Erin Werner Design

A lovely Mill Valley setting with dappled shade, space for kids and adults alike to play and enjoy the outdoors. Formal yet fun plantings flank the entry with Buxus globes in varying sizes, a short Ligustrum hedge doubling as a railing and the unique foliage of Tractor Seat plant. A gravel and bluestone stepping stone pathway leads you to a secluded fire pit lounge area. Along this pathway, plantings become a bit more casual with grasses (my favorite small format Sesleria autumnalis), ferns and Hydrangea. Tucked in the back corner of the yard is a putting green.

I say “almost” zero water because, of course, all landscapes need some kind of water. However, not only does it matter how much water plant material needs… it also matters where the water is coming from. This landscape is watered entirely with recycled greywater that comes from the house, and from recycled rainwater.

The “lawn” is not lawn at all, it’s a groundcover called Kurapia which needs a fraction of the water that traditional lawn needs- and it also doesn’t need mowing.

The perimeter of landscape is meant to look like a meadow that seamlessly transitions to the natural surroundings. You’ll find all very low water need plants: Festuca marei, Muhlenbergia rigens, Achillia “terra cotta”, various lavendulas, westringia, salvias and an assortment of proteas for cut flowers.

Closer to the house the design is more modern with olive trees, grasses and yucca gloriosa variegata (and a sprinkle of california poppy) under a sierra tan gravel mulch (for fire safety).

Don’t underestimate the importance of the details. Boulders are a great addition to landscapes (don’t forget they are HEAVY and you may need heavy machinery to place them), informal gravel pathways don’t need to be fussy - just functional and blend well into the surroundings. Furnishings are the icing on the cake. We had custom cut reclaimed wood side tables made for both patios and the pool area - then loved them so much had another made for the entry bench. Fun accent furniture like the iconic Willy Guhl concrete loop chairs are sculptural in the landscape. A custom concrete fireplace doubles as a bench for extra seating. Finally, curated potted plantings accent the surrounding landscape and soften the hardscape.

This Stinson Beach second home called for a beautiful yet sustainable and low maintenance landscape. Large boulders and Blue Agaves saved onsite from the previous home were salvaged and reused in the new landscape. Native dune grasses were added as well as other natives such as Ceanothis and Myrica Californica for screening. Because Stinson Beach is a frost free coastal area, succulents like senencio, agave attenuata and echiveria varieties were also added off the patio spaces for a tropical modern feel. Patios are cast in place concrete (designed by architect Steve Wisenbaker) and a meandering path to the entertaining area is ecologically sound permeable pea gravel.

This project was awarded Luxe Magazines Gold List for 2018

The challenge at this lovely property was to soften the large and imposing retaining walls of the back yard. Perennials and shrubs in front of the walls help soften as well as plants that cascade. The concept behind this design was to let the landscape become more wild and meadow like as it moved away from the house. Grasses like lomandra “platinum beauty” and pennisetum “fairy tails” sway in the breeze while salvia and centranthus rubus flowers add color and variety.

Against the house more structural pittosporum “golf ball” line pathways.

This was an especially interesting project for me as it was the first time I used a crane truck to place very large trees that provided immediate privacy.

This beautiful modern farmhouse remodel in Kentfield began with a blank slate as the landscape. Eco friendly yet timeless and inexpensive pea gravel patio spaces and driveway are in keeping with the modern farmhouse look. Locally sourced stone is used for the wall and stairs and creates an architectural focal point for the front yard while allowing for a flat lawn area. A Mediterranean plant palette of dwarf olives, lavender, and lambs ears create the scene, while finely textured lomandra grasses blow in the breeze. In the back yard, white roses climb on an outdoor bar and additions of the succulent echeveria add a modern touch.

This new construction home was built as a spec project on a sunny hillside in Kentfield. I was brought in to do the indoor and outdoor potted plants for the stagers as well as all of the exterior plantings. If you know me, you know I love my agaves and grasses… so the bulk of the hillside was planted with lomandra breeze grasses and agave attenuata. These are both low water use plants that are really low maintenance. At the entry to the stairs, mature agave blue glow and festuca ‘elija blue’ grass create a striking focal point and accentuate the “modern” in modern farmhouse. For the more traditional palette, pittosporum columns, pittosporum balls, grasses and lavender filled the bioretention planter boxes.

For the accent pots I used plants that need very little water like Olive trees, lomandra ‘platinum beauty’ grass and succulents.

I loved the girl power involved in this project! The owner/architect is a woman, the team of stagers are all women, and I led the landscape design and installation team :)

This was such a fun project! This very cool remodeled home in sleepy hollow is situated on a large lot. The owners had a clear idea of their aesthetic and it was my pleasure to get to know their style and translate that to the landscape.

Landscape special features: specimen Sago palms, moss rock boulders, varied sized mexican pebble, succulents and grasses, large scale black basalt stone tread pathways, and lots of contrasting textures and color.

This was a collaboration with Architect Tristan Warren who designed the concrete work and decks.

A clean, yet layered planting plan at this meticulously remodeled traditional home in Larkspur was just what the house needed to enhance it’s curb appeal. The main bluestone walkway was in place, then we added secondary walkways to the driveway where the home owners park and another to the side yard. Thoughtful reuse of existing bluestone already on site paired with pea gravel kept costs minimal.

Plants were carefully selected to pair with the traditional style of the house but also to have a fresh and clean modern feel. They also needed to be low maintenance and deer resistant.

This is probably my most complimented project and it was the one with the smallest budget.  What I love about this project was that I was able to showcase that it doesn’t take a big or even medium sized budget to have a transformational experience.  In the front yard we removed a fire hazard conifer tree and made what was a dirt patch into a modern no maintenance front yard by adding plantings with a palette of soothing shades of green.  Pea gravel as a mulch is modern and low maintenance - it’s also fire safe.  

The back yard was also nothing but dirt.   For a couple hundred dollars we added pea gravel as our ground treatment.  Steel headers defined planting spaces.  Recycled bluestone treads added some formality and poise to the patio doors.

The driveway is very long and narrow and was not useable in the back adjacent to the garage - however this was the only sunny spot.  So, again for a couple hundred dollars, we purchased a turf remnant, six ace hardware $20 chairs, as well as a wood fire pit and transformed the unusable driveway into a sunny fire pit “lawn”.  The added bonus, the carriage doors open and a big screen TV inside is great for watching big games while chilling outside by a fire.  Additionally, since this area is so sunny, we added two galvanized planters and made this the veggie/herb garden.

Small, inexpensive details can make a bid difference. We swapped out the old brass front porch light for an inexpensive black modern farmhouse light from build.com. This house is just too cute to not having beautiful seasonal hanging planters on the front porch. We also purchased cozy chairs and throw pillows with a pop of color from target for porch time lounging.

This Corte Madera remodel was done with an ultra modern aesthetic. In keeping with that modern vibe, the yard has very clean lines and is ultra minimal. The owners wanted zero maintenance so we used artificial turf. We also opted to use pea gravel as mulch as we thought it would be more modern and lower maintenance. Cast in place concrete pads form the patio and walkways. A podocarpus hedge was added for privancy as well as low maintenance and low water plants along the gravel path to the dock.

When I first came to this job site I was a little nervous. The house was located in a redwood grove and redwoods are notoriously tricky to plant under. Redwoods tend to choke out plants and create an acid environment that is inhospitable to many plants - not to mention they create a lot of shade which reduces plant options dramatically. However, as you can see by how well these plants are doing in the photos, there are some plants that thrive in the redwood understory. Among them are: Western Sword Ferns and other fern varieties, Acorus Ogon, Daphne Odora, Acer “sangu kaku”, Sarcoccoca, Cast Iron Plant and Cistus.

In addition to adding a Redwood under story friendly plant palette we added decomposed granite with blusestone paths to connect the multiple spaces.

This job was especially transformational as it initially had been a dirt space behind a tall fence - disconnecting the house from the neighborhood. The plan was to open the front yard to the neighborhood and create a pristine woodland oasis that looked like it had always been there. The addition of large native boulders added to this natural look.

For this backyard project we added planted terraces, wide landscape tie stairs to a lower play area, and a pea gravel fire pit patio (fire pit is on its way!). This is one of my favorite plant palettes: Little ollie dwarf olives, Lomandra ‘platinum beauty’, yucca gloriosa variegata, with pops of color using kangaroo paws and leucodendron safari sunset. Plantings are meant to be casual and care free. The client has a really cool beachy boho vibe so I suggested the Acapulco chairs for the patio.

We also added a podocarpus hedge along the fence line for privacy and a grouping of olive trees at the fire pit patio to give further screening.

I love working with CorTen steel! This new construction Larkspur hillside home needed an entry walk to the front door. Often the hardscape is already designed when I get involved with projects but for this one I designed the stairs, landings and the Corten steel wall… as well as the plantings of course. Some of my favorite plants are seen here: acacia cognata “cousin itt”, spanish lavender, lomandra “platinum beauty”, agave “ray of light”. The trees are Acer Sangu Kaku which add beautiful fall foliage color and in the winter their stems are a vibrant color red.

This BEAUTIFUL and historic Villa is set atop a knoll near downtown Sonoma and has 360 degree views. I was brought in to get the landscape ready for the sale of the property. The 100 plus year old property had great bones but needed to be spruced up, modernized and simplified. It also needed some elements to give it the wow factor that the property deserved. We brought in multiple mature agave americana and well as other agave for containers. We also added mature striking architectural yucca. For color we added lavender and roses and variegated lomandra grasses.

This ultra modern remodel called for an ultra modern landscape entry plan. Cast in place concrete pavers form the walkway, while a series of Acer palmatum ‘Sangu Kaku’ trees add to the repetition and rhythm of the walk. Low maintenance turf keeps the entry space tidy and pristine, while boxwood globes in varying sizes add structure to the architectural form of the house. Pea gravel as mulch keeps it simple and clean.

This absolutely gorgeous home and landscape just needed a little sprucing up in addition to making it a little more water-wise. The landscape had been done about 15 years prior and it was time to remove some things that weren’t working or were past their prime. We removed a portion of the lawn against the house and added a more water friendly landscape with agaves and echeveria as well as boxwood and pittosporum globes. We used those same plants to line the driveway. In the back yard we removed water thirsty acorus ojon in planting areas and replaced with less thirsty green aeonium and asparagus ferns.

What was once a dirt hillside becomes a beautiful pathway and short-cut to downtown Larkspur. On the back side of this Larkspur home, we built stone walls to create a level area to create a pathway and planting areas. Planting is shade is always a little tricky but we added white azaleas, flowering cherry, Japanese maples and brightly variegated grasses. The pathway was lines with crushed gold granite which also brightened up the space. For my pathway edging we almost always use black steel. It creates crisp, clean lines of separation.

Having spent a lot of time out in Stinson Beach, I understand that there are some pretty specific issues that have to be dealt with when thinking about the yard. Besides the usual concerns - where is the sun at different times of the day and where does the wind come from, Stinson residents have septic tanks and leach fields that take up a lot of space on relatively small lots. At this beach house, we built a slightly raised patio on top of the septic leach field - which happened to also be the sunniest and most protected location on the property. Gravel and sand set bluestone pavers allow the leach field to “breath”, and plants around the perimeter were selected to have root systems that are shallow and not invasive.

This is my favorite hardscape material currently: Thermal all blue bluestone in a large scale format. Sierra tan gravel goes great with this material as it has a fleck of the same grey blue color as well as a little beige to add warmth.

Plantings are all low water selections such as: Yucca gloriosa variegata, euphorbias, agave “blue flame”, lomandra “platinum beauty”, Olea “little ollie” and various succulents.

Stinson beach is an ideal place for plants to thrive as it’s usually sunny, but not too hot. Summertime fog keeps plants from getting too dry and mild winters without frost allow for more tropical selections.

Every few years you do need to look at your landscape and asses what’s working well, what isn’t working, and make the necessary changes. In this particular yard, the owners wanted to take out grass and convert that area into artificial turf. The yard is terraced with concrete retaining walls and I was concerned that with the addition of artificial grass, the space would feel too harsh and “hardscapey”. It needed some softening. So, I chose to reuse (some) of the existing boxwood globes which were very sculptural (but not soft) and mix them with grasses that would move in the wind as well as a feathery succulent that has a groundcover trailing habit. The talented Jesus Ramirez added new stone stairs and I added some fresh plantings alongside them to fill in some empty spaces. Large Sago palms remained from our last planting a few years ago and had matured into beautiful specimens.

In the front, we added just a few interesting, well placed plants that require VERY little maintenance as the goal was to move in the direction of as little maintenance as possible.

We also started fresh with a living wall - I’m looking forward to seeing it grow in :)

This house situated on the Seadrift Lagoon has a very Mediterranean vibe. So, we opted to keep the vibe of the landscape pretty Mediterranean as well. We replaced the crumbling and uneven concrete front entry with a Kronos porcelain “bluestone” tile and added an adjacent dining patio of bluestone pavers under a gorgeous existing fig tree. Additionally, we added a fire pit lounge area off the dining area to utilize maximum space for outdoor entertainment. There was some existing bouganvilla and white roses along the fence/wall (also very mediterranean) then we added grasses and some succulents for a beachy vibe, low water dwarf myrtle shrub and westringia ground cover as well as an olive tree for some height close to the house.

Typically I don’t love to use a bunch of “chachkies” in the landscape - however sometimes they just seem to work with the house. In this case, the previous owner had left behind many salvaged items - some of which were super cool - so… I put a few of them to use. I made the stone planter a focal point and filled it with succulents, I found a little angel buried in the yard and placed him somewhere intentional, I used a concrete bench in a recession in the fence, and I re-used some cast concrete “sand dollars” as a pathway along the side of the house. It felt a little whimsical and added character for sure.

At the back of the house along the lagoon plantings were kept very simple. Grasses (a new fav of mine - pennisetum setacium), aeonium, agave, and helichrysum petiolare (a favorite for cascading walls).

This house had a basically forgotten and un-usable backyard. The clients were actually OK not using it a ton, since they preferred the front yard - however they could see it from the house and the deck and on the walk to the downstairs home office. For the backyard we kept it really low maintenance and low water: Bluestone and pea gravel pathways to connect spaces. No more walking in the mud to get to the home office. Low water plantings and a new artificial lawn for the dog to play on. We also added functional steps since just about everything was falling apart back there.

In the front yard things were just dated. The house is super cute and had a lot of curb appeal already but the yard needed a refresh AND the client was done dealing with the water and maintenance of a lawn. The lawn, however, was pretty important as the neighbors come over and the dogs play there. We added a little seating area in the shade off the lawn for hanging with the dogs. In addition, the patio needed replacing. A new concrete patio adjacent to the house got (a little) bigger and more functional for hanging out. Here I think is a great example of: 1) how smaller spaces can feel very welcoming and cozy, and 2) how important it is to create planting areas within the concrete to soften, bring in greenery, and give separation.

Included are some before photos as well.

This gorgeous patio transformed an unusable front yard into the primary outdoor living space. A retaining wall carved out space for a patio in what was a sloping lawn. Poured concrete pavers and wall were both done with the integral color “platinum” which is a really nice neutral medium grey. Black mexican buttons add some texture in the seams of the concrete.

Plantings are low water especially in the sunny areas away from the house. Little ollie shrub, Olive trees, Lomandra platinum beauty are really gorgeous very low water need plants. Closer to the house in the shade: Agave blue flame, Philodendron Xanadu, Holly Fern, green Aeonium create a lush and more tropical vibe.

This San Rafael back yard had an unusable small concrete patio and then sloped steeply up toward the back of the yard. By creating a series of terraces a gracious patio was created off the living spaces. The terrace above offers a place for the kids to play on the trampoline. Beyond that is a bocce court on the third terrace. The plantings are low maintenance and water wise: Dwarf olive, Ceanothus “Diamond Heights”, Sunset hybrid variegated Lavandula, Lomandra and Agave Attenuata.

For cost savings, the retaining walls were done in pressure treated wood. On the patio level the retaining wall was clad in a synthetic wood chosen by the owner and used for the deck and stairs. The upper retaining was inexpensively painted a dark charcoal grey to hide the fact that it was pressure treated wood. The paint really helped to make the plantings pop in contrast to the dark grey.

At this transitional modern home we added a very modern Corten steel retaining wall to lesson the slope of the front planting area and give more space for on street parking. Corten steel gracefully patinas into a beautiful rusty orange and has a very modern vibe. To marry the modern steel wall with the more “transitional” modern home, we used a mix of traditional plants and modern plants in a clean and simple way. Some added boulders and small rock retaining walls soften the strong lines of the retaining wall and tie the space to the existing rock walkway.

key plants used: pittosporum “golf ball”, Lomandra “platinum beauty”, yucca gloriosa “variegata”, ceanothus “diamond heights”.

These clients recently expanded their living space to a previously unfinished downstairs space accessed from outside. Adding an office, a bunk room, workout area plus deck and hot tub meant creating pathways to these new spaces super important. A local contractor installed the steps on either side of the house and we… made them pretty. We removed the drain rock, added flamed all blue (dark blue) bluestone treads in each step and surrounded them with 3/8 mexican pebble. Up top in the front yard we created more formal pathways getting to the stairs at either side of the house. Previously there had been a few smaller stepping stones that were too small to be functional and too thin to stay in place so we replaced them with larger thicker stone and put in black steel metal edging to separate the mexican pebble from the surrounding mulch (forest floor). We added pretty plantings with accents in important places like the outdoor shower and especially the landing to the office which has a glass door making the landscape visible from inside. In addition to adding low water, low maintenance plantings we sprinkled in perennial herbs as the clients like to cook and appreciate being able to have herbs in the garden. Of course I couldn’t help myself and added a little agave and succulent arrangement in the pot by the front door ;)

Included are some before pics.