Goodbye to grass! A colorful palette of long-blooming perennials, shrub roses and ornamental grasses create a charming front yard cottage garden, brimming with curb appeal.

The landscape of this home honors the formality of Spanish Colonial / Santa Barbara Style early homes in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. By re-grading the lot and allowing for terraced opportunities, we featured a variety of hardscape stone, brick, and decorative tiles that reinforce the eclectic Spanish Colonial feel. Cantera and La Negra volcanic stone, brick, natural field stone, and handcrafted Spanish decorative tiles are used to establish interest throughout the property. A front courtyard patio includes a hand painted tile fountain and sitting area near the outdoor fire place. This patio features formal Boxwood hedges, Hibiscus, and a rose garden set in pea gravel. The living room of the home opens to an outdoor living area which is raised three feet above the pool. This allowed for opportunity to feature handcrafted Spanish tiles and raised planters. The side courtyard, with stepping stones and Dichondra grass, surrounds a focal Crape Myrtle tree. One focal point of the back patio is a 24-foot hand-hammered wrought iron trellis, anchored with a stone wall water feature. We added a pizza oven and barbecue, bistro lights, and hanging flower baskets to complete the intimate outdoor dining space. Project Details: Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Higgins Architects Landscape Contractor: Premier Environments Photography: Sam Rosenbaum

Marek Troszczynski

Sam Poore

Jenny Bloom

A traditional Cotswold garden of rooms. This is the side entrance with topiary & a rope swag covered in clematis. The designer is Jo Alderson Phillips

VC Design Architectural Services

Rebecca Lindenmeyr

This Mediterranean style home was given the entrance it deserved with our gate and trellis addition. Beautiful vines and foliage complete the transformation.

This stately, Chestnut Hill, circa 1890, brick home sits on idyllic grounds of mature planting. Our objective was to integrate the new with the old world charm of the property. We achieved this with additional plantings, seasonal color, restoring and adding masonry walls and steps as well as the installation of an elegant eurocobble drive and courtyard. Photography: Greg Premru Photography

Perennial color is of course the most popular as the investment pays dividends as time goes on. Annual color then is trustworthy, filling the void between successive perennial blooms and providing consistent color throughout the summer. Photographed by Phil Steinhauer