Beautifying a Side Yard

Side yards are often barren wastelands. At this home overlooking the San Fernando Valley side of Topanga Canyon, the clients asked me to create five distinct gardens. Both side yards were utilized, as well as two very different styled gardens in the back of the property and the front yard. The east side yard became a Japanese style garden, with a dry riverbed snaking through the 60 foot length of the yard. A pathway crisscrossed the bed with a redwood bridge in the middle. Two redwood “landings” created the illusion that the riverbed began and ended elsewhere—creating the idea of continual flow. Plants were selected and placed based on what one might typically see in a natural riverbed and liberal use of mossy groundcovers and bamboos completed the design.