Yard of the Week: Home and Landscape Go Hand in Hand
A landscape architect fits an outdoor kitchen and a dining space, lounge, hot tub and lawn into a compact Toronto yard
Landscape architect Kyle Foch created a yard for this Toronto family that beautifully complements a recent extensive home renovation and addition. Working with the interior designer on the project, he chose materials that were cohesive with those used on the facade of the Craftsman-style house. At the same time, he was able to fit into a compact backyard everything on the family of four’s wish list, in an aesthetically pleasing way. The result is a functional and appealing landscape with something for everyone.
For style, Foch looked to the neighborhood as well as the house. “There is a mix of traditional and contemporary,” he says. “For the landscape, I went traditional with some picturesque and contemporary twists.” One way he did this was with plantings. In the front yard’s planting beds, the hydrangeas and geraniums he chose are more formal, while grasses and phlox bring in a picturesque sensibility. In landscape architecture, “picturesque” refers to a rugged, natural look, with variation in colors, textures and shapes.
The pathways between the stairs leading to the home are a good example of the traditional-contemporary mix. “Originally we had planned red brick pavers in a herringbone pattern here. But the black basalt color brings in a more contemporary look and coordinates with the colors of the stone walls,” Foch says. “The herringbone pattern adds a traditional element.”
Functionally, he needed to address the slope of the yard in an organized and attractive way, without adding handrails. “The client wanted to avoid handrails and guardrails wherever possible,” he says. This meant limiting the number of steps in each run and extending the terraces to meet code. These factors influenced the height of each terrace wall.
Pavers: Copthorne in Basalt color, Unilock
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Functionally, he needed to address the slope of the yard in an organized and attractive way, without adding handrails. “The client wanted to avoid handrails and guardrails wherever possible,” he says. This meant limiting the number of steps in each run and extending the terraces to meet code. These factors influenced the height of each terrace wall.
Pavers: Copthorne in Basalt color, Unilock
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The existing front porch required heavy renovations. These included including recladding the columns, bringing in new decking and soffits, removing concrete stairs to the driveway and reconstructing the banisters and walls.
“This neighborhood has a lot of people walking by, so it was nice to create an area where they could entertain outside and interact with neighbors,” Foch says. “They included lighting, heating and speakers out here.”
“This neighborhood has a lot of people walking by, so it was nice to create an area where they could entertain outside and interact with neighbors,” Foch says. “They included lighting, heating and speakers out here.”
Comfortable sofas and chairs make the front porch an inviting spot to spend time in.
Browse outdoor lounge furniture
Browse outdoor lounge furniture
This photo shows how well the retaining wall along the driveway coordinates with the facade’s stone pillars, porch walls and Indiana limestone windowsills.
The stone detail continues on the facade of the garage. The garage is new and was part of the entire project.
Out back, Foch managed to hit every item on the homeowners’ wish list within a 45-by-26-foot area. Features include an outdoor kitchen, a dining area, a lounge, an integrated hot tub and a back lawn area for their dog. Laying out in a pleasing way everything the homeowners wanted was akin to completing a jigsaw puzzle.
The outdoor kitchen abuts the new addition. “They had to take a tree out in order to build the addition, so I added a pergola to give them some dappled shade,” Foch says.
The outdoor kitchen’s components are from Lynx. From left to right are a wood-burning pizza oven with room for logs beneath, a trash-and-recycling pullout, a gas grill with drawers and a cabinet beneath it, and a minifridge. For the countertop, Foch specified sealed and polished black limestone.
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The outdoor kitchen’s components are from Lynx. From left to right are a wood-burning pizza oven with room for logs beneath, a trash-and-recycling pullout, a gas grill with drawers and a cabinet beneath it, and a minifridge. For the countertop, Foch specified sealed and polished black limestone.
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“Fitting in everything on the wish list was complicated,” Foch says. He came up with three proposals for the family and then tweaked the one they chose. Locating the outdoor kitchen and the hot tub near the house was important. “During Toronto winters, you want it to be as easy as possible to access these areas,” he says.
He also added this patio between the two areas. This created a spacious feeling within the yard’s tight dimensions. “It really serves as a nice central walkway from the back door through the patio to the lawn,” he says.
He also added this patio between the two areas. This created a spacious feeling within the yard’s tight dimensions. “It really serves as a nice central walkway from the back door through the patio to the lawn,” he says.
The integrated hot tub is located off the yard’s central walkway and is close to the back door. “The placement for the hot tub minimized any shoveling they’d have to do to access it in the winter,” Foch says. “And the way the fiberglass tub is integrated with the stone and coping also makes it a nice water element out here.” The homeowners have a lockable cover for the hot tub, because the backyard is not fully enclosed.
He lined the planting bed behind the hot tub with an evergreen yew hedge, adding a more formal element. And the hedge provides some privacy for the hot tub. Foch carefully designed the terraces it is planted in to eliminate the need for guardrails. “The terracing was strategically designed to be less than the height and depth that would require a guardrail by local codes,” Foch says.
Speaking of winter, the homeowners purchased custom covers for the lounge furniture and made the garage extra wide for storing other patio items if necessary.
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He lined the planting bed behind the hot tub with an evergreen yew hedge, adding a more formal element. And the hedge provides some privacy for the hot tub. Foch carefully designed the terraces it is planted in to eliminate the need for guardrails. “The terracing was strategically designed to be less than the height and depth that would require a guardrail by local codes,” Foch says.
Speaking of winter, the homeowners purchased custom covers for the lounge furniture and made the garage extra wide for storing other patio items if necessary.
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Foch delineated the different parts of the patio with materials. The gray patio pavers complement the walls. The wide borders are the same Indiana limestone used on the retaining walls. And in between is a dark border with the same basalt-colored pavers used on the front walkway. “Repeating materials created continuity between the front and back yards,” he says.
Field pavers: Bristol Valley in Granite Fusion color; banding pavers: Copthorne in Basalt color, both by Unilock
Field pavers: Bristol Valley in Granite Fusion color; banding pavers: Copthorne in Basalt color, both by Unilock
The dark border Foch used to border different areas of the patio is a contemporary touch. The dark border helped him integrate drainage in a subtle way. Runoff water runs down the drains seen here into a subdrain.
Foch placed the dining area along the side of the yard next to the outdoor kitchen. The location makes it easy to serve food and allows the homeowners to enjoy the dappled shade from the pergola. Lining the dining area along the wall created a pleasing layout that feels spacious.
The fence, pergola and built-in banquette are cedar. Foch incorporated storage into the banquette seat.
The lounge area is set around a gas fire pit. “This helps them stretch patio season far into late fall and early spring,” Foch says.
The woven sectional sofa creates a nice boundary between the patio and the lawn.
Interior designer Shannon Balm coordinated the colors of the furnishings with the patio’s color palette.
As mentioned, the lawn area is for the family’s dog. The grass is artificial for easy maintenance. Foch mitigated the yard’s slope — which goes from the back-left corner, seen here, down to the far edge of the driveway — with a walled planting bed. This allowed him to create the flat lawn. Also supporting this grading is an extra-high foundation on this side of the garage. It allowed for a planting bed along the right edge of the lawn. Foch filled that bed with dwarf hydrangeas.
He bordered two sides of the lawn with ‘Frans Fontaine’ hornbeam trees (Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine’). “These trees are very vertical, narrow and formal,” he says. “They will grow in nicely to provide privacy. And they make it feel like a room.”
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He bordered two sides of the lawn with ‘Frans Fontaine’ hornbeam trees (Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine’). “These trees are very vertical, narrow and formal,” he says. “They will grow in nicely to provide privacy. And they make it feel like a room.”
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Read more landscape design stories
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Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four and their dog
Location: Toronto
Backyard size: 1,170 square feet (109 square meters)
Landscape architect: Kyle Foch of Foch Family Landscape Architecture
Interior designer: Shannon Balm of East Design House
Contractor: The Brooklin Group
Because the homeowners own a real estate group, they had extensive experience in putting project teams together. So Foch was part of a design team that also included an architect, a contractor and an interior designer from the beginning of the project. This allowed him to coordinate with the team during the home’s extensive remodeling-and-addition project. “The interior designer helped choose materials for the [home’s] exterior that worked with the interiors,” he says. “Then I was able to choose materials for the landscape based upon that.”
Precast stone made of Ontario granite and marble aggregates provided a jumping-off point for the design. Interior designer Shannon Balm recommended it for the the pillars and other accents on the home’s facade. Then Foch used it on the retaining walls built to terrace the front yard and to create planting beds out back. This stone has a wide range of grays that he played off throughout the design. He also used Indiana limestone as coping on top of the walls and on the steps; it’s seen on the home’s windowsills as well. This material has a rock-faced edge that lends a rustic look befitting the Craftsman-style home.
Wall stone: Algonquin blend, Masonal Stone
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