
From this view you can also see where Ritchey removed another portion of the side yard’s paving, replacing it with river rock and floating pavers that invite visitors to explore deeper into the yard.
Mounted heaters: Infratech Comfort Heaters
From this view you can also see where Ritchey removed another portion of the side yard’s paving, replacing it with river rock and floating pavers that invite visitors to explore deeper into the yard.
Mounted heaters: Infratech Comfort Heaters
Before: The rear portion of the yard featured some built-in planters and a ground cover of artificial turf. “The rear yard was essentially a full demo and clean slate,” Ritchey says.
After: Follow the pavers seen in the previous arial photo and you’ll reach this intimate gravel seating area. Though the backyard is surrounded by neighbors on all sides, the lush layers of plantings create the feeling of being in a secluded garden sanctuary.
Lounge chairs and concrete stools circle around a gas fire bowl, providing the couple with an outdoor space to savor a morning cup of coffee or warm up on one of San Francisco’s many foggy days.
The same crushed basalt gravel surrounding the Japanese maple in the side yard covers the ground in the backyard. Its angular, decorative appearance makes it useful for paths and patios. Ritchey added a thin layer of the basalt over a few inches of base rock. Where the plants grow he added a thin layer of gravel for aesthetic effect.
Concrete fire bowl: Miso, Paloform
Lounge chairs and concrete stools circle around a gas fire bowl, providing the couple with an outdoor space to savor a morning cup of coffee or warm up on one of San Francisco’s many foggy days.
The same crushed basalt gravel surrounding the Japanese maple in the side yard covers the ground in the backyard. Its angular, decorative appearance makes it useful for paths and patios. Ritchey added a thin layer of the basalt over a few inches of base rock. Where the plants grow he added a thin layer of gravel for aesthetic effect.
Concrete fire bowl: Miso, Paloform
With a complete demo in the backyard, Ritchey was able to plant and design the space more expansively than the side yard. “I went with a loose, gravel garden style with grasses and perennials,” Ritchey says.
A hedge of shrubby yew pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus var. maki) will eventually fill in and create a living privacy screen. A ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Jade Butterflies’) anchors the corner next to the hedge, adding more leaf shape, color and texture to the backyard space. Atlas fescue (Festuca mairei) frames the outdoor lounge chair, creating a loose, green screen between the back stoop.
Foundation plants, including a yellow-flowering maple (Abutilon x hybridum ‘Moonchimes’), yarrow (Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’) and a dwarf olive (Olea europaea ‘Montra’) encircle the seating area with greenery.
A hedge of shrubby yew pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus var. maki) will eventually fill in and create a living privacy screen. A ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Jade Butterflies’) anchors the corner next to the hedge, adding more leaf shape, color and texture to the backyard space. Atlas fescue (Festuca mairei) frames the outdoor lounge chair, creating a loose, green screen between the back stoop.
Foundation plants, including a yellow-flowering maple (Abutilon x hybridum ‘Moonchimes’), yarrow (Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’) and a dwarf olive (Olea europaea ‘Montra’) encircle the seating area with greenery.
Landscape contractor: Modernscapes SF
Gardener: Cynthia Clark Landscaping
More on Houzz
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Gardener: Cynthia Clark Landscaping
More on Houzz
See more Patios of the Week
Browse inspiring gardens
Find a landscape contractor
Shop for outdoor products
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I have read about how dark colors can make a fence seemingly disappear. In this case, however, I got the impression of walls closing in. The gloss finish also made me wonder about maintenance. I am thinking the fence was fairly new, since it had not weathered into the typical, beautiful silver gray. Would a gray fence have made a better choice?
I agree with another reader's questioning of the ginkgo. They can be gorgeous in the fall, but they can get BIG.
I think it's only the female ginko trees that bear the fruit that rots and smells like vomit -- the male trees are what anyone smart plants.
And I'm sure this garden will be maintained by professional gardeners, if the couple travels a lot. I think that's pretty common in expensive cities like SF.
Nice improvements -- even people like me who don't like modern style can agree that this is a great improvement over the tired, bland spaces of before.
Wonderful job, and I am ever so thankful for my one acre in the country!