patios and walkways
driveways, seat walls
rainwater management
Circles Evanston Sometimes the most direct path is a straight line but it doesn’t have to be square. Adding a small seat wall and space for container gardening gives this walkway to the garage plenty of space to amble. The gravel area that edges part of this walkio is for raised container gardening. Plans are […]
Neighbors Lincoln Park Just a small suggestion changed this tiny backyard into a city garden with lots of personality. The new homeowners were thinking about updating the back garden they had inherited along with the world’s tiniest garage. After suggesting a change to the garage configuration the plan went from a doodle on a napkin […]
Drainage Willmette This Wilmette property, just a block from the lake, is located on a slab of clay, and poor drainage had caused many problems. The sump pump ejected every 30 minutes year round–rain or shine–so when it rained most of the backyard was flooded for several days. We rerouted the sump pump output, added […]
Permeable Evanston There were too many walkways on this property that led nowhere. So we removed all unnecessary impermeable areas, and redesigned the walkways in a way that made better sense for this property. We then added a seat wall, a circular front walk, and large blue stone steppers to span areas used only occasionally. We […]
Paver Rehab Evanston This property had beautiful Barr and old clay pavers but you couldn’t see them. So we pulled them up, re-designed the backyard, added a dog duty area, and re-installed the pavers in a way that could be better appreciated. We also added trees, shrubs, perennials, a pergola for the grape vines and […]
HiddenGem Chicago This garden unit’s patio is an uncommon gem near the lake. But it needed a little TLC to make it the perfect entertaining spot. The short wall added plenty of seating without taking up too much square footage. The low maintenance shade plants provide a sense of privacy, and the low-voltage lighting shows […]
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