Patios with panache personalizing your yard.

• Author: Zimmerman, Ann
• Position: Golf and Home Guide - Brief Article

Spring calls us outdoors with soft temperatures and fragrances of renewal, but not everyone's yard is an enjoyable place. After the exhausting experience of moving into a new home, there is often only the energy to plant a few trees and to seed some lawn. Today, more people use their yards for entertaining and relaxing, just as they would an additional room in their home. Invest in walkways, patios, water features, gazebos or garden art to transform your yard into an enjoyable open-air retreat that adds value to your home.

Begin the yard's transformation with a thoughtful analysis. Reflect on favorite outdoor experiences, such as vacations and getaways, to determine the attractions that bring you particular enjoyment. Decide which activities you'd like to focus on. Is it outdoor cooking, dining, swimming, late nights by a fire, or a secret place to read and meditate? Once you make this decision, the right landscape architect or designer can create your dream space, just as Stephen Dubinski from Pointoview Landscape Design did for clients on a corner lot in Sugarhouse. Patrick Hays says Dubinski's design fully encompassed his hopes for an entertainment space, small fountains, walkways and an exquisite shade garden in the side yard. If you'd like to tackle a hands-on design project yourself, measure the yard; research easements, permits and zoning constraints; draw up a plan to scale; establish a budget; set up a schedule; and start to work.

The two backyards featured in the photographs demonstrate design options, while providing an interesting comparison since they are side-by-side in a recently constructed planned-unit development. Both owners approached noted Western landscape designer Michael Glassman with the same starting place -- a short and shallow concrete patio close to the house looking out to dirt and a block wall -- and both requested a garden with a Southern European villa theme. After several conversations, Glassman incorporated each owner's tastes and lifestyle preferences into the designs.

The professional couple explained that both worked long days. After work, they liked to spend their time together cooking, conversing and entertaining a few close friends. They had little time for yard care and wanted a space that a yard-care provider could maintain. The design includes a deep patio with an overhead trellis to block the harsh afternoon sun. On one end of the patio is a fully equipped kitchen with a sink, disposal...