In Northern California, a modern house with multiple courtyards affords green views year-round. To take advantage of the full-height, pane-free windows, SF-based landscape architect Andrea Cochran created garden vignettes on the other side of the glass:
Photographs via Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture.
Above: Seen from above, Cochran's courtyard planting schemes soften the modern lines of the Marin County house.
Above: The same view at ground level: tall, spiky perennial grasses in a Cor-ten steel planter.
Above: Low-growing grasses planted en masse like a bedding plant, create a gray-green blanket against which other, brighter colored leaves pop.
Above: A mixture of pavement materials including smooth gray river rocks have the same effect as a patterned rug.
Above: By limiting the color palette to green and white in a tight corner, Cochran visually expands the space.
Above: To create a similar carpet-like effect between large paving stones, you can plant moss or baby's tears or a springy, low-growing thyme.
Above: A deciduous tree without its leaves has a sculptural mien in winter.
Above: Playing with textures. Pea gravel and river rocks aid drainage.
Above: An oversize planter emphasizes the Seussian shape of a potted tree.
For a larger scale Andrea Cochran garden, see Stone Edge Farm: A Peaceful Retreat.