Yardzen’s talented team of designers has completed hundreds of designs for happy clients in Texas, so it was nearly impossible to choose just fifteen favorite yards. Here’s just a quick glance at some beautiful designs that we created for the Lone Star State! See more projects in our Portfolio.
See more photos of this yard HERE!
See more photos of this yard HERE!
With our country turned upside down by tragedy and political unrest, we turned to our community to ask “how can we help?” “How can we do better?” The resounding answer: DO SOMETHING. So, that’s exactly what we intend. After conversations with our team about how to best leverage our technology and resources, we’re excited to announce Yardzen’s GROW Community Garden Grant program.
Every quarter, we will submit a call for applications for a $500 grant and free Yardzen design for a new or existing community garden in an underserved neighborhood. In addition, our team of landscape designers and edible garden experts will remain available to the grant recipients for coaching and consultation.
Why community gardens?
Community gardens are spaces that represent so much of what we believe in: connecting with the land, spending time outside, creating community, and exploring the natural world. According to the CDC, community gardens may offer physical and mental health benefits by providing opportunities to:
Eat healthy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Engage in physical activity, skill building, and creating green space.
Beautify vacant lots.
Revitalize communities in industrial areas.
Revive and beautify public parks.
Decrease violence in some neighborhoods, and improve social well-being through strengthening social connections.
Learn more here.
How to apply
To apply, please send applications to hello@yardzen.com with the subject line: “GROW application.” Please include the follow information.
First and last name of applicant, applicant’s relationship to the garden, and applicant’s contact information (email address and phone number)
Garden location- city, state, and proposed or existing address
New or existing community garden?
If new: please tell us the steps that have been taken/need to be completed to get the community garden up and running.
If existing: please tell us a little history of the space
Who will the garden serve?
Why does this project need the $500 grant? How will the $500 be used?
We may ask additional follow-up questions after receiving your application.
Yardzen Integrates Crate and Barrel, CB2 Outdoor Furniture Lines in its Digital Design Platform
Industry-first integration gives homeowners an end-to-end, designer-guided digital outdoor styling and shopping experience
May 28, 2020—SAUSALITO, Calif.—Yardzen, the leading, VC-backed online landscape design platform, today announced it’s working with Crate and Barrel to incorporate its outdoor furniture and accessory lines into custom Yardzen designs. The new arrangement extends Yardzen’s aim of making it easier to bring its designs to life and lets homeowners access world-class, bespoke styling of Crate and Barrel and CB2 outdoor pieces entirely online, on their own schedule and in the context of a broader custom landscape design.
Yardzen is the innovative online landscape design platform that uses technology— including satellite imagery, augmented reality (AR) and the software on modern mobile devices—to deliver a fundamentally better client experience, and ultimately, a fundamentally better landscape design. Without visiting a property, the company’s platform creates a fully custom landscape design that factors not only the homeowner’s aesthetic preferences and style but the unique characteristics of their property, such as sun and shade patterns, slope and the plants that should thrive in its soil.
In the past five years, outdoor spaces have emerged as a top priority for homeowners and homebuyers. According to the American Institute of Architects' annual survey, outdoor living areas are now the single top priority of homeowners, beating out extra spaces like home offices and in-law units. Today’s homeowners want an outdoor space that feels like an extension of their home; one that’s both functional and treated to the same level of styling as the home’s interior.
“As one of the industry’s most respected and established outdoor furniture retailers, Crate and Barrel understands that its clients are increasingly looking for digital and expert-guided design and shopping experiences that meet them where they are: online,” said Allison Messner, Co-Founder of Yardzen. “We’re thrilled to be working with Crate and Barrel to deliver an even better design experience to our clients and make it easier to bring their designs to life.”
"At Crate and Barrel, we are constantly striving to improve the experience for our customer. Our goal is to help people love how they live in moments that matter," said Michael Chaney, Director of Business Sales at Crate and Barrel. "We’re excited to work with Yardzen to offer Crate and Barrel and CB2 product lines to homeowners as they reimagine their outdoor spaces.”
Yardzen design includes CB2’s Lunes White Outdoor Loveseat ($1,449)
Yardzen design includes Crate&Barrel’s Alfresco Gray Chaise Lounge ($599)
About Yardzen
Founded in 2018, Yardzen is changing the landscape design and build process by delivering a fundamentally better experience to homeowners. From the online studio to the field, clients are treated to a custom design firm experience that respects their time and aligns with their priorities, before being connected to a vetted pro who can bring the design to life. For more information, please visit www.yardzen.com.
About Crate and Barrel
Crate and Barrel is an industry-leading home furnishings specialty retailer, known for its exclusive designs, excellent value and superb customer service. In addition to a thriving direct marketing division that services more than 90 countries, the company operates stores throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as international franchise locations around the globe. Working directly with European ateliers and factories, Crate and Barrel was among the first to introduce affordable household goods and contemporary home décor to American consumers. Founded in 1962, the brand's essence has translated perfectly to the omnichannel era 55 years after opening its first store. The Crate and Barrel family of brands, which includes CB2, Crate and Kids, and Hudson Grace, is owned by Otto Group, a global retail and services group based in Hamburg, Germany.
Whether your newly installed yard needs a little personality or your outdated exterior needs a refresh, these genius styling ideas will give your outdoor space a whole new feel!
Inspired by what you see? Get started on your new yard today.
Open shelves are in just about any new kitchen these days, but who says that a #shelfie is just for interiors? Enter the outdoor open shelf! Style with your favorite plants and weather-friendly decor!
We’ve said it before: functional front yards are all the rage. To amp up your curb appeal, add some new chairs, like the Acapulco Chairs shown here from CB2, which are light enough to move inside for safekeeping. Adding a fireplace encourages evenings out front, which during the era of social distancing, is a safe space for interacting with friends and neighbors.
You don’t have to buy new furniture to add style and personality to your outdoor space. Consider adding throw pillows and blankets throughout the yard to create unexpected seating areas, like on this deck. These decor elements also add pleasing pops of color and break up hard lines with movement and texture. Pendleton Blankets are one of our top picks for exterior decor—they are warm, timelessly stylish, and hold up to the rigors of outdoor living.
Adding a raised garden beds to your outdoor space not only brings the benefit of homegrown fruits and vegetables, but also, there are many stylish options out there that will give your space a whole new look!
You can easily DIY these trough garden beds. Order a trough, like this one from Home Depot, and just be sure to add some drainage holes at the bottom. Follow the directions in our Edible Garden Design Guide to get started with soil and planting.
Gone are the days of plastic play structures! Adding kid-friendly touches, like tree rounds, chalkboards, and wood forts, add style and function to your outdoor space.
Learn more about playscapes in our 2020 Trends Report and find more inspiration in our Guide to Creating an Outdoor Space for Kids.
It’s easy to overlook, but lighting can completely transform an outdoor space. That’s why we include lighting suggestions in every Partial Yard and Entire Yard design. In addition to hardwired lighting, we recommend adding string lights, overhead hanging lights, and electric candles to your yard for evening elegance. Check out Terrain for beautiful outdoor lighting options!
Inspired by what you see? Get started on your new yard today.
One bright spot during the tragedy and uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic is seeing the number of people who are creating gardens. Spaces where families connect with the earth, grow their food, learn a bit about biology and food systems, and enjoy being outside. Journalists throughout the country are calling these Victory Gardens. This moniker dates back to the World Wars when governments encouraged people to create gardens to supplement their rations and boost morale. Thankfully, we are far from rations, but there are no questions that food uncertainty looms large, so many people, who have a little extra time on their hands, are turning to backyard farming as a way to find happiness, source their produce, and flex their patriotism.
To help with all of your gardening needs, many nurseries remain open, as most are deemed “essential services.” (Landscapers, like Yardzen, also remain open, while following the most stringent health and safety standards.)
The following list of garden centers is a small handful of the highest-rated nurseries in CA, TX, WA, OR, and NV that remain open during the pandemic. Every nursery is taking different precautions to ensure the health and safety of its staff and customers, ranging from curbside pickup and delivery to guest-limited, in-store shopping.
Annies Annuals and Perennials (Richmond)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping
Cactus Jungle (Berkeley and San Anselmo)
Non-contact delivery throughout the Bay Area
East Bay Nursery (Berkeley)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping
Evergreen Nursery (San Leandro)
Phone and online orders for curbside pickup
Pickup, delivery, and in-store shopping by appointment
The Garden Company (Santa Cruz)
Curbside pickup
Green Jeans Nursery (Mill Valley)
In-store shopping
Ploughshares Nursery (Alameda)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping
Sloat Garden Center (Multiple locations throughout the Bay Area)
All locations open, with a range of in-store, pickup, and delivery options
Summer Winds (Palo Alto, Cupertino, and Campbell)
Curbside pickup
Van Winden’s Garden Center (Napa)
Curbside pickup
Wegman’s (Redwood City)
Pickup and delivery
West End Nursery (San Rafael)
Pickup and delivery
Armstrong Garden Center (Multiple locations throughout Southern & Northern California)
Pickup and delivery
City Farmers Nursery (San Diego)
Curbside pickup
Fig Earth Supply (Mount Washington)
Pickup and delivery
Laguna Hills Nursery (Santa Ana)
In-store shopping
Mickey Hargitay Plants (Los Angeles)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping
Roger’s Gardens (Corona del Mar)
Pickup and delivery
Sunset Boulevard Nursery (Los Angeles)
Curbside pickup
Terra Sol Garden Center (Santa Barbara)
In-store shopping, curbside pickup, and delivery
Archie’s Gardenland (Fort Worth)
Curbside pickup
Barton Springs (Austin)
Curbside pickup
Bonnie’s Greenhouse (Waco)
In-store shopping
Buchanan’s Native Plants (Houston)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping, pickup, and delivery
Covington’s Nursery (Dallas)
In-store shopping
Gill’s Garden Center (Corpus Christi)
In-store shopping
Green N’ Growing (Pfluggerville)
Curbside pickup
Green’s Produce and Plants (Arlington)
In-store shopping
Maas Nursery (Seabrook)
Guest-limited, in-store shopping
McIntires Garden (Georgetown)
In-store shopping
New Haven Gardens (Dallas)
In-store shopping and delivery
Shades of Green (San Antonio)
In-store shopping and curbside pickup
Birds & Bees Nursery (Portland)
Pickup and delivery
Cistus Garden (Portland)
In-store shopping, delivery, and mail order
Down to Earth (Eugene)
Curbside pickup
Farmington Gardens (Beaverton)
Starting April 15, the Farmington Road garden center is open for limited-guess, in-store shopping
Hidden Acres Greenhouse & Cafe (Tillamook)
In-store shopping
Kraemer’s Garden (McMinville)
In-store shopping
Landsystems Nursery (Bend)
In-store shopping
Tony’s Garden Center (Portland & Damascus)
In-store shopping
Tsugawa Nursery (Greater Portland- Woodland, WA)
In-store shopping
Bay Hay and Feed (Bainbridge Island)
In-store shopping, pickup, and delivery
Gardensphere (Tacoma)
In-store shopping, pickup, and delivery
The Gray Barn Nursery and Garden Center (Redmond)
In-store shopping
Liberty Park Florist and Greenhouse (Spokane)
In-store shopping
McAuliffe's Valley Nursery (Snohomish)
In-store shopping
Squak Mountain Greenhouse and Nursery (Issaquah)
Pickup in the parking lot
Swansons Nursery (Seattle)
Appointment-only in-store shopping
Urban Earth (Seattle)
Curbside pickup and delivery
Wood’s Nursery & Garden Center (Richland)
In-store shopping and curbside pickup
Moon Valley Nurseries (Multiple locations throughout Las Vegas, NV)
In-store shopping
Villager Nursery (Reno, NV)
In-store shopping
Leaf’d Box
Southwestern Yard in Dallas
This beautiful backyard recall the colors, textures, and forms of America’s Southwest. A mix of warm white built-ins, gabion stone walls, and wood mingle with cactus and pea gravel, which crackles under foot, transporting you to the sun and warmth of one of our country’s most beautiful regions.
Transitional Backyard in Leander
Blending traditional and contemporary styles, transitional style gives a name to clients who want to borrow elements from distinct landscaping genres. For this project, our client in Leander wanted to incorporate some of their favorite elements of traditional landscapes, like lawn, flowering plants, and a covered patio, with the concrete, agave, and palms of contemporary design. In the second image here, our clients blended their favorite “traditional” plants, like hydrangeas and boxwoods, and arranged them in a contemporary wood built-in.
Desert-Inspired Front Yard in Austin
This desert-inspired front yard in Austin would look beautiful in many of the regions we cover, from West Texas to Southern Nevada and California to the arid regions of the Pacific Northwest. A variety of low-water cactus and grasses blend beautifully with decomposed granite and rough-hewn boulders.
First Home in Houston’s Heights
This small backyard in Houston embodies the neighborhood’s young, vibrant community. The young couple who lives here, recent transplants from the Midwest, wanted a space where they could cook, entertain friends, and enjoy the warm weather of their new state. A pergola, which includes a built-in fan, creates the perfect spot for lounging on some of those really hot days. The concrete pavers lined with grass meets new, citywide regulations around permeability and ensures that the backyard drains properly after heavy rains.
Family Backyard in Dallas
A functional, family backyard at it’s best! An expansive, covered deck creates the perfect year-round entertaining space. To the side, poured concrete pavers, surrounded by pea gravel, create a permeable patio that is perfect for laying out in the sun during the summer. In the background, a large lawn creates the perfect space for dogs and kids to play.
Modern Masterpiece in Houston’s Montrose Neighborhood
This home in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood is slated to run in an upcoming Architectural Digest. And, it’s no wonder. The young couple who recently purchased the home have completely transformed it, from a tired 70s-style house to a modern masterpiece, including an exterior clad in black brick and burnt wood siding. The homeowners turned to us to create a landscaping plan that would add drama to the front yard and functional space to the backyard. The result: the front yard features densely planted rows of textural plants well-suited to Houston’s climate. In the back, a pool, bar, and outdoor dining table, mixed with minimal plantings of the varieties used in front, create the ultimate entertaining space.
Contemporary Front Yard in Austin
Sparsely planted agaves, grasses, and ground covers, mixed with a swath of grass and bluestone pavers, create a beautiful, contemporary front yard that looks exquisite next to the newly built modern craftsman home.
Rustic Backyard in San Antonio
This backyard is an extension of a newly-built, charcoal-colored, modern farmhouse. The homeowners wanted the backyard to reflect the mix of contemporary and country elements in their home, so our designers played with a mix of materials to complement the house. Throughout the yard, we incorporated woods—in the deck, in the furniture, and with the mulch that surrounds most of the yard—to play up the rustic features of the house. We also added more modern materials, like metal and concrete, and contemporary lines in the fire pit and pavers, to balance the yard and make it feel like a cohesive part of the exterior.
It’s week three of the shelter-in-place edict. As we settle into this new way of remote working and getting together with friends, we’re embracing tools like Zoom for video conferencing and virtual happy hours. Bringing friends and coworkers into your home isn’t always easy, though, especially if your space isn’t camera-ready. So today, we’re launching Yardzen yard Zoom backgrounds! Transport yourself, friends and coworkers into the outdoor space of your dreams.
To use a Yardzen yard as your background, you can save the images below or screenshot them. Follow the directions here to apply your image.
Be sure to share a photo of yourself using the background on Instagram, or send us a screenshot. If you’re ready to get started on your real-life backyard, begin here.
Yardzen’s cofounder, Allison, taking an all-hands meeting in this moditerranean yard.
Happy about hosting your next Zoom happy hour here?
This patio sets the stage for a relaxing meeting.
Might as well pick some lemons while you’re outside.
Grab your laptop and take a seat by the fire.
Belly up to the bar. We could all use a drink right about now!
How about a dip after the call?
Welcome to the third episode of #CanYouDigIt, Yardzen’s web series on Instagram! Our Design Director, Kevin Lenhart, an M.A. in Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, answers YOUR landscape design questions.
Watch episode 3 in our highlights, and send us your questions for next week’s segment!
Question: How much does grading add to your landscaping costs?
So, how much does grading add to your landscaping costs? Grading costs fluctuate tremendously. It really depends on your site conditions. As a general rule, the more earth you’re moving, the more it’s going to cost. If your site is challenging to get grading equipment onto, that’s going to increase costs.
If budget is a concern, you’re going to want to minimize the amount of grading that you are doing in your design. I often advise clients to work with what they have. Here in the Bay Area, we encounter a lot of sloped yards, and many people want to create more flat spaces to create viable areas for things like patios, gardens, and outdoor dining spaces and kitchens.
I advise our clients to be targeted about their grading. You don’t need to flatten out massive areas to achieve your goals, like an outdoor dining area. Looking for flatter areas and using those to create nooks is a great way to go when you’re on a budget.
Check out our guide to landscaping costs.
Question: How do you design a sloped yard on a budget?
The most effective way to design a sloped yard on a budget is to leave the soil where it is. That does present some challenges, though, like erosion and water runoff. The best way to address that challenge, and to create a beautiful space, is to add a spreading ground cover, which stabilizes the soil and creates a natural look that doesn’t require much maintenance. Spreading plants are also very budget-friendly, as they grow out on their own. Examples include fescue, a grass, and Citrus ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ an evergreen.
Question: We have gophers throughout our yard. How do we create an indestructible space?
If you have gophers in your yard, there are different ways to approach the problem, depending on your philosophical outlook on pest management. If you’re trying to avoid a kill solution, then we recommend that you focus on the plants that you’re trying to protect. To maintain the health of your plants, it’s very important to protect the root balls by wrapping them in gopher wire. You will also need to put hardware cloth beneath any permeable surface--both planting areas and any aggregate areas, like a gravel patio or path.
Question: How do you get rid of bermuda grass or other invasive grasses?
Getting rid of invasive grass is a bit of a chore. You can pull it out manually, but you need to make sure that you dig deep and get every scrap. It will grow back if not. It’s a detail-oriented task, to say the least. You can also solarize it by covering it with black sheet plastic and basically letting it cook for a month. Sunset magazine also has a great article about removing Bermuda Grass.
Welcome to the second episode of #CanYouDigIt, Yardzen’s web series on Instagram! Our Design Director, Kevin Lenhart, an M.A. in Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, answers YOUR landscape design questions.
Watch episode 2 in our highlights, and send us your questions for next week’s segment!
Pictured here: A Yardzen staffer’s edible front yard. The yard is a great conversation starter and has become a wonderful way to create community in her neighborhood.
Question: What do you suggest for privacy in the front yard if the city only allows a three-foot fence?
Oftentimes front yards are limited to a three-foot fence. That can be concerning to people who place a high-priority on privacy. What I would suggest is to consider your house as part of the broader fabric of your neighborhood. If you were to install a six-foot fence that no one can see over or plant an impenetrable fence, that’s sending a message of shutting out your neighbors. My take is that I would rather open my arms to my neighbors and have my yard project that sentiment. I recommend that you think of a three-foot fence as an opportunity to be woven into the fabric of your neighborhood.
With a low fence you can still create a sense of privacy. Part of that is by being smart about how you map out the space you plan to inhabit. So, say you have chairs on your front porch and you want to spend your time out there but you don’t want people to stare at you, you can put tall plants in the sight lines of where people pass or you can put eye-catching plants throughout your front yard to draw people’s attention elsewhere in the yard. That’s going to give you a sense of privacy without shutting out the neighborhood.
Question: What is a quick and inexpensive way to beautify your yard?
That question depends on what you mean by inexpensive. On the cheapest end of the spectrum, I would lean into taking care of what is already there. Maintenance: trimming up your yard—give it a haircut—and make sure to sweep. You can also source really cheap elements that provide a big bang. I love LED string lights—they add a lot of character to a space.
If you’re able to spend a little more you can augment existing planting areas that may not be as full as you like. To keep it inexpensive, look into deals on sourcing plants locally, either something on sale at your local nursery or even looking into a plant swap. Those are great ways to fill out your garden and make it seem more full and robust.
If you’re looking to define a space on a budget, consider budget-friendly mulch or gravel (read our guide to gravel). That’s not going to be a great permanent solution because it can get a little messy, but if you’re able to add proper edging, you can contain some of that mess. If you want a more permanent solution to a ground cover like gravel, that does require more preparation and expert installation.
Another thing to consider: what do you already have that you can repurpose? Makeovers are a great opportunity to get really creative and be sustainable by sourcing from your own home. Consider using pillows from your interior or moving around potted plants. (Read our blog post about styling.)
Here, the homeowners knew they wanted a long dining table to be a center piece of their backyard, so our designers made sure to include a large, even space for their table.
Question: What stage in the design process should I start thinking about furniture?
It really depends on your relationship to that furniture. If your heart is really set on getting one specific piece, like a big farmhouse table, then you should definitely consider that piece’s size and aesthetic when going through the design process.
When thinking about furniture during the design process, I think it’s most important to think about the function of that piece. Do you want to create a dining area or seating area? That is very important to explain to your designer.